TELECOMMUNICATIONS BTL CEO DEAN BOYCE gives tame interview on own Channel 5

photo/image of Dean Boyce, CEO of BTL in Belize


DEAN BOYCE INTERVIEW ON CHANNEL 5

Saw the morning interview on Monday, on Channel 5, in which Dean Boyce got to put the view of BTL for Ashcroft. Dean was a smooth talker, rationalized his arguments well, made lots of PROMISES, PROMISES, PROMISES about the future, etc.

I’m reminded of a childhood rhyme. It went something like BERTIE BUNNY SO SMALL AND WEE, went traveling the world to see. Along the Nile he met a CROCODILE, who invited him to dinner beneath the NILE.

The essence of the TV interview with Dean Boyce was a hardening of my opinion and history of BTL. This is a ROBBER BARON company in my opinion. They want a MONOPOLY, they want guaranteed PROFITS that can be pulled out of the country and invest in other countries, etc., etc., with promises of services to come in the future. BALONEY I say! Pure disingenuous MALARKY. They want to expand their investment in Belize and profitability and value at Belizeans expense, for later sale of the company down the road. Great if you can convince the amateurs in government to do that, from a company viewpoint.
He wants to eliminate any more competition, change the tax rate with vague promises of lowering service rates. We all know that to be liard from decades of BTL history.. The stupid arguments about TRUSTS owning most of BTL is pure nonsense and would get thrown out in the USA court system.
This is a disingenuous company. I think the Government should nationalize the company before it gets too big and too expensive to take over. What the hell, nationalize and give them BONDS. Play their own hardball game. Or alternative options would be to invite the Mexican telecommunications to come in and service the Northern half of the country and the Guatemalan telecommunications company to come in and service the southern half of the company in competition.
The crux of the matter is; that darned fiber optic cable access. Local competition can’t operate without access to the fiber optic cable. Or can we make a deal to get access from over the two borders of neighboring countries, we are adjacent too? Via microwave maybe? Thus to enable competition.
The TV interview cemented my belief that MUSA was BLACKMAILED into that ACCOMODATION AGREEMENT. HOW is the question? I can’t believe that the accommodation agreement is LEGAL, if it never was approved by the CABINET and the HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. How the heck can you give ONE COMPANY guaranteed tax relief and guaranteed PROFITS, if you don’t give the same deal to all the rest of us. Does the RADISSON HOTEL get 15% guaranteed profits? Does the San Ignacio HOTEL get guaranteed profits and elimination of competition? We need a FAIR AND LEVEL playing field for foreign and local investment.
We know from BTL history, that the company promises are worth nothing. It is all about pulling out PROFITS to spend abroad. Also in increasing asset worth and sticking the customer with the cost of technological upgrades. The latter is a stockholder responsibility, not a valid argument at all.
If you guarantee profits, then you have to insist those profits are re-INVESTED in other areas of Belize and development companies. You can’t take them out of the country. Monopoly time is over for BTL, or should be after all these years and decades. Sure technology changes, that is supposed to be the private sector company responsibility to pay for their own investment changes. Since such investments change their profit profile, this is part of EVERY business problem in the country. You deal with it as a business, as part of your operating costs. It is no different from our place, having to buy a satellite system, to do what BTL transmitter just a mile away cannot do. Or upgrading our computers every three years. These are costs of doing business for everybody else in the country, why not BTL?
I thought Dean Boyce presented his arguments well, but it was a pure CON job! That is my opinion! That was the JUNIOR CROCODILE speaking for DADDY crocodile. There was a lot of talk about what other regional companies are doing. Baloney again! Who cares except as an exercise in theory. If the GOB cannot get satisfaction with BTL, I think they should NATIONALIZE, or invite the microwave links from over the borders of Guatemala and Mexico.. Dean would work as well for a new master if we nationalized as his old master I’m sure? Anyway, he is not indispensable.
The arguments about country size, dispersed populations and per capita incomes, etc., are valid from a PROFIT generating viewpoint that DEAN made, but basically irrelevant if you want your investment worth, to grow with the population that is set to DOUBLE in less than ten years. You re-invest for the future. Every company in the country is doing that, from Drug Stores, Pawn shops, to hotels, to hardware stores, etc. What BTL wants is a money machine, where the customer pays for everything and allows them to reap a crop of FOREIGN EXCHANGE to spend in some other country. I wish I could do that with my business. Hey Prime Minister Barrow, I want guaranteed 15% profits too!