Quick decision on concession Colombus

September 22, 2008 6:24 AM

Minister Maurice Adriaens (Telecommunication, FOL) expects a decision on the granting of the concession to Columbus Networks Curaçao soon. The Telecommunication and Post Bureau (BTP) has meanwhile given the local establishment of the international cable company the go ahead for providing international telephone- and internet services on the island.

All that is still needed is the approval of the government.

UTS and Sitkom have protested against this decision earlier this year. They were afraid of unfair competition by Colombus that is 94 percent owner of the Americas Region Caribbean Optical Ring System (Arcos), the fiber-optic cable network that connects the Caribbean with Central-America.

UTS is afraid that she will have to compete against the company from whom she buys capacity to get admission to the international cable. UTS is also afraid that other providers on the island, who are also UTS’ customers, will approach Colombus for buying capacity directly from this company, with all the consequences that come with it for UTS. Adriaens ignored UTS’ criticism at that time, saying that once Colombus becomes active on the island, only one wholesale price can be maintained for all local providers, which means that Arcos must charge only one price for capacity.

(Source: National Newspaper Amigoe)

20 September, 2008