On 7 September 2010, URCA published a consultation document on BTC’s draft Reference Access and Interconnection Offer (RAIO) consistent with the compliance process outlined in URCA’s Final Decision on SMP Obligations previously published on 22 April 2010. The consultation document contained URCA’s preliminary views and proposed amendments to BTC’s draft RAIO which sets out the terms and conditions upon which BTC will offer access and/or interconnection to Other Licensed Operators (OLOs) in The Bahamas.

URCA today issued its Response to the Public Consultation and Final Decision on BTC’s draft RAIO (ECS 01/2011). In issuing this Final Decision document, URCA has taken into account all the non-confidential comments and submissions received from respondents, namely BTC, Cable Bahamas, SRG/IndiGO and LIME/Cable & Wireless. URCA appreciates that the development of a RAIO is a complex and difficult task and recognises that BTC’s first RAIO is generally of a good standard. Although URCA has made a number of comments and requires BTC to make a number of changes to ensure the RAIO is effective and in line with BTC’s SMP obligations, URCA’s comments do not detract from the effort made by BTC.

Next Steps

Within thirty (30) business days from the date of publishing the Final Decision document, BTC is required to amend its draft RAIO to reflect URCA’s Final Decision on the draft RAIO and resubmit the amended RAIO document to URCA. URCA will review the entire document to ensure that BTC has satisfactorily implemented all of the mandated changes and remove any remaining obligations imposed on other operators that are either inappropriate or unnecessary to manage the interconnection regime in The Bahamas. Once URCA completes its review of the resubmission, URCA will inform BTC whether or not BTC needs to make any additional amendments to the RAIO. If no further amendments are needed, BTC can then request confirmation from URCA that BTC has complied with its RAIO obligation, including listing the website URL where licensees and members of the public can access the documentation.

The document can be downloaded from this website under the Publications tab “consultation.”