Saying that it has taken note of telecommunications marketing activities offering reduced international telephone rates, the Pubic Utilities Commission warns that violators of the Telecommunications Act would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
The PUC reminds that Section 8 of the Telecommunications Act prohibits the provision of any telecommunications service by any person without a licence issued by the PUC.
“Any person who provides telecommunication services without a licence from the PUC or aids the illegal provision of these services shall be guilty of a criminal offence and may be fined up to $300,000 in accordance with Section 35 of the Telecommunications Act.”
The PUC also invites the public, including operators and consumers, to provide information on such illegal activities to the PUC.
Illegal telecommunications operators have been a pivotal challenge confronting the company. In fact, President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Symonette has in the past blamed those operators for rigorously undercutting rates.
The plan that he had laid out was one that involved heightened efforts to drive revenue growth and sustain value in 2004 through a proposed design to rebalance tariffs.
According to the company’s records, it earned $38.7 million in profits in 2003 compared to the $50.8 million it had earned the previous year.
The PUC has said that data in its possession show that International Long Distance revenue fell from $103,357,000 in December 2000 to $65,018,000 by December 2003, a decline of $38,339,000 or 37.09 percent.
In an effort to improve its competitive position, BTC reduced its long distance rates to align prices with costs.
The PUC says this price reduction contributed substantially to the decline in International Long Distance revenue of $8.7 million below the prior year’s figure and further eroded the level of cross-subsidy between long distance services and access and local usage thereby putting the company’s existing rate/price structure at risk.
Minister of Works and Utilities Bradley Roberts recently said that the company continues to suffer as a result of what is believed to be the widespread use of Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP), which is illegal in The Bahamas.
By using VoIP phones and technology one can effectively use the Internet to make long distance phone calls.
This is done by placing the voice calls on network which encrypts the voice in data packets at one end and encrypts it in voice calls at the other end. This encryption and decryption is from an analog signal (i.e. your voice call) into digital signal (data packets) and again into the analog signal, explains the online VoIP guide.
As a result of significant losses partly due to this technology, BTC has applied to the PUC to increase monthly rates and fees for its lines.
The PUC has already indicated that it is inclined to approve this request.
The commission recently noted that the current rates/prices of $9.50 for monthly residential rentals and $20 for monthly business rentals were introduced in April 1975 and have remained unchanged despite a 238.35 percent increase in the All Items Price Index for New Providence between April 1975 and April 2005.
The increases being sought by BTC are 57.89 percent and 80 percent for residential and business customers, respectively.
“For all the reasons set out above it has therefore become necessary for BTC to align the rates/prices for a telephone line to the underlying costs,” the commission noted in a recent paper.
“The PUC is minded to approve the increases in the monthly rates/prices request by BTC. The Commission had previously approved decreases of 55 percent and 50 percent to 69 percent in domestic and long distance rates.”
By: Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
