Management at the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) think it is about time both residential and business consumers entered the real world and started paying reasonable rates for telephone lines.
But senior citizens will get a break. The PUC is recommending that qualified senior citizens get a 20 percent or $3 dollar discount on their monthly telephone rates.
The proposed increases are from $9.50 to $20 (57.89 % increase) for residents, and from $20 to $36 (80 % increase) for businesses. Before customers decry BTC for being greedy or unconscionable it is important to note that customers have been enjoying their current rates for the past 30 years.
The last time consumers saw a raise was back in April 1975 when residents paid $9.50 per month and businesses $20 respectively, for their telephone line, according to a press release issued by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) which regulates the telecommunications sector.
Since then, according to PUC Executive Director Barrett Russell, the All Items Price Index for New Providence has risen by 238.35 percent.
Other factors are also contributing to the proposed increases.
Mr. Russell, who once served as General Manager at Batelco (now BTC), stated that competition in the long-distance market from “licensed and unlicensed operators” had undermined BTC’s existing pricing structure.
“BTC’s current pricing structure not only distorts competition in the marketplace but also acts as a deterrent to entry and investment in the sector,” he explained.
Along with increased competition and the removal of cross-subsidies for long distance services and access, the PUC has also reduced BTC’s domestic rates by 55 percent and its long distance rates by 50 to 69 percent.
Admitting that it is “minded to approve the increases in the monthly rates/prices requested by BTC”, the PUC is recommending a discount for senior citizens.
Under section 6(4) of the Telecommunications Act, and section 8.5-8.7 of the Telecommunications Sector Policy (TSP) the Commission has to “take account of the adverse impact rate increase(s) may have on “low residential users”, without violating the requirement to be “objective and non-discriminatory” to applicants.
Consequently, the PUC is recommending a discount for senior citizens (65 years and over), who “qualify for national insurance pension and meet other eligibility criteria to be developed by BTC and approved by the Commission”.
By: C. E. Huggins, Nassau Guardian Senior Writer
