The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

TRIBUNE Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

UNIONS representing Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) staff are pleading with the Government to regain majority ownership and save the carrier from “the claws of destruction” as it now seeks its seventh post-privatisation chief executive.

Sherry Benjamin, president of the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU), which represents BTC’s line staff, speaking to Tribune Business in the wake of Sameer Bhatti stepping down from the top post, said they had been alerted by senior management that another voluntary separation package (VSEP) and “restructuring” is imminent.

She added that few details had been provided when the BCPOU and Bahamas Communications and Public Managers Union (BCPMU) met with BTC executives almost two weeks ago, other than the VSEP terms and conditions would be “enhanced” compared to previous packages and the communications provider was hoping around 50 of its estimated 500 staff would accept the offer.

Branding staff morale and working conditions as “the worst I’ve seen it” during her 40-year career at BTC, Ms Benjamin told this newspaper that customer service quality is suffering due to what she blamed on lack of investment in the carrier’s network and infrastructure by its immediate and ultimate parent, Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) and Liberty Latin America.

Asserting that BTC is “haemorrhaging and bleeding really badly”, the union president added that she and her members are “hopeful and prayerful” that the Government will seek to “regain control” by either itself - or an alternative private partner - buying out CWC and Liberty Latin America. CWC has held Board and management control at the former state-owned communications monopoly for 15 years since the 2011 privatisation.

Ms Benjamin, labelling the privatisation concluded by the last Ingraham administration “a complete failure” as far as the interests of BTC staff and the wider Bahamas are concerned, said the unions have “heard rumours” that the Government is talking to Liberty Latin America with a view to either buying the latter out itself, or finding a private partner to do it, but is unaware of how far any discussions have progressed.

Sharazed Pickstock, president of the BCPMU, which represents BTC’s middle managers, yesterday echoed Ms Benjamin by stating himself and his union are “110 percent” behind the Government buying out CWC and Liberty Latin America and changing control at the carrier whose fortunes continue to “erode”. He, too, said he had heard the Davis administration is “interested” in such a deal, adding: “The Bahamian people deserve better.”

Liberty Latin America’s latest results for the 2026 second quarter and first-half to end-June, which do not include the profitability of its subsidiaries, show BTC’s revenues for the first six months fell by $11.9m or 12.2 percent from $97.7m the year before to $85.8m. For the second quarter, the carrier’s top-line dropped by $3m or 6.1 percent to $46.1m compared to $49.1m for the same period in 2025.

Both union heads spoke out after BTC confirmed in a statement that Mr Bhatti had informed the company’s Board he has decided to step down and “pursue other professional opportunities” while pledging “his full support to ensuring a smooth and orderly leadership transition”. Inge Smidts, CWC’s chief executive and BTC’s Board chair, will temporarily take charge of the carrier’s day-to-day operations until a replacement is secured.

Mr Bhatti becomes the sixth chief executive to depart BTC post-privatisation, following in the footsteps of Geoff Houston, Leon Williams, Dexter Cartwright, Garfield ‘Garry’ Sinclair and Andre Foster. Ms Benjamin said she and the unions were hearing unconfirmed suggestions that Gravette Brown, former chief commercial officer and business developer at Aliv, BTC’s mobile rival, is the front-runner to replace Mr Bhatti.

She disclosed that the latter’s departure was only confirmed in a call to BTC’s unions by Dominic Boon, CWC’s vice-president in charge of human resources, who she said “apologised for not getting the information to us beforehand” and prior to Mr Bhatti’s departure.

“We asked him what that means for the company,” Ms Benjamin said. “He said they are actively recruiting his replacement. We told him the company is haemorrhaging, it is bleeding really badly, and we need someone with telecommunications know how to set us on the path to profitability. He said to us no decision was made on who Sameer’s replacement will be, and once that person is found they will let both unions know and inform us.”

Disclosing that Ms Brown’s name “is topping the list” of likely replacements in the “spinning rumour mill” within BTC and the communications world, Ms Benjamin asserted that BTC’s network, physical plant and buildings is “deteriorating” because the carrier has “not paid enough attention to it”.

“They are not investing enough in upgrading the network,” she added. “As a customer I cannot say it’s good enough or something that I’m happy with. Not only as a union president and employees, but as a customer I’m not happy with it.

“I’ve been in BTC for 40 years and this is the worst that I’ve seen it. Honestly, this is the worst that I’ve seen it. It’s impacting the morale of staff. I don’t know if you’ve heard this part, but they came to both unions and said they are about to offer a VSEP to staff members. They did that the Tuesday before last.

“They are saying they are looking at around 50 persons, and they are saying it’s going to be an enhanced package from the last one they did. We don’t know what that means, and are waiting on them to come back, show us, tell us what the enhanced package looks like. They are also saying they are going to restructure the company,” Ms Benjamin said.

“They haven’t given us any plan. They just want to offer us a VSEP and, once the VSEP is completed, they are going to restructure the company. We [the unions] both endorsed a letter asking for the strategic plan, what is going to happen post this VSEP?”

Ms Benjamin, then urging the Davis administration to act decisively to rescue BTC, said: “We are hopeful and prayerful that the Government would work harder to try and save BTC from the claws of destruction and regain control of it. We have heard rumours that the Government is in talks with Liberty Latin America to buy it back. How far those talks have gotten, we are not aware.

“We are hoping those talks lead to a real, real solution because at this particularly point, I think it’s to save this company; a company that was built by Bahamians. We are hearing the Government is looking to buy it back, but we don’t know how far those talks are.” Tribune Business, too, has separately heard speculation that the Davis administration is interested in doing just that, and that the controlling interest in BTC may be in play, with private buyers also hovering in wait.

Ms Benjamin said the union had met with Valentine Grimes, BTC’s vice-chair, and the other government-appointed directors representing its 49 percent interest in the carrier, but “he’s not at liberty to say too much to us. I don’t know if it’s because they don’t want anything to come out as yet and they are holding information tight to their chest. They weren’t able to give us any information”, the union chief added.

But, describing a buy-out of CWC and Liberty Latin America as “the best thing”, Ms Benjamin added: “Right now, they are not doing a very good job of running the business on its current trajectory”. Blasting the privatisation as “a complete failure”, she said: “They have definitely not done what they are supposed to have. At this current point, we are far worse off than we were in 2011 when they came in.”

The BCPOU president also argued that privatisation marked a change in BTC’s culture, which moved away from persons having “a vested interest in the success of the company” to one that was focused on “the almighty dollar”.

She asserted: “When I came in I was told to use the company as a place to build a future. These people see it as a place to make money fast, fast. That’s the culture; they need to get to the top, make money and keep everyone else down so they can sit at the top as long as they can. That’s the culture here in the company. It’s not a good culture, and is part of the problem for why the company is failing.

“There is no succession planning. People are leaving with intimate knowledge of the network, the business, and people coming in are having to play catch up. We are playing catch up with people coming in to learn the network. There’s no succession planning in this business at all. That’s something I grew up with being a part of this company.”

Mr Pickstock, the management union head, backed Ms Benjamin by describing BTCV as being “in a very bad state”. He added: “We need someone to come into this business who knows about telecommunications, and who can steer the ship back on the right course we were on before privatisation.”

While the unions are not necessarily opposed to an internal restructuring, he added that this needed to be preceded by changes in BTC’s management and leadership, describing the Bahamian people as the real losers from the carrier’s post-privatisation performance.

“Yes, we are hearing that the Government is interested, and the Government needs to buy it back,” Mr Pickstock said. “Over 15 years, nothing has changed. The company continues to erode. This is a big investment for the Bahamian people. This is not only the BCPOU and BCPMU ‘s fight. This is the Bahamian people’s fight. The Bahamian people deserve better. It’s not only our fight.”