Cabinet pulls the plug on BTL’s proposed acquisition of Smart 

After months of debate, consultations, public criticism and competing arguments over the future of Belize’s telecommunications sector, Cabinet announced this evening that it does not support the proposed acquisition, effectively bringing the controversial merger proposal to an end.  The decision was announced in a brief but definitive statement from the Government of Belize late this afternoon. Cabinet acknowledged that the proposed acquisition of SMART/Speednet Limited by Belize Telemedia Limited had become a matter of national concern and said Government had an obligation to carefully review the available information while considering the views expressed by its members, the social partners, the media and the wider public.  The statement comes after months of public discussion surrounding the proposed deal, including questions over competition, valuation, transparency, worker concerns and whether consolidating the country’s two major telecommunications providers would ultimately benefit Belizean consumers.  Over the past six months, senior Cabinet ministers, including Deputy Prime Minister Cordel Hyde, Foreign Minister Francis Fonseca, Public Service Minister Henry Charles Usher and Infrastructure Minister Julius Espat, have publicly weighed in on various aspects of the proposed acquisition.

Cordel Hyde, Deputy Prime Minister: “When it was announced that the Prime Minister pressed the pause button on the acquisition I was happy happy happy. You all tell the truth, weren’t you happy too ? Tell the truth, weren’t you happy too ? The pause is PUP at its best. What was happening before I don’t know what that was, that was not PUP. The pause is PUP at its best because what the pause allows us to do now is to make sure that there is real genuine consultation with the people of Belize on this issue.”

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education: “My expectation is that at our next cabinet meeting that we will receive a briefing on the matter. I look forward to that briefing and coming out of that I think I will be a better position to offer any comments on the matter. But for now I will reserve any public comments on it until we get proper information. Until we get proper information.”

Henry Charles Usher, PUP Chairman: “We need our people to hear the facts behind this potential or this proposed merger. And that’s why the representatives from BTL were invited to address the different caucuses. Now I think that this is an important development. This is what participatory democracy is all about. This is about allowing the people to hear what is going on, getting the information, asking their questions and I can tell you that the questions being asked are tough question. I can tell you that the questions and the challenges being made to the BTL executives have them on their toes, they have to explain what is going on.”

Julius Espat, Minister of Infrastructure Development: “I think there’s a misconception that you have these privately publicly owned companies and they believe that they don’t have to consult with the Belizean people. That I have a serious problem with. You either own it or you don’t own it and we own it. So if we own it you have to come to us and ask our opinion. And that’s why Cabinet is reluctant in making a position because it was waiting for all the consultations to happen including with the media. The media is extremely important in this. The concern that the media has if you have a monopoly and you can affect them in the future it’s something that has to be addressed and it has to be put in place before an agreement is done. It’s just my point of view and that we need competition. From the day I was born that is what I believe in, in having competition and the reason you have two telephone companies is because the concept of competition was there from the beginning. So I’ve listened to what BTL has had to say and as a company, any company wants a monopoly but that doesn’t mean it is in the best interest of the consumers and that is where I believe we have to be looking at.”

According to today’s release, after what it describes as “careful deliberation,” Cabinet’s informed position is that it does not support the proposed acquisition.  The decision effectively closes the door on the proposed consolidation of BTL and SMART.