ECS 06/2024 - Public Consultation on the Draft Outage Reporting and Mitigation Regulations for the Electronic Communications Sector in The Bahamas

In this document, the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (“URCA”) issues its Statement of Results and Final Decision with respect to URCA’s Public Consultation entitled “Draft Outage Reporting and Mitigation Regulations for the Electronic Communications Sector in The Bahamas” (“Proposed Regulations Regulations”).

URCA published the Consultation Document on 2 October 2023 (“Consultation Document”)1 setting out, inter alia, the following:

• URCA’s objectives and legal framework for the public consultation;

• URCA’s rationale for the implementation of the Proposed Regulations;

• URCA’s review of current outage reporting practices in the Bahamian Electronic Communications

Sector(“ECS”) and URCA’s findings on international best practices on outage reporting and related measures; and

• the Proposed Regulations.

 

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ECS 03/2024 - Consumer Protection Regulations for the Electronic Communications Sector

The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) hereby issues the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred on it by section 45(2) of the Communications Act, 2009 (“Communications Act”), which provides for the issuance by URCA of general regulations relating to the protection of Consumers and the provision of Services by the holders of Individual Operating Licences and Class Operating Licences Requiring Registration in The Bahamas. A copy of the full document may be downloaded below: Consumer Protection Regulations for the Electronic Communications Sector

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ECS 02/2024 - Statement of Results and Final Decision - Revisions to the Consumer Protection Regulations for the Electronic Communications Sector

The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (‘URCA’) issues this Statement of Results and Final Decision following the public consultation on its proposed revisions to the Consumer Protection Regulations for the Electronic Communications Sector (‘ECS’). URCA published the consultation on 18 September 2023.1 The original deadline for responses was 19 October 2023 however the deadline was extended to 30 October 2023 by request to allow for additional time to respond.

The Consumer Protection Regulations (‘Regulations’) were originally published on 30 December 2013 followed by a revised document referred to as Version 1.0.1 published on 7 February 2014.2 Due to the changes that have occurred in the sector and URCA’s experience with handling consumer complaints since the Regulations were first published, URCA found it necessary to update the Regulations to make them fit for purpose, clarify any ambiguity, and issue new measures in areas where consumers were not protected.

A copy of the full document may be downloaded below: ECS 02/2024 - Statement of Results and Final Decision - Revisions to the Consumer Protection Regulations for the Electronic Communications Sector

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ECS 04/2024 Preliminary Determination - Retail Fixed Market Review and Assessment

With this Preliminary Determination, the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (‘URCA’) informs Licensees, other stakeholders, and the public in general of its preliminary economic assessment of the competitive dynamics in the retail fixed service market in The Bahamas.  In this consultation paper, URCA sets out its preliminary views and proposals arising from its market reviews of the provisioning of key retail communications services in The Bahamas under section 39(1) of the Communications Act, 2009 (the ‘Comms Act’ or the ‘Act’) and any resulting ex-ante regulatory obligations for SMP operators. The services considered in this market review are as follows:  • Retail fixed voice telephony service;  • Retail fixed broadband services; and  • Retail pay TV services (including cable television services).    The full PDF can be found below.

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ECS 09/2023 SoR Public Consultation on the Demand for Enhanced Internet Connectivity and 5G in The Bahamas

In this document, the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (“URCA”) issues its Statement of Results and Next Steps with respect to URCA’s Public Consultation on the demand for enhanced internet connectivity and 5G in The Bahamas (“5G Public Consultation”). URCA published its Consultation Document on 5G Consultation on the Demand for Enhanced Internet Connectivity and 5G in The Bahamas on 5 May 2023 (“Consultation Document”).1 The Consultation Document set out, inter alia, the following: • the objectives and the approach adopted by URCA with respect to the 5G Public Consultation; • a summary overview of the main responses to the stakeholder engagement process on enhanced internet connectivity/5G in The Bahamas; • URCA’s preliminary views on the key findings from this engagement process; • URCA’s proposed next steps; and • to invite comments from stakeholders on the matters set out in the Consultation Document.

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ECS 08/2023 Final Determination and Order to Paramount Systems Ltd.

The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (“URCA”) issues this Final Determination and Order (“FDO”) to Paramount Systems Ltd. (“PSL” or “the Licensee”) pursuant to section 99(1) of the Communications Act, 2009 (“Comms Act”). This FDO is issued consequential to URCA’s own-initiative investigation concerning suspected breaches by PSL of the Code of Practice for Content Regulation ECS (Revised) 08/2020 (“the Code”) and Individual Spectrum Licence IS-09-0055 issued by URCA to PSL on 15 June 2017 (“the Licence”), and the Notice of Preliminary Determination and Draft Order - ECS 07/2023 dated 8 May 2023 issued by URCA to PSL (“PDDO”). URCA has determined that PSL has breached clauses 2.1(1), 2.1(2)(a), 2.1(2)(b), 2.4(1), 2.4(7), 3.1(1), 3.1(2), 5.1(1), 5.1(2), 5.1(3), 5.2(1), 5.4(3), 5.10(1), and 8.6(2) of the Code, and Condition 3.2 of the Licence. In accordance with section 100(5) of the Comms Act, this FDO provides URCA’s reasoning behind its determination in sufficient detail to enable it to be understood and the reasons for such decision to be known. A copy of the full document may be downloaded below: ECS 08/2023 Final Determination and Order to Paramount Systems Ltd.

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ES 05/2022 Statement of Results and Final Decision: Guidelines for the Electricity Sector on the Assessment of Fines for Breaches

The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (“URCA”), as the electricity sector regulator, considers the development of a regulatory frameworks governing the sector to be paramount to meeting its statutory obligations as defined in both the Electricity Act, 2015 (EA) and the URCA Act, 2009. Through both Acts, URCA is empowered to impose a regulatory penalty or fine on a licensee who breaches a provision of the EA, a license condition, regulatory and or other measures. The imposition of financial penalties for breaches is also a means to effectively ensure compliance with sector regulations and established standards. URCA undertook the consultation process to bring clarity and promote consistency with respect to how URCA will exercise its power to impose a fine on a licensee who breaches a provision of the EA, a license condition, regulatory and or other measures. The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (“URCA”) issues this Statement of Results and Final Decision (“SoR”) further to its Consultation Document on Guidelines for the Electricity Sector on the Assessment of Fines for Breaches, ES 02/2022, published on the 22 August 2022.  URCA also hereby issues the “Guidelines for The Electricity Sector on The Assessment for Fines for Breaches”, ES 04/2022.

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ES 01/2023 Statement of Result and Final Determination - Definition and Interpretation of a Major Outage In Public Electricity Supplier and Authorized Public Electricity Supplier Licenses

URCA issues this Statement of Results and Final Decision further to its Consultation on “Definition and Interpretation of a Major Outage in Public Electricity Supplier and Authorized Public Electricity Supplier Licenses – ES 02/2022” document (“the Consultation Document”) published on 1^st November, 2022,  in exercise of its powers under section 38(c) of the EA. URCA notes that the term major outage is defined in the definitions page of the licenses for a Public Electricity Supplier License (“PESL”) and an Authorized Public Electricity Supplier License (“APESL”) , but that term lacks the specificity necessary to provide guidance to licensees to respond to queries from URCA and within which URCA can provide the necessary regulatory oversight.  Specifically, URCA considers that there is potential ambiguity when interpreting this term consequential to definitional omissions of key elements of the license. To remove this potential ambiguity for the purpose of interpreting what is a major outage, URCA engaged in a consultation procedure to define these terms on 1 November, 2022, received comments from stakeholders on 1 December, 2022 and now issues this SoR. This Statement of Results and Final Decision now sets out URCA’s response to the submissions received during the consultation process and presents URCA’s final decision as it relates to the appropriate definition of a “major outage” as used in the PESL and APESL.

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URCA 05/2021 Statement of Results The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority’s Standard Consultation Procedures

The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority’s Standard Consultation Procedures (“SCP”) is for seeking licensees, stakeholders and interested parties' participation in its decision-making process. The SCP sets out URCA’s policy, guidelines, and procedure for engaging relevant stakeholders in consultation for relevant regulatory and other measures. The SCP contained herein indicated URCA’s current thinking and URCA will therefore update its SCP from time to time to take into account best practices and to reflect developments in best practices relative to public consultations. URCA will therefore update its SCP from time to time to take into account best practices and to reflect developments in best practices relative to public consultations. The full Statement of Results can be found here. 

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ES 09/2021 Statement of Results Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Scheme for Disputes between Licensees and Independent Power Producers for the Electricity Sector in The Bahamas

This Statement of Results document sets out a background of URCA’s previous consultation in relation to the establishment of an ADR Scheme for the ES in addition to providing the legal and regulatory framework for the ADR Scheme for the ES which is annexed to this document.

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ECS 09/2021 - Statement of Results and Final Decision - Cable Bahamas Limited’s Application For The Repackaging Of REVTV Offers

The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) published today its Statement of Results and Final Decision in response to the applications made by Cable Bahamas Limited (‘CBL’) to restructure its residential and business pay television packages. CBL submitted the application for residential REVTV offers on 27 October 2020 and later submitted the application for business REVTV offers on 20 January 2021. Having determined the applications were matters of public importance, URCA published a consultation document (ECS 04/2021) on 19 March 2021, setting out URCA’s preliminary views and inviting feedback from the public. Today’s decision follows an extensive consultative process which included a virtual forum, focus groups, and written submissions from members of the general public. URCA has considered all written and verbal feedback in making its final decision. The complete Statement of Results and Final Decision provides details on how URCA arrived at its decision and also includes a summary of responses gathered during the consultation process. The document can be found on URCA’s website.    

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ECS/07/2021 Adjudication issued to The Bahamas Telecommunications Company Ltd.(‘BTC’) in the Matter of a Suspected Breach of a Dominant Position under Section 69 of the Communications Act, 2009

This adjudication document sets out URCA’s findings consequential to the alleged breach or infringement of competition law as per Global Nexus Limited’s (‘GNX’) complaint of 25 February 2020 against BTC.

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ECS - COMP 01/2021 ADJUDICATION: IN THE MATTER OF AN APPLICATION FOR APPROVAL OF CHANGE IN CONTROL OF SPEEDCAST CARIBBEAN LIMITED

This Adjudication is made pursuant to Section 75 of the Communications Act, 2009 (Comms Act) in the matter of a request for approval of a change in control of Speedcast Caribbean Limited.            

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ECS 71/2019 Final Determination and Order Issued to Cable Bahamas Ltd

This document concludes the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority’s (’URCA’) investigation into Cable Bahamas Limited’s (‘CBL’) compliance with the Retail Pricing Rules and other obligations or regulatory measures. On 13 September 2019, URCA issued a Preliminary Determination and Draft Order to CBL In the matter of: Breaches of the Retail Pricing Rules and Other Measures (ECS 68/2019). The document stemmed from CBL’s replacement of eight television channels from its REV TV line-up effective 14 June 2019. CBL did not notify URCA until the day before the effective date, i.e., 13 June 2019, and CBL only notified subscribers on the day when the changes came into effect. The affected TV packages along with the channels that were removed, and their respective replacements are outlined in Table 1 below. Table 1 is based on CBL’s initial 13^th June letter in addition to its 31 July 2019 correspondence to URCA in which CBL presented data to show that a significant number of its pay TV subscribers were affected by the channel changes.

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Change of Control with regard to 103.5 FM

The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) makes reference to the Simplified Application Form (with supporting documents) for approval of change in control submitted on 14 February 2017 by Brickell Management Group on behalf of Neman Networks Ltd. (the acquirer) and Messrs. Frank Rutherford and Phillip Smith (the Licensee).  URCA sets out herein its decision and reasons for its decision anent the change in control application. Click below to view full decision.

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