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Bahamas has plans to regulate telecoms market
NASSAU, Bahamas (AP): THE BAHAMAS' Ministry of Finance has introduced a plan to regulate telecommunications rates in preparation for the privatisation of the Caribbean country's state-owned telephone company. The new policy would establish a Public Utilities Commission to regulate a newly competitive market and other public utilities and would aim to reduce telecommunications charges to "reasonable and affordable rates," the ministry said in a statement Wednesday. The government last year announced its intention to sell a 49 per cent stake in the Bahamas Telecommunications Corp., keeping the company in Bahamian hands while opening up the market to the private sector. There have not been any announcements about interested bidders. "Experience in other countries has shown that telecommunications are best provided by the private sector, as this leads to more investment, efficiency gains, increased quality of service, innovation, lower prices and greater customer satisfaction," the ministry said. The Ministry said it introduced the policy in reaction to a 1998 review that determined that the Bahamas telephone company was slow to introduce products compared to US and European companies and also slow to invest in infrastructure and technology. The government in June 1999 trimmed 900 from the utility's payroll by offering early retirement packages, leaving about 1,100 workers.
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