Up Front
Cable & Wireless explainsits proposed pull-out from St. Lucia
Regional telecommunications provider, Cable& Wireless, says it is with regret that it announces that,with the expiry of its existing licences on 31 March, 2001, itis making plans to leave St Lucia.
The company says in a press statement that it has informed theSt. Lucia Government of its imminent departure. "Cable &Wireless is disappointed that its best efforts to resolve theissues in St Lucia through negotiation have proved unsuccessful,"the company release says, adding that it will be working withthe St. Lucian government at ensuring that the transfer of thecountry's telecommunications operations are as smooth as possiblein accordance with the terms of the relevant licences. Every effort,the release says, will be made to protect the interests of Cable& Wireless' customers and employees.
Cable & Wireless supports development of a competitive environment
Cable & Wireless says it is fully committed to the liberalisationof telecommunications in the Caribbean. It notes that the processshould take place in a fair and orderly manner in order to ensuresustainable competition.
To achieve this, the company says, it is essential to have well-structuredlegislation, effective regulation and an independent regulator."Cable & Wireless is committed to working towards thisobjective, " the company says.
OECS discussions to date
Five of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) countries- namely St. Lucia, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent andthe Grenadines and Dominica, - the telecommunication giant says,had indicated in early 1999 that they wished to enter into negotiationswith them on a collective basis.
The existing licence arrangements, it is said, varies betweencountries, particularly in St. Lucia, where the licences are dueto terminate next month.
Progress on these discussions, the C&W release says, has beenand continues to be slow. The company says it had nurtured thehope that the last meeting between its representatives and theOECS Ministers on 31st January 2001 would have reached a settlementof the outstanding issues, but was disappointed that the meetingfailed to get started.
St. Lucia
Due to the slow progress in theOECS discussion, the company says, the imminent expiry of itslicences in St. Lucia has become an urgent issue for resolution.It appears, however, that the matter is unlikely to be resolvedduring the timeframe for the OECS negotiations.
Accordingly, the company says, it has made the Government of St.Lucia aware of the need to agree certain fundamental principles- including tariff re-balancing, the phased introduction of competitionand a fair interconnect regime.
It goes on to say that before any real progress has been madein resolving these outstanding issues, the Government of St Luciahas enacted new telecommunications legislation and that the companyhas been given to understand that the St. Lucian government hasissued at least one licence to a new operator. This has resultedin an uncertain operating environment.
It argues that although the Government of St. Lucia had indicatedits preparedness to extend Cable & Wireless' licences in theshort term to facilitate completion of negotiations, the basisof these licence extensions is unclear, and appears to be inconsistentwith both the bringing into effect of the new TelecommunicationsAct and the issue of a VSAT licence to one-call centre servicesoperator.
The telecommunication firm says it "has amply demonstratedits commitment to encouraging new business ventures in St. Luciaand had, in fact, offered HTS IT very competitively-priced callcentre services." A good example of its commitment, the companysays, is the facilitation given to Call Centres of Grenada, whichcurrently employs 700 people.
Accordingly, it says, "Cable & Wireless cannot see howany agreement can be reached prior to 31st March, 2001 and has,with regret, decided to make plans to leave St Lucia."
The way forward
Cable & Wireless says that ithas continued to make excellent progress in agreeing the basisfor liberalising telecommunications markets elsewhere in the widerCaribbean region, and that it remains committed to the OECS andto the introduction of competition in these states, provided thistakes place in a fair, orderly and sustainable manner, governedby effective primary legislation and regulations.
It says it stands ready to continue negotiations with the OECSand ECTEL, in order to reach agreement on the regulatory and operatingenvironment in the region.