On November 4, 2013 the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) published for public consultation a “Proposed Review and Revisions to the Regulation of Retail Prices for SMP Operators – Rules” [URCA document reference ECS 16/2013]. The document revises the retail pricing framework released in April 2010 [URCA document reference ECS 15/2010]. As per the intent of that initial 2010 release, URCA and the industry have been able to assess how the Rules have functioned since being implemented. This consultation therefore seeks to: Address concerns raised by the Bahamas Telecommunication Company Limited (BTC) and Cable Bahamas Limited (CBL) on how…
The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) will sponsor two youth at the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU), BYND 2015 Global Youth Summit in San Jose, Costa Rica next month. Both are recent graduates of The College of The Bahamas. Audison Beaubrun, who completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and Kyle Walkine who completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Media Journalism. Audison is currently enrolled at the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) for PhD studies in Applied Mathematics; and Kyle is employed at the Jones Communications Network (JCN) where he is a reporter. The BYND 2015 Global Youth…
The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) has today published its Statement of Results and Final Determination “on the Assessment of Significant Market Power in Call Termination Services in The Bahamas” , URCA document reference number ECS 13/2013. Call termination is an essential wholesale service which all holders of Individual Operating Licences (IOLs) providing voice service need to purchase from each other in order to allow their customers to call customers on other public networks. Termination describes the service whereby one operator (the terminating party) accepts traffic that has originated on another network but which is destined for customers on…
On Tuesday July 30th the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) issued a Preliminary Determination providing for the implementation of Fixed Number Portability (FNP) in The Bahamas. The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) and Cable Bahamas Limited (CBL) are the current providers of fixed telephone services in the country. Among the areas addressed in the Preliminary Determination are business rules for these licensed operators, issues related to cost allocation and recovery, and licensee obligations and readiness for FNP implementation. The FNP launch date is September 3, 2013. The Preliminary Determination and Draft Order requires that BTC and CBL ensure that required…
