Stop order stopped! “New” B.T.L. rates revived

If you’re standing up, it might be a good time to sit down, because the following news may take a bit of concentration. When we last left the controversy between B.T.L. and government, government lawyers had succeeded in convincing the Supreme Court that a stop order issued by Minister of Public Utilities Ralph Fonseca was valid and that the new rate structure implemented by B.T.L. on December first must be scrapped in favour of the tariffs which existed before that date. After the courtroom verdict, CAPU claimed victory, Government introduced a new competitor called Intelco and B.T.L. Chairman Michael Ashcroft defiantly took his case to the media.

Today the tectonic plates of the Belizean telecommunications landscape shifted once again as the Supreme Court decided that the stop order wasn’t such a good idea after all. In a decision delivered at 3:00 this afternoon, Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh issued an order directing Minister Ralph Fonseca to suspend statutory instrument number eleven of 2001 and restraining him from taking any other action on B.T.L. rates until the court has had a chance to hear the substantive issues of B.T.L.’s application for judicial review. The case, which began Friday evening, continued all day Monday and concluded today, pitted B.T.L. lawyer Lois Young-Barrow against Solicitor General Elson Kaseke and deputy Minnet Hafiz.

While the reasoning behind the ruling has not been released, it would appear that the Chief Justice accepted Young-Barrow’s argument that B.T.L.’s rate revision had been planned for a long time, implemented in good faith and should be allowed to stand until the legality of government’s eleventh-hour S.I. is thoroughly examined. While it is now government’s turn to lick its wounds and Mr. Ashcroft’s time to smile, the big question for consumers remains unchanged: “How much is a phone call?” The answer is not all that complicated. January bills, soon to be sent out, will not reflect today’s decision. They will come in at the old pre-December rates. Beginning with February’s bills, the “new” December rates will be reinstated. That is line access will rise to twenty dollars and local calls will double to ten cents a minute…while cellular, interdistrict and international calls will all drop by substantial amounts.

So essentially, we’re back to where we were three months ago. Whether the next round is fought in the Supreme Court or the court of public opinion is largely up to government and CAPU. This evening News 5 was unable to contact members of either group. Chances are, they will not remain silent for long.