Commenting on Belize Telemedia Limited’s (BTL) acquisition
of Alternative Networks Ltd. (ANL), Leader of the Opposition,
Hon. Shyne Barrow, sounded a lot like Lord Ashcroft when he
said BTL was buying into “a dying industry”, that cable is a
“dinosaur.” Back in 2021, on his television station, Channel
Five, a smirking Lord Ashcroft said, “When you hear things
that, ah, Belize Telemedia is thinking of buying cable
companies, where cable is a dying industry…you say, what is
happening here? Is there a plan?” Lord Ashcroft opined that
the best bet Belize had for BTL was to sell it to an international
operator to raise much needed foreign currency.
Lord Ashcroft spoke as if he had genuine concern for BTL
and the Belizean people, but we have seen that every counsel
he gives and decision he makes is calculated to increase the
profits of his businesses. Our fortunes and his are not always
mutually exclusive, but far too often in our associations with
him we end up bust. Claiming to have no financial interest in
negotiations that would return BTL to public ownership in
2015, he and PM Barrow concluded a settlement agreement
in Miami that included a not insubstantial allocation of funds
which Barrow said would be “spent in Belize on charitable
projects for the good, welfare and wellbeing of the people of
this country.” We are yet to see any of these charitable projects.
Returning to Ashcroft’s counsel, the management at BTL
appeared to be not too interested in it. From the get-go, when
he took over the chairmanship of BTL, former senator Mark
Lizarraga promised that the company would be exploring every
avenue to increase profits for the company’s many small local
shareholders and the government and people of Belize.
After doing its due
diligence, for over a year, BTL
decided to acquire ANL.
According to Krem News, the
relatively small and unknown
ANL is a “cable company out
of the West which offers
internet access to Belmopan,
Belize City and surrounding
areas, [and] provides IP-TV
service or internet television
via the application SWITCH
TV for mobile phones and
homes, [an app that is] akin
to Netflix…”
Interestingly, Krem News
noted that “both the Minister
of Public Utilities and the
Prime Minister told the media
they knew nothing about the
purchase…” The Leader of
the Opposition, besides
saying the acquisition of
cable makes no sense, said
BTL paid $6 million for the
company, a price which he
considered exorbitant,
corrupt. The “sweethearts” at
ANL are believed to belong
to both of our country’s
major political parties. That
wouldn’t be a new thing.
Numerous big companies
and law firms feature
affiliates from both sides of
the aisle.
There are technical matters
and the cost of the
acquisition of ANL (when it
is revealed), which we are
BTL’s investment in
“content”: likely a
big plus for Belize
waiting for independent local experts to comment on. The deal
has major political implications. For a long time now, much of
the fortunes of our main political parties have ridden on the
stewardship of BTL. The UDP pulled a very fast one in 2015,
when PM Dean Barrow announced a great victory re: the
reacquisition of the company, and before the people realized
they’d been had, he raced off to the Governor General and
called a general election, which his party won. In time the people
found out it was a poorly negotiated deal, and in 2020, the
next general election, the UDP was obliterated at the polls. Of
course, it’s little consolation to punish political leaders when
they fail.
There will be the inevitable discussions about value for money,
about whether our majority publicly-owned telecommunications
company made a great transaction or this deal was improper
and impractical. Mr. Lizarraga, like former senator, Godwin
Hulse, has a big reputation to defend. When the day is done,
so much depends on the integrity and competence of the
captains we put to steer our various public enterprises.
At the very least, the eyebrows of the owners/managers of
local companies that provide internet and content went up
when they heard the announcement of BTL’s acquisition, for
the intent here is for the national company to take a greater
share of the market. It is to be seen how much of a win it will
be for rank-and-file Belizeans, but if the prime minister’s
argument for competition holds, there will be benefits coming
our way.
On Tuesday, BTL’s CEO, Ivan Tesecum, told Love FM’s
Hipolito Novelo that the acquisition is all about “quad play” —
BTL creating a one-stop shop of fixed phones, mobile phones,
internet, and content (streaming movies). One of the big stories
at BTL has been the tremendous fiber optic capacity the
company possesses that wasn’t being exploited. Tesecum said
the entry of BTL into the delivery of legitimate content was “a
natural evolution”, similar to what other like companies abroad
have done and are doing, and it will allow the company to
maximize on its fiber-to-home asset.
Interestingly, Tesecum made no mention of cable, which
might be an oversight or a decision by BTL that the cable
doomsayers are right. There aren’t any published statistics on
the viewing habits of Belizeans, but BTL’s due diligence might
have shown it to be different from that of Americans. In the
US, cable is trending downward, but it is far from being on life
support. Sara Lebow, reporting in eMarketer on research done
on the viewing habits of people in that country recently, said
“among those ages 55 and older, 38% spend more time
watching content on cable than on any other platform”, while
40% spent “most of their video viewing time with those digital
services.” She also reported that 21% of adults between 42
and 55, 16% of adults between 26 and 41, and 9% of adults
under 25, still watch cable.
There could be positives beside the improvement of BTL’s
bottom line. The potential for cheaper and better services could
be a big win for users of telecommunication products. There is
also much room for the production of local content.
Presently, the content on television is predominantly foreign.
In the area of Belizean content, the staples for local television
stations are limited to talk shows, karaoke contests, and
sporting events. There is little investment in the production of
documentaries, sitcoms, and movies, largely because they are
too costly and private companies are consumed with quick
profits. BTL, the national company, has the resources and
should have the vision, to invest in content that will advance
the culture and cultures of Belize.
As the Prime Minister keeps saying, competition is good.
Today, with BTL’s expansion, there should be more profits for
our company, we should get better and cheaper services, and
owners/producers of local content should have a new business
on the block vying for their products.