BTC has new owners. Time to move on
tribune242 editorial
AFTER 14 long years of starts, stops, demonstrations and a few hiccups, Bahamas Telecommunications Company is now a private company.
The much disputed sale agreement was finally signed in the Cabinet office yesterday with a prediction by the new owners that a "new era" in the Bahamas telecommunications sector is on the horizon.
Cable and Wireless Communications, a London-based worldwide communications company, now owns 51 per cent of BTC for which it paid Government $210 million in full and $14.3 million in kind and cash completion dividends from BTC.
Early this year Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, who had said that the money was earmarked for construction of the new hospital, announced that because of the economic downturn the payment would now have to go directly to the reduction of the national debt. The new owners will be protected from predators for the next three years in which time they will prepare the company with a more efficient staff and upgraded technology to face competition -- the first in its long history.
Only three years after Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876, telephonic communications arrived in New Providence on a limited scale. It was from this invention that Cable Beach got its name when in 1892 an undersea cable was laid from Jupiter, Florida, to New Providence, surfacing at what is now Goodman's Bay. The small police barracks was constructed nearby in 1894 and had telephone contact with its stations in Grants Town and the Eastern District.
In 1924 the Nassau Telephone directory -- measuring 8" by 41/2", less than a quarter of an inch thick with 11 pages -- had 584 subscribers. It looked like a gentleman's brown leather wallet.
In case of a fire, Bahamians called 45, the Governor's office at Government House was 1, the Attorney General's chambers were 7, the Treasury 139 and The Tribune 260.
The little book advised constant practice of eight specified rules to receive good telephone service. The final rule was to "let the telephone reflect your personality in as pleasing a manner as though you were talking face to face." The booklet closed with the warning: "Do not use the telephone during lightning storms." The directory was printed by the City Press.
Look at the Bahamas' telephone directory today with its separate edition for the yellow pages for advertising and appreciate how far we have progressed from 1924 in the world of telecommunications.
In 1938 many changes were made to the department, chief of which was the switch over from the manual dial to the automated dial system. At this time it was known as the Telecommunications Department or Telecoms.
Later it became The Bahamas Telecommunications Corporation and most recently, in preparation for privatisation, it was transformed from a corporation to a company -- The Bahamas Telecommunications Company. Over the years BTC has done well. However, the Bahamas with its limited resources has developed the company as far as it can. It now needs a strong strategic partner to give it a global footprint.
The new technology is mind-boggling with the ability to switch to cellular towers from mobile phones. These cell sites are able to transmit vast amounts of data over the airwaves -- now almost too fast for man to assimilate. It provides instant communication, the results of which one can see daily on TV as the youth of backward nations demand that their governments move into the modern age. Instant telecommunications -- Blackberrys, iPods, Facebook and Twitter -- have informed them of how the rest of the world lives, and they want to join the band.
"BTC has posted strong revenues and profits in the past largely as a result of the very lack of competition that has led to the high fees that have kept Bahamians at the mercy of a monopoly, allowing BTC to generate strong profits despite its very high operating expenses," Mr Ingraham told the House in a Communication as the privatisation debate opened. "If BTC were exposed to competition tomorrow in mobile services, it would likely not survive. There is no way it could compete with a lean and aggressive competitor entering this market with a low cost base and aggressive marketing budget.
"We need," he said, "to give Bahamians competitive communications, but at the same time we want BTC to survive and prosper as a company preserving as many jobs as we can, to be a company that Bahamians can be proud to work for, to buy from and to have an ownership stake in."
It's now time to put down the placards and help build a telecommunications network of which all Bahamians can be proud.
April 07, 2011
tribune242 editorial
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.
Showing posts with label Cable and Wireless Communications Bahamas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cable and Wireless Communications Bahamas. Show all posts
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Monday, December 13, 2010
Voices Killarney poll shows that many support the proposed BTC sale
Constituency poll shows many support proposed BTC sale
tribune242
A recent poll taken in the Killarney constituency shows that there are many Bahamians who support the government’s intention to sell a 51 per cent stake in The Bahamas Telecommunications Company to the British telecommunication company Cable and Wireless Communications (C&WC).
A recent poll conducted on “Voices Killarney,” an online news letter from the constituency office of Dr Hubert Minnis revealed that 67 people who participated in the poll supported the BTC deal while 50 persons opposed the deal. The poll, which was conducted on December 10 and 11, also revealed that six persons who participated in the poll were undecided.
Among those who supported the sale one person commented, “I think the sale is an excellent idea. C&W are in the Caribbean Islands. Although we are considered ahead of them economically their telephone technology is far ahead of us.” Another posted, “The union just needs to get over it. It is ludicrous that a union dictates who the government sells any corporation to. The government is elected by the people to conduct work on behalf of the people so I believe that every government would make decisions that are in the best interest of the country. Those people at Batelco are lazy and are afraid of privatization.”
Another person in support of the sale commented, “The sale of Batelco is long overdue. We are paying far too much for out dated systems and service that is not customer-oriented. I have been trying to find out for over one year how my land line was turned over in the name of my tenant and they were allowed to transfer my phone line when they gave up the lease on my property. They have also not been able to satisfy me with what has happened to my security deposit. The prices are too high, the service is poor and I think we need to up grade.”
Among those who opposed the decision one person commented, “I agree that staff numbers need to be reduced and employees simply more efficient to cut operation costs. However, if it must be sold, it should be sold to Bahamians with the capital and vision to further advance the company with the latest technologies available in phone and Internet services.”
Another stated, “Batelco belongs to the people of the Bahamas and should not be sold. Bahamians should own and run Batelco.” “I feel that it was a very bad decision because they sold such a great portion of the company for such little money. BTC makes a lot of money just in one year. In two years time BTC would have already made over that amount, so it really made no sense selling for so little,” another person commented.
Among those who were undecided, one stated, “Notwithstanding that the sale is inevitable and probably necessary. I'm curious to know what criteria was laid out to qualify as a purchaser. Does C&W meet the criteria, if they do and other companies also did, what were the track records of the other companies when compared to C&W? Why must we sell 51 per cent as opposed to 49 per cent. Why not consider a group of Bahamians as opposed to foreigners?”
December 13, 2010
tribune242
tribune242
A recent poll taken in the Killarney constituency shows that there are many Bahamians who support the government’s intention to sell a 51 per cent stake in The Bahamas Telecommunications Company to the British telecommunication company Cable and Wireless Communications (C&WC).
A recent poll conducted on “Voices Killarney,” an online news letter from the constituency office of Dr Hubert Minnis revealed that 67 people who participated in the poll supported the BTC deal while 50 persons opposed the deal. The poll, which was conducted on December 10 and 11, also revealed that six persons who participated in the poll were undecided.
Among those who supported the sale one person commented, “I think the sale is an excellent idea. C&W are in the Caribbean Islands. Although we are considered ahead of them economically their telephone technology is far ahead of us.” Another posted, “The union just needs to get over it. It is ludicrous that a union dictates who the government sells any corporation to. The government is elected by the people to conduct work on behalf of the people so I believe that every government would make decisions that are in the best interest of the country. Those people at Batelco are lazy and are afraid of privatization.”
Another person in support of the sale commented, “The sale of Batelco is long overdue. We are paying far too much for out dated systems and service that is not customer-oriented. I have been trying to find out for over one year how my land line was turned over in the name of my tenant and they were allowed to transfer my phone line when they gave up the lease on my property. They have also not been able to satisfy me with what has happened to my security deposit. The prices are too high, the service is poor and I think we need to up grade.”
Among those who opposed the decision one person commented, “I agree that staff numbers need to be reduced and employees simply more efficient to cut operation costs. However, if it must be sold, it should be sold to Bahamians with the capital and vision to further advance the company with the latest technologies available in phone and Internet services.”
Another stated, “Batelco belongs to the people of the Bahamas and should not be sold. Bahamians should own and run Batelco.” “I feel that it was a very bad decision because they sold such a great portion of the company for such little money. BTC makes a lot of money just in one year. In two years time BTC would have already made over that amount, so it really made no sense selling for so little,” another person commented.
Among those who were undecided, one stated, “Notwithstanding that the sale is inevitable and probably necessary. I'm curious to know what criteria was laid out to qualify as a purchaser. Does C&W meet the criteria, if they do and other companies also did, what were the track records of the other companies when compared to C&W? Why must we sell 51 per cent as opposed to 49 per cent. Why not consider a group of Bahamians as opposed to foreigners?”
December 13, 2010
tribune242
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