The board of the Telecommunications Authority of T&T (TATT) is deliberating on the four applications it has received from companies that are keen to win T&T's third public domestic mobile telecommunications licence, the authority confirmed on Monday.
The authority said it could not divulge further information on the concessions until a decision is made, which is expected to be this week.
TATT first issued its response for proposals (RFP) inviting bids for a third mobile operator in early August 2013.
In mid-August 2014, the authority published a notice which stated it had received four applications: Cable and Wireless (T&T) Ltd (C&W), Columbus Communications Trinidad Ltd, Star Mobile Caribbean Ltd and Telesur (Suriname).
The address TATT published for C&W was 48-50 Sackville Street, Port-of-Spain, which the Business Guardian learnt is the address for the law firm Fitzwilliam Stone Furness-Smith & Morgan. When contacted, the receptionist at the firm said it did not want to comment on the application as its policy was to protect the confidentiality of its clients.
London-based Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC) owns a 49 per cent stake in TSTT, alongside National Enterprises Ltd, the investment holding company for the T&T Government that owns 51 per cent of the local telecommunications provider.
It is unprecedented for a minority shareholder in a local telecommunications company to be bidding for a licence that would potentially set up a competitive situation against itself.
For the period ended March 31, 2014, CWC reported US$1.045 billion in revenue which can be compared to March 31, 2013 when the company reported US$1.12 billion.
Though revenue decreased by seven per cent, the group reported an increase in broadband subscribers for the period ended March 31, 2014, was 240,000 compared to 223,000 in 2013.
Chairman Sir Richard Lapthorne said in his review: "2013/2014 was a pivotal year for Cable & Wireless Communications. We completed the disposals of two major business units, Macau and Islands during the year, and the disposal of Monaco in May, we refocused our business on a single geography in the Caribbean and Latin America and established a new operating hub in Miami and we appointed a new chief executive and management team to lead our company forward."
Meantime, Martin Roos, CWC's chief executive in the Caribbean, described the financial year as a challenging one, "in which we reduced costs and improved services in several key markets. However, declines in fixed voice and enterprise revenue weighed on the business," he said in the Caribbean performance review. He anticipated that in one of the markets in the Caribbean, there would be positive developments.
"We are also planning to launch LTE in Antigua and Barbuda. We have entered into a partnership with the Antigua and Barbuda Government to improve access to technology and training for the disabled and job seekers."
In a Guardian November 2012 article, Cable & Wireless Communications chief financial officer, Tim Pennington, had said the company wanted to take full control of TSTT or it would exit the T&T market.
"Our preferred objective is to move to full control, which is what we have done in other markets such as the Maldives, but if we can't do this, we will exit it. We'd like to resolve the situation one way or another soon," Pennington told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview at the release of CWC's six-month financial report.
In early May 2014, media reports indicated that CWC chief executive officer Phil Bentley met with Finance Minister Larry Howai to talk about the company gaining control of TSTT. The CWC strategy involves it buying an additional two per cent of TSTT, then placing that two per cent in an employee trust or charitable foundation.
In May 2014, in a Business Guardian interview, CWC confirmed it had bid for a concession to provide mobile services in the T&T market. Bentley indicated the company was interested in obtaining its concession licence.
TATT indicated a third provider in the T&T market will introduce lower prices for customers.
However, in August 2013, Dr Joseph Laquis, former chief executive officer of LaqTel Ltd, which had been granted concessions and licences in 2005 for the provision of mobile telecommunications services in T&T, said it would not be lucrative for a third mobile provider to join an already-saturated T&T market.
CWC is headquartered in London and is listed on the London Stock Exchange. Its operational hub is in Miami and it has companies spread across the Caribbean and Latin America since 1870.