According to Finance Minister Ralph Fonseca, the sale of BTL to ICC should be concluded by the end of this week.
But what has GOB had to throw in to sweeten what had been a dying deal? Well according to the opposition, government is prepared to grant ICC a four-year exclusive license to provide all fixed phone services. That means any call, which is not from a cell phone would have to be provided by BTL.
If true, that would relegate Intelco to providing only wireless services for cellular and international calls. More than that the opposition alleges that Intelco would be forced to keep its international rates above a certain minimum rate. This would protect BTL from ruthless race to the bottom competition, which is what Intelco is currently doing with its 25 cents a minute calls to the United States.
The opposition argues that these concessions would cancel any hope of competition. So with all this, the opposition has called on the government to cancel any sale that would include these concessions. The UDP also says it would challenge any such concessions in the Supreme Court.
And while that's the opposition view, the Ministry of Finance today had no comment as Fonseca was still in meetings at news time.