Govt to review stake in TSTT

Government will have to review its ownership of TSTT, Public Information Minister Dr Lenny Saith stated yesterday. He was winding up the Telecommunication Bill in the Senate. He said there was a committee currently examining what will be the role, if any, of government’s investment in TSTT once the bill is passed. Under the bill, the regulatory function of the telecommunication industry would reside with the authority which would have to regulate all bodies including TSTT, in which Government has a 49 percent shareholding.  Saith said Government wanted to make sure that the authority treated TSTT as “any other service” and “remove the fear that government ownership would be used to influence the authority”.

On the issue of the call centres, Saith stated that under the bill the call centres would be allowed to continue operating while their applications for a concession is being processed. The Minister reiterated that call centres were  operating in breach of law. But he stressed that Government, contrary to what was being claimed, had no desire to close down call centres since it saw them as a vital avenue for assisting in the expansion of the telephone service.

Stating that there appeared to be a misunderstanding of the purpose of regulating the industry, Saith said Government viewed regulation as a mechanism to protect and aid the development of small players in an industry which was generally dominated by the big guns. Noting that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) were also claiming that the bill was seeking to maintain the monopoly of TSTT, Saith said this was simply not so. He said it has always been the case (since under the old Act) that if an ISP was providing a public telecommunication service they need to apply for a concession. “We are not trying to protect TSTT and Cable and Wireless,” he said.

Saith stated that the key objective of the bill was to allow the vast majority of the population to have access to a wide variety of services at affordable rates. He said the aims of the bill were: to establish the necessary legal and regulatory framework for the telecom sector; to liberalise the telecommunication sector to allow for competition and to reduce the price of telecommunication; and increase the range, scope and quality of the service available to the public, to encourage the availability of choice at affordable rates and to honour the country’s committment to the World Trade Organisation in respect to this service.

Saith said the Board of the Authority had been appointed (since June 25, 2002). Citing the names and occupations of the Board, Saith said he hoped that this would satisfy UNC Senator Wade Mark’s concerns about there being any “Cable and Wireless stooges” on it. He said the appointment of an executive director was expected in the next two weeks. Saith said the Board and his Ministry had been working on a number of matters concerning the overall governance of the Authority, such as a national spectrum audit. “When the Act is proclaimed, there would be an authority ready to move forward,” he assured.