Telecommunications Commission report -- which he originally commissioned.

Mr. Winfield, the former Telecommunications Minister, said: "There are contradictions in the report.

"I agree with the report that Bermuda can't afford `cream skimmers' (those selling the re-use of existing services) but I believe the commission should allow more competition, especially those bringing added value.'' Mr. Winfield made the comments as TeleBermuda International Ltd., one of the companies whose telecommunications licence application was recommended for rejection, revealed yesterday that it planned a direct appeal to current Minister the Hon. Grant Gibbons -- who has the final say on the applications.

The Commission recommended that five applications, including TeleBermuda's, for "callback and voice resale services'' be rejected they were "cream-skimming'' by using the expensive technology of other companies to offer lower rates.

It recommended three proposals for wireless cellular and personal communications services be approved.

It also recommended that an application by the Bermuda Telephone Company --which holds a domestic telephone monopoly -- to offer overseas calls be put on hold, saying the application would be approved if Cable & Wireless, the overseas calls monopoly holder, submitted an application to run a local service.

Sen. Gibbons said yesterday will not be making his decision on the recommendations for at least another week. He will hold a news conference today to further explain the report to the public.

"I don't want to leave it too long. But I want to get the proper feedback,'' he said. "This will be a very important decision for the Country and the future development of telecommunications.'' Mr. Winfield said he was surprised at the decision to reject TeleBermuda's application, which proposed offering callback services initially before installing a link to a new fibreoptic cable called CANUS.

"We need to be encouraging the technology that will keep us on the cutting edge of telecommunications,'' Mr. Winfield said. "They (the commission) claim that right now with PTAT (Bermuda's existing fibreoptic cable link) that we have redundant capacity.

"But we don't have redundant capacity. That was evident just recently when the PTAT cable was down in March. We were in trouble. They switched to the satellite back-up, which is not as good as fibreoptics for data transmissions.'' Mr. Winfield said:"We're going to need a lot more telecommunications capability than we have now. The decision of the commission appears to encourage competition, only if it is incestuous.

"It was extraordinary to have them say that the Bermuda Telephone Company should be allowed to compete with Cable & Wireless' overseas service and Cable and Wireless should be allowed to compete domestically with Telco. Cable & Wireless were not even an applicant.'' TeleBermuda will now take its case to Sen. Gibbons, its founder said yesterday.

"It is only the first round,'' said Mr. Michael Kedar, TeleBermuda's president. "It can't be over. We acknowledge the work done by the commission, but they had some difficulties with the technical terms.

"We believe that they will come to their senses. It is too great an opportunity to let pass by.'' Mr. Kedar said he believed the Commission had misunderstood his company's proposal.

The report says the construction of another cable link would "undermine the viability of C&W and in the long term be detrimental to Bermuda's best interests''.

Mr. Kedar said: "There is no evidence that it would undermine the viability of C&W. Even C&W didn't take that position. People need to understand that we are not talking about sharing the same pie. We want to increase the size of the pie. It will mean more money for Cable & Wireless.

"It would mean more money for the Bermuda Government and Bermudians because we would be diversifying the economy, creating a new industry. And that is one of the recommendations right out of the Commission on Competitiveness.'' Telco general manager Mr. Ernest Pacheco said yesterday it was "premature'' to comment on the Commission's recommendation until management had fully read and discussed it.