Bahamas Telecommunications Corporation

An announcement is expected any day now on the winning bid for the lucrative contract to privatise the Bahamas Telecommunications Corporation.The thirteen original bidders for the BaTelCo contract down was whittled down to four earlier this month.

Bermuda has gained a significant competitive edge over rival offshore domiciles in the Caribbean by ending the telecommunications monopoly of Cable & Wireless and introducing a second long-distance carrier.International rates from Bermuda were already the lowest of rivals such as the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas and Barbados, according to a survey conducted by Offshore Business News & Research, which publishes Offshore Alert.But, since Bermuda's government granted a second international licence in January to TeleBermuda International - which has yet to begin offering a service, Cable & Wireless has answered the threat of competition by lowering rates to many countries, some by almost a third.