local companies as much as $3 million a year.

Telecommunications Minister Renee Webb said yesterday that Bermuda had joined abut 20 other countries in banning the service -- and could now force call back companies operating in the US to lose their licences if they tried to sell the service in Bermuda.

"This decision to stop the use of callback services is the only way of ensuring that those companies that are providing jobs for Bermudians have some means of protection from callback service providers that are only interested in skimming revenue from our economy and not contributing to it,'' Ms Webb said at a press conference.

Ms Webb said Bermuda was last week placed on a list held by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of 20 countries which prohibit the use of the service.

Ms Webb and Director of Telecommunications Greg Swan met with FCC officials in Washington DC last Thursday. She said that at that meeting the FCC openly stated "that it would be prepared to receive documentation from any Government which seeks to put US carriers on notice that callback using uncompleted call signalling, has been declared expressly illegal in its territory''.

Ms Webb said Government must now pass legislation expressly making such practices illegal. At the moment, only Government policy prohibits the service.

Ms Webb said that once the legislation is in place the Ministry will prosecute offending firms.

"Once we do that,'' she continued, "the FCC will ensure that those companies desist from operating callback services in Bermuda.

"Once the FCC tells them, then that's it because the licensing issue is very real one.'' she added.

In the meantime the offending US companies will be informed that Bermuda has been placed on the FCC list.

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