With the Prosser acquisition of BTL, it's supposed to be it's a time of promise in the telecommunication industry but try telling that to 25 Intelco employees who spent a downcast Easter after they got their walking papers on Thursday.
INTELCO's CEO Juan McKenzie today confirmed to 7NEWS that the 25 workers from the sales and technical department were laid off as part of what he calls restructuring. McKenzie says that it's an adjustment to the new situation where the company has to prepare for no interconnection.
Of course, the new situation sounds a lot like the old situation, but McKenzie says he remains optimistic his company can compete aggressively in the wireless and long distance sectors. He stressed that the staffing cutback - representing what our sources say are 16% of all Intelco staff - is not a sign of downsizing or imminent closure; instead he says Intelco will remain viable as a telecom provider. He did concede that talks about interconnection with BTL's new ownership have not started.
Of course, by the wording of GOB's contract with the new BTL ownership - Intelco seems to be in a losing position since the PUC's approved rate interconnection - must factor in Prosser's 15% guaranteed rate of return - which will drive that rate up. That's a position first ventilated by the opposition - and that's pretty much what UDP leader Dean Barrow is reported to have told Jeffrey Prosser when they met today. Barrow this evening confirmed that Prosser paid him a courtesy call this afternoon. He would only say that the new BTL owner explained his position while Barrow restated his.