In our last segment, we told you how the former owners of BTL and BEL want the Caribbean Court of Justice to return the companies back to them if it rules that the Government should not have nationalized.
Well, while we were in our interview with Eamon Courtenay, who is one of the attorneys for the Ashcroft Alliance, he told us that even if the company is returned to them, that wouldn't be enough. That's because according to the Alliance, the new management, controlled by Government, has mismanaged the companies.
Now, since the Government take over of the telecommunications company in 2009, Digicell4G was launched. The company tried to make DSL internet more affordable by doubling the internet speeds 3 times for the same price, which means that it has reduced 3 times. Digicell 4G has been reduced, and GST was taken off the service. Text bundles have gone down, and International calls went down twice also.
With all those benefits to you, the customer, you might think that the management is doing well in trying to be more consumer friendly, which should lead to a growth in customer base. Well, the Alliance isn't impressed, and they say that behind all those improvements, government interference has caused mismanagement in the background.
Today, Eamon Courtenay, told us that if the CCJ should give the company back to the former owners, the business mistakes would be corrected:
Eamon Courtenay, SC - attorney for Ashcroft Alliance
"The issue there is, first of all it was a private company, not government owned and controlled and as you are aware it operated in a regulated environment and therefore it sought to maximize profits, but subject to the public utilities commission. Now, you have an incestuous relationship in which the government controls the public utilities commission and yet it controls Belize Telemedia and so, there is, in truth and in fact no regulations and so what you have is gross mismanagement, seeking to achieve political objectives, rather than potential business objectives. What it means and the consequence for Belizeans is that if the court says that the taking was unconstitutional and it must revert to the shareholders - somebody and it can only mean the people of Belize, will be called upon to pay the cost for the loss that arises from the gross mismanagement by the current management of Telemedia. So, the point that was being made is that when the shares go back, if they go back to Telemedia, if they go back to Fortis, that the CCJ should order and assessment of the management, find out the mismanagement and calculate the loss that the shareholders have suffered and order the government to compensate them."
Daniel Ortiz
"Sir, what would happen to those different policy decisions made at BTL where rate reductions took place. Is that an issue as part of the mismanagement you are referring to?"
Eamon Courtenay, SC - attorney for Ashcroft Alliance
"I would say first of all, each one of those decisions have to be looked at on a case by case basis. Yes, you cannot put the genie back in the bottle. Certain things have been decided and done - they can't be undone. There are others that can be undone. There are decisions that have been taken that are continuing to negatively affect these companies and if the old shareholders go back in, they will stop it and the loss that has been incur will be calculated and the only person who will have to pay for that are the tax payers of Belize."
And what about all of those rate reductions, would those be rolled back? Courtenay said that it may not be necessary, but each will have to be looked at on a case by case basis:
Eamon Courtenay, SC - attorney for Ashcroft Alliance
"First of all I dint hear people out in the streets saying, great we are having lower telephone rates, so I dispute that. In any event, if Telemedia is returned to its former owners, it would then come under the public utilities commission. The rates that it is entitle to charge are set, manage and control by the public utilities commission. So, to the extent that it goes back to the private owners, it will be up to the regulator to ensure that a fair price is charge, so that the investors can make a fair return and that the public doesn't suffer unduly. So, going back to private ownership, does not necessarily mean that consumers will suffer because you have a regulatory environment. The problem you have today is the incestuous relationship between the PUC and Telemedia. You know, I know that every day internationally, because of innovations, because of new products, the cost of telecommunication is going down. You have to invest, but the cost of actual use is going down. Skype etc., cannot be rolled back - that will not be rolled back and the PUC is there to ensure that that will not be rolled back. So, a lot of the gains that the public say that they are enjoying, are not things that are going to be undone. What you will have undone are bloated contracts which we know exists in Telemedia. What we have is high salaries for certain executives in Telemedis, that are unqualified and are eating at the trough of Telemedia. What you will have is the many people who are being hired at these companies who are unqualified and just been given jobs to get on the payroll for political purposes - that is the type of inefficiency that the former owners will go in and say cut out this fat."
Government took control of the company in 2009, and has been in control of the company for 5 years going on 6.
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