“BTC Missed Out On Opportunities,” Says Williams
By Scieska Adderley
Former Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) President and CEO Leon Williams believes that the country’s telecommunications provider is the most profitable government entity, despite missing several opportunities that would have made the company even more competitive and valuable.
Mr. Williams was the keynote speaker at the Rotary Club of West Nassau’s weekly meeting yesterday.
During his address, he explained that he had a certain vision for BTC while he was at the helm.
According to Mr. Williams, his main goal was to raise enough money so that BTC could grow outside of The Bahamas.
"We went to Haiti where we built a $6 million cable to Haiti. The Government of Haiti offered us the first right of refusal for a DSL and a wireless network. It would have cost $30 million to do the GSM in Haiti. We did not see and when I say we did not see, other people did not see the value of Haiti."
Mr. Williams said if BTC had gotten its services off the ground in Haiti, using just 10 per cent of that country’s customers, in three years that alone would have generated BTC’s annual profits.
He noted that Digicel tapped into that market and within the first three months, the company had 500,000 customers, then in its first year, that number increased to 1.6 million customers.
Currently, Digicel has 2.6 million customers in Haiti.
Mr. Williams explained that BTC has also missed out on marketing its VIBE phone service internationally.
"We then created the VIBE network. We had the Bahamian girl on the box, a Jamaican girl on the box and we had a Haitian girl on the box. The idea was to go to Miami and sell the VIBE in Miami, 1.8 million in Miami. We even had it on Concourse D at the Miami International Aiport. We were even advertising where no one else was advertising in that same area in the United States."
Mr. Williams said it is important to expand the market beyond The Bahamas.
He compared it to Cable Bahamas, which has over the years expanded its services to countries such as Barbados, Jamaica, Curacao and the Dominican Republic.
Overall, Mr. Williams noted there are 20 million customers on The Bahamas’ border-markets that can be exploited, but unfortunately have not.
February 28, 2011
jonesbahamas
A political blog about Bahamian politics in The Bahamas, Bahamian Politicans - and the entire Bahamas political lot. Bahamian Blogger Dennis Dames keeps you updated on the political news and views throughout the islands of The Bahamas without fear or favor. Bahamian Politicians and the Bahamian Political Arena: Updates one Post at a time on Bahamas Politics and Bahamas Politicans; and their local, regional and international policies and perspectives.
