Belize Telemedia Limited (BTL), the country’s incumbent telecoms operator, has agreed to maintain the provision of leased network services to SpeedNet Communications (Smart) in the Toledo district until 8 December 2014, when the two sides will return to court, domestic news source The Reporter writes. SpeedNet transferred the provision of services in the region to BTL in July 2014, in order to build its own network, which was expected to be operational within three months. However, five weeks after it secured a partnership with its rival, SpeedNet was informed that the service would be terminated effective 14 November 2014, affecting around 7,000 subscribers in the district.
For its part, BTL said that it was trying to eliminate congestion on its own system in order to ‘better serve the people of Toledo’. SpeedNet contacted telecoms watchdog – the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) – to adjudicate in the dispute, but the regulator reportedly said that it ‘was not in a position to intervene in the matter’. Subsequently, the company applied for an injunction from the Supreme Court and following a hearing, BTL agreed to maintain the provision of network services until 8 December.