Decisions

ES 06/2021 – Statement of Results and Final Decision – Consultation on the Proposed Tariff Review Framework, Guidelines and Procedures for Public Electricity Suppliers

The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) hereby issues this Statement of Results and Final Decision to its “Proposed Tariff Review Framework, Guidelines and Procedures for Public Electricity Suppliers (ES 02/2021) published on 12 March 2021. The decisions reflected have considered matters discussed and responses received following URCA’s consultation with

1 July, 2021

ES 04/2021 URCA’s Evaluation of BPL’s Renewable Energy Plan 2020 Final Determination and Order

The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (“URCA”) is the independent regulator of the electricity sector (“ES”), in accordance with the URCA Act, 2009 and the Electricity Act (“EA”) section 22. URCA regulates the ES through the EA, which sets out, inter alia, the powers and obligations of URCA in addition

22 June, 2021

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.

15 April, 2021

ES 01/2021 Preliminary Determination and Draft Order on BPL Renewable Energy Plan 2020

The Government of The Bahamas intends for renewable energy to form a significant portion of the power consumed in the country. The target is 30% renewables by 2030. This renewable energy will offset that currently generated from fossil fuels. Part V of the Electricity Act, 2016 (EA) mandates public electricity

23 February, 2021

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.

29 January, 2021

ES 13/2020 CONSUMER PROTECTION REGULATIONS FOR THE ELECTRICITY SECTOR IN THE BAHAMAS

These Regulations may be cited as the URCA Electricity Sector Consumer Protection Regulations, 2020. URCA ES 13/2020 Consumer Protection Regulations for the Electricity Sector

9 December, 2020

ES 12/2020 STATEMENT OF RESULTS AND FINAL DECISION – CONSULTATION ON THE PROPOSED CONSUMER PROTECTION REGULATIONS FOR THE ELECTRICITY SECTOR IN THE BAHAMAS

The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (‘URCA’) hereby issues this Statement of Results and Final Decision further to its Consumer Protection Regulations in the Electricity Sector in The Bahamas- ES 11/2020 (“the Consultation Document”), published on the 28 September 2020. One of the primary roles of URCA is the regulation

9 December, 2020

ECS 15/2020 Final Determination: Consultation on the proposed changes to the Reference Access and Interconnection Offer published by The Bahamas Telecommunications Company Limited

In this Final Determination, the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (“URCA”) sets forth its decision to approve the terms and conditions upon which The Bahamas Telecommunications Company Limited (“BTC”) will offer direct mobile interconnection for Other Licensed Operators’ (“OLOs”) traffic. Today’s decision requires BTC to incorporate the updated terms and

19 November, 2020

ECS 13/2020 Final Determination Review of Wholesale Broadband Access Services under Sections 39 and 40 of the Communications Act, 2009

In this document, the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (“URCA”) issues its Final Determination on specific significant market power (“SMP”) obligations relating to Wholesale Fixed Access (“WFA”) services in The Bahamas. As explained in the Preliminary Determination,[1] URCA first considered the wider set of WFA services, including wholesale business connectivity

8 September, 2020

ES 10/2020 Public Electricity Supply Licensees Reporting Obligations Procedures and Guidelines Final Decision on Reporting Requirements

This section outlines the final reporting requirements obligations and the guidelines for submission of information to URCA by the specified licensees.

26 August, 2020

ES: 09/2020 STATEMENT OF RESULTS AND FINAL DECISION Public Electricity Supply Licensees Reporting Obligations Procedures and Guidelines

The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (“URCA”) issues this Statement of Results and Final Decision (SoR) to its “Consultation on Public Electricity Supply Licensees Reporting Obligations Procedures and Guidelines” (ES 02/2020). The primary role of URCA is the regulation of the sector in accordance with the goals, objectives and principles

26 August, 2020

ECS 11/2020 Statement of Results and Final Decision: FRAMEWORK FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF INTERNET EXCHANGE POINTS (“IXPs”) IN THE BAHAMAS

This Statement of Results and Final Decision concludes the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority’s (“URCA”) public consultation on a regulatory framework for the buildout of Internet Exchange Points in The Bahamas. Commonly called an IXP or an IX, an Internet Exchange Point represents a neutral technical facility through which Internet

21 August, 2020

ECS 08/2020 CONTENT REGULATION: CODE OF PRACTICE FOR CONTENT REGULATION (REVISED

The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (“URCA”) in accordance with section 55(2) of the Communications Act, 2009 now publishes as its Revised Code of Practice for Content Regulation (“the Revised Code”) that is to be observed by Licensees providing audiovisual media services in The This Revised Code is informed

17 August, 2020

ECS 07/2020 STATEMENT OF RESULTS AND FINAL DECISION CONTENT REGULATION: REVISION OF THE CODE OF PRACTICE FOR CONTENT REGULATION

The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) issues this Statement of Results and Final Decision on the Proposed Revision to the Code of Practice for Content Regulation ECS 72/2019 (“the Code”) consultation document. In addition to this Statement of Results and Final Decision, URCA has published its Revised Code of

17 August, 2020

ES 06/2020 STATEMENT OF RESULTS AND FINAL DECISION ON PROCUREMENT REGULATIONS FOR ELECTRICITY SECTOR LICENSEES, 2020

The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (“URCA”) issues this Statement of Results and Final Decision to its “DRAFT PROCUREMENT REGULATIONS FOR ELECTRICITY SECTOR LICENSEES, 2020 FOR PUBLIC CONSULTATION” (ES 05/ 2020). 1 The primary role of URCA is the regulation of the sector in accordance with the goals, objectives, and

17 July, 2020

ECS 05/2020 Addendum to the Final Determination (ECS 74/2019)

In a Final Determination (ECS 74/2019[1]) issued 24 December 2019 the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (“URCA”) explained that it was not, at the time, in a position to give a definitive view on the appropriate approach for setting forward-looking wholesale charges. URCA noted that, given the significant time and

10 June, 2020

ECS 02/2020 THE NATIONAL SPECTRUM PLAN (2020 – 2023)

The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) has formulated this National Spectrum Plan in consultation with The Government of The Bahamas (“the Government”) in fulfillment of the requirements set out in Part V of the Communications Act, 2009 (the “Comms Act” or “the Act”). This NSP furthers the objectives of

20 March, 2020

ES: 03/2020 Statement of Results and Final Decision on Guidelines for the Approval of Renewal Energy Self-Generation Projects

On 26 September 2019, the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) issued a Public Consultation Document (ES 05(B)/2019) in respect of the Guidelines for the Approval of Renewable Energy Self-Generation Projects (RESG) for Small Commercial and Government. This document constitutes URCA’s Statement of Results and Final Decision to the Public

11 March, 2020

ECS 01/2020 FINAL DETERMINATION AND ORDER Issued to: The Bahamas Telecommunications Company Limited

The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (‘URCA’) issues this Final Determination and Order to The Bahamas Telecommunications Company Limited (‘BTC’) in relation to changes made to BTC’s Flow TV channel line -up effective 1 December 2018 and 1 January 2019. The changes consisted of the following: BTC added two

10 March, 2020

ECS 74/2019 Wholesale Fixed and Mobile Termination Rates for SMP Licensees

In this document, the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (“URCA”) issues its Final Determination on forward-looking, cost-oriented rates for wholesale fixed and mobile termination services in The Bahamas. Taking into account the time it will take to derive forward-looking cost-oriented rates, the elapsed time since the current rates were set,

24 December, 2019

URCA Decisions