Telecommunications reform measures outlined in a draft bill due to go before the House of Assembly before its summer recess could spell the end for smaller operators in the industry and cost "hundreds of jobs".

That is the view of Jamie Thain, managing director of Internet service provider (ISP) Transact, who believes that the legislation is far from ready to be signed into law.

Vicki Coelho, general manager of another ISP, North Rock Communications, agreed the bill is not ready to go into the statute book, but declined further comment at this time.

Their comments come as industry representatives prepare to attend workshops on the proposed new legislation today and tomorrow, staged by the Ministry of Energy, Telecommunications and E-Commerce (METEC).

Two draft bills — for the Bermuda Electronic Communications Act and the Regulatory Authority Act — spells out how the Government intends to reform the industry.

The bills are the result of a five-year process which has included consultation with companies in the sector.

The legislation aims to deregulate the industry, to bring greater competition and to encourage greater investment in new technology. The legislation aims to disband the current licensing system — with three different licences which dictate which services can be offered by various providers — in favour of a universal telecommunications licence. Mr. Thain believes the end result could be smaller companies falling by the wayside, leaving just one or two of the larger companies surviving. The legislation is full of uncertainty, he added, creating a new regulator with sweeping discretionary powers.

He is also concerned that some loose definitions within the draft legislation could infringe on free speech and civil liberties.

"They are rolling the dice with people's lives," Mr. Thain said. "And what is it that they are trying to fix? There is already a lot of competition in this small market and Bermuda is one of the few countries where everyone has access to broadband Internet.

"This will cost hundreds of jobs. They say they want to give out licences within 60 days and this will immediately lead to people being laid off.

"The uncertainty surrounding the process has not encouraged investment. Some companies have held back from investing in the new infrastructure that would have brought faster Internet speeds, for example, because of the uncertainty."

American attorney Charles Breckinridge, of Washington, DC, firm Wiltshire and Grannis LLP, an expert in telecommunications law who has been hired by Transact, sees problems with the legislation. The liberalisation aims of the legislation were in common with reforms introduced elsewhere, he said. But when liberalisation was introduced with a lack of certainty on how regulation would work, he said the results could end up being the opposite of what METEC intended.

As an example, he cited the chaos seen in the telecoms sector in the Philippines after liberalisation occurred there in the 1990s, without clear guidelines on how regulators would deal with dominance in the market.

If the draft bill becomes law in its current form, Mr. Breckinridge predicted, "the people who own the facilities will be the last ones left standing".

A presentation by METEC in a town-hall meeting in 2007 stated that a finalised framework and analysis of the issue of market dominance would be dealt with before the new authority was created. It now appeared that this would happen after the law was enacted, leaving much to the discretion of the new regulator, Mr. Breckinridge said.

Terry Roberson, general manager of Bermuda CableVision, said: "Bermuda CableVision is currently in the process of reviewing the draft Regulatory Authority Act 2010 and the draft Electronic Communications Act 2010 and we find it too early to be providing an opinion.

"We'll be attending workshops with the Department of Telecommunications on Thursday and Friday this week to gain a better understanding of Government's position on this proposed legislation."