This Is Guernsey

By Tom Edwards

TELECOMS boss Eddie Saints is ready for any credit crunch problems in Guernsey because he’s dealt with it before in his old home of Bermuda.

The Cable & Wireless chief (pictured) said the north Atlantic island had been rocked by the slump and he would draw on his experiences if need be.

‘The credit crunch has had an effect in Bermuda because of the island’s large insurance industry and its proximity to North America.  Businesses are cutting back services and relocating to other parts of the world, suggesting that there are challenging times ahead for all small offshore jurisdictions.

‘It’s an interesting time. The Channel Islands have not yet been hit, but if the downturn continues it’s only a matter time before the markets feel the impact here. Guernsey’s finance industry may be focused more on funds and therefore more resilient, but there’s no escaping the fact that it will happen eventually.’

Mr Saints has recently become Cable & Wireless chief executive for the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and Bermuda.

A Bermudan, he moved to New Zealand when he was 11 and spent 15 years there. He returned to Bermuda to get back to his roots and has worked for Cable & Wireless for 22 years.

Cable & Wireless is committed to pumping £15-20m. into Guernsey’s telecoms infrastructure, annually, he added. This meant benefits for consumers such as convergent technologies, increasing broadband services and – hopefully – a 3G licence.

‘Good telecommunications are a major attraction for companies, as network failures cost businesses a fortune.

‘If all the telecoms here put in £100m. each, there is no question that Guernsey could be unmatched anywhere else in the world. The potential for encouraging more businesses here is enormous.’

Mr Saints praised Guernsey’s regulatory environment and described it as ‘more advanced’ than Bermuda, Jersey or the Isle of Man.

‘We have worked closely with the Office of Utility Regulation to establish a wholesale regime, where we provide services to our competitors at a wholesale rate for them to sell onto consumers,’ he said.

‘So far, we have encouraged a service-based competition model and I think that in a small island this model is the best. We compete on services, not on networks.

‘New entrants want the ability to be competitive in the market as quickly as possible and the wholesale model makes it worthwhile for them to do so. Competition is not a deterrent for us.’

Mr Saints could not comment on recent headlines in the national press about Cable & Wireless’ plans to break itself up with an international demerger this year.

But he did say the company had been in a restructuring period in the past that it had benefited from.

‘The board is a very effective one and makes decisions in the best interests of the shareholders.

‘History has shown that C&W is a resilient business that has gone through a lot of changes and has always come out the other end better off.’

Article posted on 26th September, 2008 - 2.30pm