The resolution of the cable dispute on Friday night demonstrates how agreements can be reached and good sense displayed when two sides sit down and have a an honest exchange of views.

Government and Bermuda CableVision were never that far apart on the question of the licence, but the need to posture and save face meant that Bermudians got pretty nervous for a while.

There are several lessons to be learned from last week's drama. The first is that the community is far too dependent on television, apparently to the extent that people had no idea what to do without it. To be sure, as paying customers, CableVision's clients expect a service, but the panic which could be detected in people's voices, in letters to the Editor and so on suggests an unhealthy dependence on TV.

The second is that CableVision, even though it was within its rights to withdraw service, has an enormous amount to do to improve its customer relations and image. It seems clear that if people had another cable choice they would take it quickly.

The third is that Government needs to rethink how it deals with its licencees. The brinkmanship and legal ineptitude of the Ministry of Telecommunications created a crisis where none existed and did do damage to the Island's reputation. The idiocy of that is that the Ministry was correct to demand a service level agreement and CableVision was appparently willing to sign one, but not on the basis that it could be lost or renegiortiated within 12 months.

All in all, no one comes out of this very well, unless you are looking for a textbook example of how not to negotiate an agreement.