Bermuda can’t afford to be “stuck in transition” waiting for telecommunications reform, according to TeleBermuda International Ltd. president Gregory Swan.

Mr. Swan said Government’s proposed changes to the telecoms regulatory framework which would lift restrictions on the services that companies can offer would benefit the consumer and allow his company to compete more fairly in the local marketplace.

Last week, the Ministry of Energy, Telecommunications and E-Commerce (METEC) decided to delay the passage of telecoms reform legislation that would change the industry’s regulatory framework to allow more time for dialogue with the industry.

METEC Minister Michael Scott had planned to table the Regulatory Authority Act and the Electronic Communications Act in time to be voted on before the summer recess.

The delay was welcomed by some in the industry, including Sheila Lines, chief executive officer of KeyTech Ltd., who told this newspaper that it was imperative to clarify the aims of the legislation before enacting it and that more dialogue with the industry was necessary.

Mr. Swan has a different opinion. In an interview yesterday, he said further delay would not be good for the consumer.

”I’m just keen to see fair market competition,” Mr. Swan said. “All we at TBI want is to compete fairly in the market and give people access to services they would expect from us at fair market prices.”

KeyTech, as well as Internet service providers (ISPs) North Rock Communications and Transact, have all expressed reservations about the uncertainty created by the new Regulatory Authority (RA) planned for the industry, which would have wide-ranging discretionary powers and would cost up to $9 million a year, funded by extra fees imposed on the industry.

Mr. Swan, himself a former regulator as a past Director of Telecommunications, said it was more important for the consumer that current restrictions were lifted, to expand product choice, boost competition and bring down prices.

”The proposed regulatory framework will be very different from the current framework and I can see why that could create some level of discomfort,” Mr. Swan said. “And I would agree that there are some aspects of the reform that have not been defined to a tee. But I don’t want to see the process held up, because every ‘i’ has not been dotted and every ‘t’ crossed.

”If we allow ourselves to become encumbered with the process, then who knows when reform will happen?”

Without the reform, the Island could fall behind as licensing restrictions that were already outdated by the ongoing convergence of technologies, hampered telecoms advances on the Island.

As a class A carrier, TBI is allowed to offer long-distance calling services and to sell capacity from its overseas undersea cable link. It has also been allowed to provide corporate Internet services, but not residential.

Mr. Swan said the telecoms world had changed dramatically over the five years since regulatory reform was first proposed and that voice was now a shrinking part of the telecoms market, as people changed the way they communicated. Being restricted from the biggest growth areas in the market Internet Protocol-based (IP) products makes Mr. Swan feel that his company is “shackled”.

”If we’re not going to be allowed to take advantage of IP-based services, which are offered globally, we’re not going to be able to compete fairly,” Mr. Swan said.

Without giving away too much detail, Mr. Swan said the residential Internet was one market that TBI would be keen to enter, once reform became a reality. He said the company would be able to offer competitive rates and speeds, and promised exciting products in the pipeline.

”Considering Bermuda’s high level of penetration, about 90 percent, Internet costs for the consumer should be lower,” Mr. Swan said. “In some cases, just the cost of the conditioned line is more than the cost of the Internet service in many other jurisdictions.

”The argument used to be was that the cable cost connection was too high. But now the ISPs have their own cable capacity and the costs are still high.”

Mr. Swan was referring to Cable Company, a joint venture between KeyTech, North Rock Communications and Transact, who built the Challenger undersea cable, which has been in operation since 2008.

METEC offered a new international licence to the company or group that would build the new cable in its January 2007 telecoms reform document. The resulting building of the Challenger cable meant that one phase of reform had already happened, Mr. Swan said.

One consequence was that KeyTech, owner of the Bermuda Telephone Company, cellular provider M3 Wireless, ISP Logic Communications and a stake in Bermuda Cablevision, could already offer a full suite of services through its companies and affiliate.

But KeyTech’s market strength was not of so much concern to Mr. Swan as the restrictions on what services TBI can offer, restrictions which were hindering the company’s ability to compete fairly, while their core voice market was being eroded, he said.