A new long-distance telephone company may have to build its own fibre-optic cable to North America.

TeleBermuda International Ltd. had originally hoped to build a spur to a mid-Atlantic submarine cable junction box planned by Canadian telecommunications company Teleglobe Canada Inc.

But it is understood that Cable & Wireless -- now the sole provider of long-distance service in Bermuda -- has since reached agreement with Teleglobe for access to its CANUS cable.

But TeleBermuda founder Mr. Michael Kedar said he believed the company could find the financing for its own multi-million dollar cable, which would eventually become part of a new worldwide network being launched by an affiliated company.

GeoReach Telecommunications Inc., in which TeleBermuda has a ten percent equity interest, has applied to the Canadian Government to be allowed to compete with Teleglobe, which announced recently it would not seek an extension of its monopoly on Canada's overseas long-distance telephone service, thus clearing the way for competitors by 1997.

Mr. Kedar said a new Bermuda cable to the US East Coast would put Bermuda in the middle of a significant communications system.

Mr. Kedar said: "It will allow us to do transit traffic between the far East, Japan, Hong Kong to Europe. Most traffic from the Far East travels clockwise.

It goes over North America. It doesn't go the other way, because there are no facilities the other way.

"Right now, 90 percent of all the traffic goes via the United States, because Teleglobe is a single player and cannot really compete. They don't have the infrastructure, they don't have the competitiveness. Basically, they are no contest to AT&T, Sprint and MCI.

"With us coming into the business, having a gateway in the Pacific side, being Vancouver, Victoria, as well as in Halifax on the Atlantic side, we can, with the new emerging carriers like Sprint (Canada Inc.) and Unitel (Communications Inc.) really provide an alternative route for phone traffic and compete effectively with US carriers.

"Furthermore, we can route the traffic through Bermuda. That way we can avoid certain gateway costs and bottlenecks, because traditionally Teleglobe has been the gatekeeper. We can now bypass them and go via our own route and really offer Japanese and Hong Kong and Asian carriers a much more attractive transit route via North America.'' Mr. Kedar said that if the company has to lay its own cable, it will do so, landing in New Jersey and connecting to other overseas cables that are available there.

"The vision I presented to the Bermuda Government is actually slowly materialising. I think that as soon as the licence is issued, which I hope is very shortly, we can put all of this into real operation.'' But Government officials said yesterday it was possible that licensing of TeleBermuda would not take place until next June. It was recommended that TeleBermuda be granted a licence earlier this year.

Technology Minister John Barritt, who only recently took over the Ministry, conceded he has spent much of his early days getting up to speed on the issues.

"There are a number of things that we have to put in place,'' Mr. Barritt said, "purely and largely from a regulatory point of view''.

"It may well require legislative changes,'' he said. "But you appreciate, I've spent some time reviewing what has occurred to date, taking stock of what we've got and now looking at what is going to be needed, as we move forward into competition in this area.

"It strikes me that we may need some kind of regulatory process, which may well involve legislation. That was the view of the previous Minister, Dr.

Grant Gibbons, who indicated that Government would work toward phasing in required changes. We believe we are on target.'' Mr. Barritt said Government was aiming to have all of the measures in hand by next June so that companies which Government has approved under its new telecommunications policy, would be able to proceed by next summer.

Mr. Michael Kedar