Government Statement: Telecommunications

The Ministry of Environment, Planning and Infrastructure Strategy released a statement saying “the Government wishes to reiterate that it has not changed its policy regarding telecommunications licences” and that they anticipate that telecommunications regulatory reform legislation will be tabled in November.

The full statement follows below:

The Ministry of Environment, Planning and Infrastructure Strategy would like to state that is mindful of the concerns raised regarding recent corporate changes within the telecommunications industry.

Since the beginning of the year there have been three significant corporate realignments within the industry. Concern has centred on whether or not the Government has amended its policy regarding telecommunications licences.

The Government can emphatically state that it has not moved away from its previously stated position. Its position remains that until telecommunications reform has been implemented, telecommunications licence classes will remain separate, and holding companies with more than one licensee class must operate, by law, those licences as separate and distinct entities.

The Government is focused on encouraging investment in Bermuda and the creation of jobs. In order to achieve these most important objectives, the Government has agreed to changes that incorporate those objectives in the corporate ownership of telecommunications companies, including approving share holdings of company structures with more than 40% non-Bermudian ownership.

Notwithstanding these corporate changes, the Government wishes to reiterate that it has not changed its policy regarding telecommunications licences.

In 2002 via a Ministerial Statement, the then Minister of Telecommunications and E-commerce, the Hon. Renee Webb, JP, MP, stated “…the Government will not, for the time being, consider any more new applications for [Public] Telecommunications licences.” This has not changed. None of the recent changes within the telecommunications industry have involved the issuance of new licences or changes to existing licences.

The Government continues to prepare the legislative package that will introduce telecommunications regulatory reform and fully anticipates that legislation will be tabled in November.

Category: All, technology