ECS 02/2021 First Round Responses the Review of Wholesale Broadband Access Services Preliminary Determination

On 26 February 2021, URCA launched a two-round consultation process in respect of the subject matter. We have completed the first round of consultation, and now we wish to invite written comments on the views of the first-round respondents.

ECS 06/2020 Be Aliv and Cable Bahamas Response to URCA Draft Annual Plan 2021

Be Aliv Limited (Aliv) and Cable Bahamas Ltd. (CBL) thank The Utilities Regulation & Competition Authority (URCA) for the opportunity to comment on its draft annual plan for 2021. The work carried out by URCA has a significant impact on the consumers and operators in the regulated sectors, and we appreciate being able to provide our views on the work to be carried out by URCA during 2021. Aliv and CBL hope that these comments will assist URCA in finalising its programme of work. We do not comment on the work done or proposed for the electricity sector.  

ECS 06/2020 BTC Response to URCA Draft Annual Plan 2021

The Bahamas Telecommunications Company Limited (BTC) welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority’s (URCA) Draft Annual Plan for 2021 (the “Draft Annual Plan”).

Public Register of: Individual Licensees and Class Licensees Requiring Registration

The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority URCA,  Public Register of Individual and Registered Class Licensees 2 June 2021. 

Request for Proposals and Terms of Reference For Surveys on Information and Communication Technologies for Persons with Disabilities In the Bahamas

The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) invites interested entities to submit proposals for services to conduct a Surveys on Information and Communication Technologies for Persons with Disabilities In the Bahamas The purpose of this Request for Proposals and Terms of Reference (“RFP and TOR”) is to identify a suitably qualified Consultant to conduct a statistically robust and representative survey to determine whether there is sufficient accessibility, affordability, awareness, and availability of Information and Communication Technologies (“ICTs”) and electronic communication services for Persons With Disabilities (“PwDs”) in The Bahamas to enhance their social and economic development. Complete proposals must be received by no later than 4:00 p.m. on the response deadline date of 14 June 2021. Late proposals will not be accepted.

URCA 01/2021 Annual Report 2020 AND 2021 Annual Plan

The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (“URCA”) presents the 2020 Annual Report and 2021 Annual Plan in compliance with section 41 of the URCA Act 2009. The Report which must be published by 30^th April each year provides a detailed accounting of  the work of the authority including its audited financial reports for the preceding year, and, following consultation with critical stakeholders, a work plan for the current year.

ECS 12/2018 Statement of Results and Final Determination on Net Neutrality and OTT Services

The Utilities Regulation & Competition Authority (URCA) issues this Statement of Results and Position Statement on Net Neutrality and OTT Services in The Bahamas in accordance with sections 11 and 12 of the Communications Act, 2009 (Comms Act). This document marks the conclusion of the public consultation process on “URCA’s Preliminary Position on Net Neutrality and OTT Services in The Bahamas. Globally, the availability of OTT services has grown exponentially over the past ten years. The Bahamas has seen similar growth in the availability of OTT services and related innovations as the rest of the world. The increasing availability and demand for OTT services has created a dilemma for telecommunications regulatory authorities. On the one hand, the availability of OTT services advances the ECSP objectives by:

1. Promoting the availability of a wide range of content services which are of high quality; and
2. Enhancing the efficiency of the Bahamian electronic communications sector and the productivity of the Bahamian economy.

On the other hand, take-up of availability of OTT services can result in reduced profit margins for some telecommunications service providers and consequently hinder the advancement of specific ECSP objectives such as, among other things:

1. Promoting investment and innovation in electronic communications networks and services; and
2. Promoting affordable access to high-quality networks and carriage services in all regions of The Bahamas.

This regulatory dilemma is causing telecommunications regulatory authorities to review their regulatory framework and ensure alignment between the network traffic management policy of telecommunications providers and national electronic communications policy objectives.  This public consultation process along with this Statement of Results and Final Position provides URCA’s response to that regulatory dilemma.

ES 06/2018 Statement of Results and Final Decision on on BPL’s Consumer Protection Plan

Today the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority, URCA published its Statement of Results and Final Decision (SOR) with regards to the Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) Consumer Protection Plan (CPP).   In accordance with the Electricity Act, (EA), BPL is mandated to produce a Consumer Protection Plan which must then be vetted by URCA.  Following established consultation rules, and after an initial review and revision of the document, URCA engaged the public in an extensive period of consultation holding town meetings throughout several family islands and New Providence. At the conclusion of the consultation process, the legislation requires URCA to review the feedback received, and provide an assessment of the document.  The next step is for BPL produce a final document, within 30 days of this press release, incorporating the suggested changes and then communicate its contents to BPL’s consumers. The CPP stipulates service level requirements for BPL for when the company interacts with its customers.  The CPP is consistent with industry standards and will govern the relationship between BPL and its consumers in all matters pertaining to the provision of services offered by BPL, inclusive of complaints and dispute resolution processes. The purpose of the uploaded Statement of Results and Final Decision is to:

1. Provide URCA’s assessment of the CPP;
2. Summarise the written submissions received in response to the Consultation Document;
3. Provide URCA’s analysis of and comments on the submissions received in response to the Consultation Document;
4. Ensure that BPL’s CPP is compliant with the legal and regulatory requirements of its operating Licence and the EA.

The full statement of results and determination can be found below.

ECS 09/2018 Final Determination Resale Broadband Obligation

The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) has today published a Final Determination on the requirement for The Bahamas Telecommunications Company Ltd. (“BTC”) and Cable Bahamas Ltd. (“CBL”) to continue to offer a resale fixed broadband product.  The determination also addresses the need for both operators to update their current product offerings to ensure they are fit-for-purpose and in-line with market developments. By way of background, URCA imposed an obligation as part of its 2010 Final Decision (ECS 11/2010) for both BTC and CBL to offer a resale fixed broadband product in the respective geographic markets where they were considered to have significant market power (SMP).  This SMP obligation aims to provide a low-cost option for alternative providers to enter the fixed broadband market and offer retail services in direct competition to BTC and CBL without having to deploy their own network infrastructure and therefore furthers URCA’s objective of promoting competition. In keeping with the principle of light-touch regulation, URCA did not review or approve the terms and conditions or pricing of these offers beyond its high-level compliance check of the offers in 2010. After several industry players raised concerns about the nature of the current offers, URCA was concerned that there had not been any take-up of the resale broadband services to date given the elapsed time since the offers were available. For these reasons, URCA commenced this review. URCA issued the Preliminary Determination for this consultation on 31 October 2017. The first round of responses to the consultation were initially due on 15 January 2018 but were later extended to 28 February 2018. The second round of responses were initially due on 14 February 2018 and then extended to 2 April 2018. URCA received responses from Andros Lakeside Development Company Ltd (“ADC”), BTC, and CBL as a part of the first round. Subsequently, BTC and CBL made submissions as part of the second round. In this Final Determination, URCA reconfirmed the SMP designations of BTC and CBL in wholesale fixed broadband services and hence the need to maintain this obligation. URCA then reviewed the price and non-price terms and conditions of BTC’s and CBL’s resale offers to ensure that these are reasonable and can support the development of effective and  efficient competition in the retail broadband services market. Taking into account the submissions received, URCA determined that:

• CBL holds SMP in the wholesale market for fixed broadband services in New Providence, Abaco, Eleuthera and Grand Bahama only; and
• BTC holds SMP in the wholesale market for fixed broadband services in all areas where CBL does not currently offer retail fixed broadband services.

In view of this, BTC and CBL are required to amend and resubmit revised resale broadband offers as set out in Section 2 of the Final Determination to URCA on or before 31 August 2018. Upon review and approval, URCA will indicate the timeframe for both operators to publish the respective resale broadband offers on their websites. The full Final Determination can be found below.