By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Union leaders and key allies were yesterday “taken aback” after the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) confirmed that chief executive Leon Williams is leaving the communications provider.

Bradley Roberts, BTC’s former deputy chairman and a key supporter of Mr Williams, told Tribune Business he was “surprised” to learn of the chief executive’s impending departure when informed yesterday morning.

And Bernard Evans, head of the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU), admitted he “was a bit taken aback” when told that Mr Williams was being replaced.

Both men questioned the timing of the move, given that BTC is about to enter into industrial agreement negotiations with both its unions, while also being engaged in a fierce battle with Aliv to hold on to its lucrative mobile market share.

Mr Williams, who has twice held the BTC chief executive’s post, is set to be replaced by an all-Bahamian duo. Dexter Cartwright, a BTC Board member and former finance director for Cable & Wireless Communications’s C&W Networks, will become interim chief executive.

And Andre Foster, a former Cable Bahamas executive who played a key role in launching its Coralwave Internet product, will step into the newly-created position of chief operating officer.

John Reid, BTCs chairman and chief executive of the carrier’s immediate parent, Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC), announced the change in an e-mail to staff that was headlined ‘Leadership Changes in the Bahamas’.

“To ensure our success continues unabated in the future, we are making changes at the executive level in the Bahamas,” Mr Reid wrote. “Leon will be leaving the business.”

After confirming the appointments of Messrs Cartwright and Foster, Mr Reid thanked Mr Williams for his “dedication and commitment” in taking BTC through mobile market liberalisation and its integration into CWC’s operations.

The CWC chief added that the communications industry “continues to undergo rapid transformation within a dynamic telecommunications market”, noting how BTC had become a full-service or ‘quad play’ provider through the introduction of high-speed broadband Internet and FLOW TV.

BTC, and CWC, are now both ultimately owned and controlled by John Malone’s Liberty Global. No detailed reasons were provided for BTC’s management shake-up, although several sources suggested Mr Williams was not happy at being moved aside.

Mr Roberts, also the Progressive Liberal Party’s (PLP) chairman, said of the move: “I was told this morning, and I was surprised. Leon is the most eminent and knowledgeable person in the telecommunications industry in the Bahamas. He knows that business inside out.

“I would have thought that they would have made it a transition for another year and then brought Dexter in, but that’s their [CWC and Liberty Global’s] call.”

Mr Roberts said Mr Williams had managed BTC’s transition to a fully-liberalised communications market, overseeing the end to its lucrative mobile monopoly that accounted for more than 70 per cent of revenues.

“With the competition coming on from Aliv, the company was able to maintain a strong position in the market,” he told Tribune Business. “The parent company [CWC] originally thought they’d lose a great share, but that has not happened. No doubt about that.

“They anticipated they would have lost a greater share of the market, but because of Leon’s tenacity and driving the staff, they’ve been able to maintain a strong position in the marketplace.”

Mr Roberts said he knew Mr Williams’s replacement, Mr Cartwright, through the BTC Board. He described him as having the necessary “capability” and knowledge, while pointing out that the new chief executive’s background was in cable networks as opposed to telecommunications.

Mr Evans, meanwhile, also expressed surprise at the timing of Mr Williams’s departure given the upcoming union negotiations and competitive threat posed by mobile upstart, Aliv.

“I was a bit taken aback, given that we just submitted our contracts,” he told Tribune Business, noting that BTC’s industrial agreements with both line and management staff have expired.

“Normally, contract negotiations are very contentious. I would have thought that the company would maybe hold on to Leon while we go through those negotiations. Add to that the advance of Aliv, the new mobile company, and I would have thought that maybe they would allow Leon to stabilise things. It is what it is.”

Mr Evans told BTC’s two new executives: “Welcome to the fire” in relation to the upcoming union talks. “The chief executive will have to balance the few dollars to share around, and satisfy the additional benefits and salary increases we seek every three years. He’ll have his hands full,” the BCPOU chief told Tribune Business.

Mr Evans said Mr Reid contacted him and the head of BTC’s management union at 1pm to alert them to Mr Williams’s departure before it was announced.

“Leon had a long run, and has done a lot for the company, having started as a technician and worked his way up to be chief executive twice,” he added. “It is a surprise. He has a lot to contribute, and I hope is not allowed to go out to pasture.

“I understand Friday will be his last day. Hopefully between now and Friday, we will get a better understanding of where the company is headed and why things have changed abruptly.”

Mr Evans said the relative youth of Messrs Cartwright and Foster, and their backgrounds, could be especially helpful to BTC given how “technology is moving at the speed of light”.

He added that it held out the promise of more dynamic, aggressive leadership and management for the former government-owned incumbent at a time when it was being confronted with ever-increasing competition.

Mr Evans said BTC was currently “holding its own” against Aliv in the mobile market, while acknowledging that it will “take another year or two” for the rivals’ subscriber bases to settle down.

Mr Williams was closely tied to the former Christie administration from the moment he was removed as BTC chief executive by the last Ingraham administration, just prior to the 2011 privatisation sale to CWC.

Upon his departure, Mr Williams became an ardent opponent of BTC’s privatisation. Upon the PLP’s return to office in 2012, he was name to the government-appointed committee that negotiated with CWC to ‘regain majority control for the Bahamian people’.

This resulted in 2 per cent of BTC’s shares being placed in a Foundation, with the deal structured to allow CWC to retain majority ownership, and Board and management control, and enable both it and the Government to claim victory.

Perry Christie’s desire for Mr Williams to be re-appointed chief executive coincided with the desire of then-CWC chief executive, Phil Bentley, to cosy up to the former administration in a bid to influence the timing and terms of mobile liberalisation.

Tribune Business was told at the time that Mr Williams’s return, and the ousting of Geoff Houston, was solely intended so that the former could “manage the relationship with the Bahamian government” to CWC’s financial advantage.

BTC yesterday said Mr Cartwright had spent more than 25 years in senior communications industry management positions in Canada, the US, Caribbean and Latin America. At C&W, he managed more than 100 staff across 15 countries.

Mr Foster currently serves as C&W’s vice-president for enterprise IT services and Infrastructure. He has spent over 20 years in the information technology (IT) field, and is the former chief information officer for the Columbus Group, with operations in the Caribbean and Latin America.

Mr Reid added: “Leon is leaving the company in solid shape and has laid a foundation for continued success as the leading telecommunications service provider in the Bahamas.

“We will continue to work closely with the people and Government of the Bahamas as we give greater focus to our new growth plans for the country, ensuring we best meet the needs of our customers, as well as contribute to the growth of the Bahamas.”