Bermuda is set to get a new submarine telecommunications cable aimed at encouraging competition and increasing data-carrying capacity.

The Ministry of Telecommunications and E-Commerce (METEC) has written to 23 companies inviting them to apply for a licence to lay the cable and operate it.

And if the Ministry realises its planned timetable, the licence should be awarded by July this year.

Acting Director of Telecommunications Hiram Edwards said yesterday the Government?s primary aim from the provision of a new cable would be to increase competition between service providers ? and thereby improve prices and services for consumers.

?More competition leads to better prices for users and innovation in services,? Mr. Edwards said yesterday.

?The new cable will also provide extra capacity for carrying data ? not withstanding that Bermuda has lots of capacity already.?

Mr. Edwards added that new cable would provide badly needed back-up for geographically-isolated Bermuda?s crucial telecommunications links with the wider world. ?The Island needs two fully protected cables,? he said. ?Because of the naturally competitive nature of carriers, the current situation is not viewed as satisfactory from a business point of view.

??Fully protected? means that if you have a cable between Bermuda and the US and one segment fails, then another segment is there so it continues to operate as if nothing happened.?

The fragility of the world submarine cable network was highlighted last month when an earthquake off the southern tip of Taiwan damaged up to a dozen fibre-optic cables that cross the ocean floor. They usually carry traffic between China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, the US and Taiwan itself.

The magnitude-6.7 tremor caused Taiwan to lose almost all of its telephone capacity to Japan and mainland China, while service to the US also was hard hit, with 60 percent of capacity lost.

Although the quake occurred on the other side of the world, Bermuda residents felt the effects last Wednesday when HSBC Bank of Bermuda internet services were temporarily disrupted.

Patrick Deller, chief financial officer of Cable & Wireless in Bermuda, said yesterday: ?Bermuda certainly does need a new submarine cable. There are three cables serving the island at the moment, but these are coming towards the end of their useful lives.?

C&W is one of the companies the Government invited apply to install and operate the new cable. Mr. Deller said no decision had been made yet, but the company was looking at the possibility of applying.

Environment, Telecommunications and E-Commerce Minister Neletha Butterfield was unavailable for comment yesterday.

The Telecommunications Ministry?s proposals are outlined in a document issued by Ms Butterfield, sent to the Island?s major telecom companies and posted on the Government?s internet portal.

It states: ?In the interest of encouraging sustainable competition for the long-term benefits of telecommunications consumers in Bermuda, the Ministry of the Environment, Telecommunications and E-Commerce (METEC) is undertaking extensive consultations on a proposed regulatory reform for the telecommunications industry.?

Ms Butterfield added that several parties had already expressed an interest. The company which submits the winning tender will receive both an international telecommunications licence and the right to land the new cable in Bermuda.

Ms Butterfield stated: ?Building and operating a submarine cable facility represents a significant capital investment and I do not believe it would be in the interests of the Bermudian economy, nor telecommunications users in Bermuda, if more than one licence were to be awarded as this could potentially reduce the viability of the investment proposition for each licensee.

?Also, dragging and landing submarine cables can cause significant damage to the marine environment and, in my capacity as Minister responsible for the Environment, I wish to reduce such damage to a minimum whilst keeping the economic interests of Bermuda and its citizens at heart.?

Mr. Edwards said the Ministry was continuing consultations with the industry and hoped to send out the invitation to tender (ITT) document by the end of the month.

Once that is done, there will be a two-month period for companies to apply, followed by two to three months (depending on the number of applications) to evaluate the bids and then a further month to finalise the licences.