PM Says BTL Acquisition Boosts Underserved Areas

Well, the debate over BTL’s proposed acquisition is heating up, especially after the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry moved to oppose the deal. But Prime Minister John Briceño isn’t backing down. He says the chamber is choosing not to see the bigger picture, arguing that BTL’s real interest lies in Speednet’s customer cashflow. Still, the Prime Minister points to added benefits, including access to Speednet’s towers, which he says could fast‑track telecom development in underserved communities.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“I really don’t want to get into this back and forth because as you all know my family is involved but there are different ways in how you value companies and that has been explained to them. You know when you just don’t want to see something, that is what is happening right now. In the presentation the accounting firm Moore, their headquarters from Brazil made the valuation. What they are saying is that the market is pretty much saturated and it will cost nothing for BTL to move over to Smart because it is the same service they are providing. So what BTL is intending to do is to get all that cash flow from all those customers and then it will not cost them much to continue to provide service for those people because the already have the trucks and towers. With the extra towers they are going to get they will be able to provide better coverage to some of the areas in Toledo that is not financially feasible to provide the service there. But now because you have these towers you can deploy towers in these areas. Social Security is getting a rate of return of two percent on its investment at two percent social security will never get back the money they are investing in BTL.”