Mayaguana, The Bahamas – Former Financial Secretary Mrs. Ruth Miller has been appointed to head a committee made up of persons from the private and public sectors to advise the Government on the way forward as liberalization in the telecommunications industry comes on stream.
The Prime Minister revealed this much to a gathering at the Mayaguana Airport to celebrate the return of Bahamasair after five years and the airport’s newly refurbished runway.
Prime Minister Perry G. Christie announced the possibility of a new company coming into the Bahamas to compete with the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) in a liberalized telecommunications environment. The liberalization era comes out of an agreement made between the former Government and Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC) on their majority share purchase in BTC and the continued privatization of the industry.
The Prime Minister said while he did not wish to forecast it, nonetheless, new competition should result in cheaper prices and improved services which are often the results of free market competition.
“This is usually what takes place,” he said.
“We have embarked on the process. Bahamians will be given a choice as whether to stay with BTC or another provider,” he said.
