Government
Selection of Suitable Candidate

 

Phase I:  A Technical and Financial Assessment of Applicants’ Proposals

On 29th April 2015, the Cellular Liberalisation Task Force announced that the Government appointed Evaluation Committee had determined those applicants with the necessary capacity to offer high quality cellular mobile services across The Bahamas, and that were eligible to participate in Phase II. The Task Force’s announcement can be found here.

 

The criteria adopted by the Evaluation Committee included the following, and are further detailed in the Request for Proposals document.

 

Financial Capability

 

 Whether the applicant has demonstrated that it has the necessary financial strength to be able to deliver its planned operations.

Technical Capability

 

 Whether the applicant has demonstrated that it has the necessary technical capabilities (track record and experience, technical proposal, roll-out plan, quality of service commitments, etc.) to meet the requirements of the licences to be granted, and any additional commitments made by the applicant.

Business Plan

 

 Whether the applicant has a realistic and achievable business plan, including marketing and pricing strategies, proposed customer service standards, financial plan, personnel plan and local benefits plan.

Ownership Structure

 

Whether the applicant agrees that:

  • There will be majority equity ownership by the Bahamian people in NewCo.
  • The equity ownership of Bahamians will be widely distributed
  • Management control and strategic policy-making will be vested with the applicant.


In addition, during Phase I, URCA conducted a pre-assessment to determine whether applicants would be suitable for the grant of individual licences under the Communications Act.
 

Phase II:  An Auction of Specific Blocks of Premium Radio Spectrum

Applicants that progressed to this phase participated in the spectrum auction, which was conducted by URCA. URCA administered an online multi-round ascending auction through a dedicated secure software platform.

 

For the purpose of this process, spectrum was made available in the 700 MHz, 850 MHz, 1700/2100 MHz and 1900 MHz Bands. The specific blocks that were available for auction and further details of the auction process are outlined in the RFP.

 

In its conduct of this two-phased process, the Government sought to introduce a balance between optimising the revenue from allocating rights to valuable spectrum, with its broader objectives of encouraging investment and innovation in the Electronic Communications Sector (ECS).

 

In October 2015, the Cellular Liberalisation Task Force announced that Cable Bahamas Limited was determined as the successful bidder in the spectrum auction, and had advanced to satisfy the ownership requirements for licensing, including:

  • Honouring its commitment to have at least 51% of the shares of NewCo (the company which will be granted the licence) owned by HoldingCo, a 100% Bahamian owned company);
  • Honouring its commitment to become a party with HoldingCo, to the proposed NewCo shareholders’ agreement; and
  • Complying with other provisions in the proposed shareholders agreement.

 

 

Notices/Updates
  • To Operate a Cellular Mobile Network and Provide Cellular Mobile Services in The Bahamas
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