But, he didn't say for how long, So, the days, weeks, maybe months to come will tell us more about this pause, but today the media pressed the PM for some clarity on why. He said the PUC now has to get involved in what has become a very messy acquisition:
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"What has been happening is that they put the cart ahead of the horse. The PUC needs to get involved. For instance when BEL wants to buy an equipment that cost 30 million dollars for instance and they want to make certain expansions and they want to increase rates, they have to go to the PUC and the PUC would then take a hard look at what they're doing, take a hard look at the numbers and see if it's correct, if it works or not and so that same thing applies to telecommunications and so the minister felt that it is only right to put everything on halt. There's just been a lot of misinformation from both sides so he felt that the best thing to do right now is for the PUC to step in and to take a look at what BTL is proposing and then to see if it is something that is in the best interest of the country and then they could make a recommendation as to the way forward."
"What is happening now is for, and I don't know all the details, I think Minister Chebat would be the best person that could answer you, but basically it's for the PUC to put everything on a stop and said, we legally should step in, we should have been the first one, we should have come in and been able to take a look at what it is that you're proposing so that by itself, we're going to do that. Also, there's supposed to have been regulations a long time ago, I think Smart went to make the case that BTL is a dominant provider and the court case, they won in court, but the previous government never made any kind of limitations, regulations to ensure that there can be some kind of level playing field between both players so again, because of all that has been happening now, the PUC is saying we need to do regulations, we need to relook at the issue of whether BTL is a dominant provider and also to look at if it makes sense what BTL is proposing with a merger."
