Yesterday, the government of the Bahamas signed the agreements that will finally privatise the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC). The transaction, which still requires parliamentary and regulatory approival, will give Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC) 51 percent ownership of the telecommunications company.
The shareholder’s agreement and the share purchase agreement were tabled in parliament by Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham.
CWC will have management control over the company but the government will maintain veto control concerning critical maters.
“Even though Cable and Wireless will have management control, there are certain critical matters where the government will – so long as it holds a percent of the company’s issued share capital – have the right to a veto, that is to prevent certain actions being taken by Cable and Wireless if the government does not agree with them,” Mr Ingraham said.
CWC Bahamas Holdings will pay $210 million, plus stamp duty of $7 million. The deal also clears the way for 25% of BTC to eventually be sold to the Bahamian public.
A busines plan submitted by CWC indicates that the new owners intend to fully utilise their expertise to turn BTC into a more efficient, customer-centric business, while still maintaining a uniquely Bahamian culture.
David Shaw, CEO of CWC’s Caribbean entity, LIME, insists that upgrades will make BTC more competitive. In the first year of its ownership, CWC plans to provide new and faster mobile data services, lower roaming costs with improved roaming agreements and to improve the customer experience.
“We have to complete the network and the network upgrades so that we can deliver new services, particularly in this world of data that we’re in,” Shaw said.
“We have to lower prices, whether that’s domestic or roaming and we have to improve service so that customers can access BTC in many more ways than they can today,” he added.
April 4 is the target date for the transaction to be finalised.
