A BIG Deal! BTL Chairman Defends Telecom Consolidation Push

The debate over the future of Belize’s telecommunications sector intensified during BTL’s press conference this morning. Board Chairman Markhelm Lizarraga said rapid global and digital shifts leave the company with no choice but to adapt.

“Belize, obviously, is changing fast. Now, we’re even under potential threats from international players. The telecom sector has become somewhat of a victim of the OTT’s and we need to change, we need to adapt, we need to constantly be on top of our game. Why? Because BTL is an essential service, and we play a significantly important role in the economy of our country, communications in our country, and national security in our country,” said Markhelm Lizarraga, Chairman of the Board of Belize Telemedia Limited (BTL).

Lizarraga argued that Belize’s telecom industry is overcapitalised, pointing to parallel towers, duplicated cables, and multiple billing systems operated by competing providers. “All that duplication is just waste, and the consumers pay for that,” he said, adding that it is inefficient, costly, and ultimately paid for by consumers.

He said BTL has invested heavily in redundancy to ensure reliability, spending up to $35 million annually on infrastructure to maintain what he described as “99.99% uptime.” He added that consolidation would reduce inefficiencies and improve returns for shareholders, including the Government of Belize and the Social Security Board.

“ The government, the people of Belize… Let’s say the government itself as a majority shareholders, has about $450 million invested in this company,” Lizarraga said. “If we continue along this path of inefficiency in the industry, the people and government of Belize, and the workers of Belize through the Social Security Board, will not receive the return on investment that they should have in a logical timeframe.”

The comments come amid mounting concern from the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), which has warned that any takeover of SMART by BTL could entrench monopoly power and expose public funds to risk without adequate oversight or competition safeguards.

The proposed acquisition by BTL of SMART and three cable companies, Centaur Communications Corp Ltd., NEXGEN TV, and Southern Cable Network Ltd., is estimated at over $150 million. If the deal goes through, it would leave the country with a single dominant telecom provider.