By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Regulators are proposing that satellite communications providers must store Bahamas-generated data in this nation to comply with national security laws given the industry’s “strong interest” in entering this market.

The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA), in releasing its public consultation document on the planned regulatory framework for satellite communications services in The Bahamas, said the data storage stipulation is made necessary by the Interception of Communications Act 2018.

This requires all providers, satellite or otherwise, to facilitate the court-sanctioned interception or retrieval of communications data to aid law enforcement or protect national security. As a result, URCA is proposing to mandate that all Bahamas-generated data be stored locally and that satellite providers appoint a local representative to deal with law enforcement issues.

“Satellite service providers, including those operating outside The Bahamas, must comply with the provisions of the Interception of Communications Act 2018. This legislation requires providers to ‘take such steps as are necessary to facilitate the execution of an interception or entry warrant, or both’,” URCA explained.

“To support enforcement of this obligation and align with URCA’s objective to ‘maintain public safety and security’, URCA proposes to introduce the following requirements for satellite service providers conducting the administration and management of their business from premises outside of The Bahamas.”

The “local data storage requirement” will mandate that “satellite service providers must store communications data, as defined in the Interception of Communications Act, within The Bahamas. This ensures that data necessary for lawful interception remains physically accessible within the jurisdiction”.

And “satellite service providers must appoint a local representative responsible for managing lawful interception requests and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements”. URCA added that these conditions could be incorporated into operators’ licences or included in their approval letters.

“The demand for licensing of satellite services in The Bahamas has seen substantial growth, with operators seeking to provide FSS (residential and business) and ESIM (vehicle and maritime) connectivity solutions. Recognising this potential, URCA already issued licenses to prominent satellite operators, including Starlink, Viasat, and SES for its subsidiaries O3b Ltd and New Skies Satellite services,” the regulator added.

“Additionally, other satellite operators have expressed strong interest in entering the Bahamian market. Several of these companies have reached out to URCA to initiate licensing applications or to inquire about specific regulatory requirements for ESIM, M2M and experimental services in The Bahamas.”

Starlink, which is headed by Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest man and Tesla and Twitter (X) magnate who has become a key adviser to US president-elect Donald Trump, has especially acted as a disruptor to the Bahamian communications market, and attracted significant attention from both incumbents - Cable Bahamas and the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC).

But URCA has already rejected Cable Bahamas’ renewed concerns that it is competing on an “unlevel playing field” against Starlink. 

“The Cable Bahamas group believes satellite regulation must be equitable and comparable to the telecommunications regulatory regime. The Cable Bahamas group added that it is unconvinced that the playing field is level for the Cable Bahamas group,” URCA revealed of the company’s stance.

Cable Bahamas based this on how much Starlink is paying to URCA for its annual class licence, and queried how much the satellite Internet provider is contributing to the regulator’s budget in percentage terms. It also challenged if “an initial licence award fee was charged and paid for the granting of a licence”, and added that a spectrum-based service was equivalent to introducing a new cellular mobile operator.

URCA, in reply, said Starlink’s licence restricts it to providing broadband Internet services and it is not permitted to offer mobile services in conformity with a policy that restricts the sector to just two operators - Aliv (Cable Bahamas) and the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC).

“Regarding satellite regulation and the specific inquiries raised, URCA clarifies that Starlink currently provides broadband Internet services at fixed locations in The Bahamas but is not licensed for voice telephony or traditional mobile services,” URCA added.

“The licence conditions imposed on Starlink align with the Government’s policy to refrain from introducing additional competition in the cellular- mobile market. To address concerns regarding transparency, URCA has made the Starlink licence conditions available on our website for public access....

“Starlink is subject to the applicable fees as set out in its licences. On a related note, URCA does not discuss a company’s individual revenue numbers and licence fee payments.” URCA, setting out its plans for regulating satellite services, said: “In 2023, URCA issued a licence to Starlink for the provisioning of FSS throughout The Bahamas using the technology-neutral licencing regime.

“As far as URCA knows, Starlink’s services are available throughout The Bahamas - including the Family Islands - thereby providing access to satellite-based broadband services on a geographically universal basis. More generally, URCA is not aware of any specific issues in relation to its existing licensing regime which might deter provision of satellite-based electronic communications services in the Family Islands or elsewhere.”

“As regards the objective to ensure sustainable competition in the cellular mobile market, URCA recognises that satellite communications services allow the provisioning of electronic communication services on a geographically universal basis throughout The Bahamas and during natural disasters,” the communications regulator added. 

“As such, they are consumer enhancing and will benefit the Bahamian economy and society. However, in line with the Government’s position not to at this time facilitate further entry into the mobile market, URCA has attached ad hoc restrictions to class licences granted to satellite providers on top of existing restrictions set out in the licence conditions.

“URCA recognises the potential need to reassess the scope of these restrictions, and suggests adding this to the list of topics for further exploration.”