P.U.C. schedules hearings on BTL rates

Today is the first working day since the implementation of B.T.L.’s new rate structure, and various groups and individuals are raising their voices against the drastically increased cost of local phone calls. A committee led by the P.S.U. and B.N.T.U. today called for a Wednesday morning demonstration, but it appears that any effective nation-wide consumer action against the company will await the outcome of hearings by the Public Utilities Commission. Those hearing have been Gazetted as required by law and are scheduled for December eleventh at the Radisson in Belize City. Sessions will run from ten a.m. to noon and two to five with each speaker limited to five minutes. The P.U.C. is still soliciting written comment from the public and has received around one hundred communications so far, all critical of the new rates. Following the public hearings, the P.U.C. is expected to quickly issue a directive to B.T.L. on what its rates should be. The only problem with this scenario is that B.T.L. has not acknowledged the jurisdiction of the commission, insisting that under the terms of its operating licence, granted in 1988, they are free to determine rates as they see fit. The stage is thus set for a serious conflict, which will test the persuasive powers of government and will of consumers against the public relations and legal skills of Belize’s biggest and most profitable company.