first time ever after the launch last night of CellularOne.

And CellularOne's CEO Kurt Eve pledged the extra competition would add up to lower prices and better service -- the very reasons Telecommunications Minister Renee Webb has vowed to continue the push to open the sector.

Mr. Eve, a Bermudian, told The Royal Gazette that the company he incorporated in 1994, Bermuda Digital Company Ltd., had a contract with major US network CellularOne to use its name in return for an annual fee.

CellularOne has won a large slice of the US market in the past ten years while its branches in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands have thrived for the past five.

"In return for the licensing fee which is calculated on the number of potential subscribers a market has, CellularOne looks after international advertising campaigns on networks like CNN and ESPN,'' Mr. Eve said.

"That heightens our profile so we don't have to spend a heap of money developing our own brand.'' But he would not comment on the high profile BDC landed in Bermuda when it became entangled in a legal wrangle earlier this year over its proposal to build a controversial radio tower in Warwick.

He said his company was "living proof'' that the former and current Government's commitment to competition was real.

CellularOne launched "We are a manifestation of their desire to open up the sector to competition and the obstacles like all the court cases Bermuda has seen recently are really a natural part of the process.'' And his company enjoyed an excellent relationship with "incumbent'' BTC -- CellularOne's "only competitor but also a carrier with whom we deal on a daily basis''. Finance for CellularOne was lined up 11 months ago through Atlantic Tele-Network, a listed US company which invested $4 million in equity and debt.

But Mr. Eve is quick to point out that the company did this within the confines of the 60/40 rule so his company can operate as a local company, rather than being exempt. Before he returned to Bermuda in 1994 to set up BDC Mr. Eve ran a hardware manufacturing company in California. At that time he never imagined it would take five years to open his shop doors but he is confident the company can quickly reach a sustainable revenue level.

From today CellularOne will be ironing out last-minute operational crinkles in its system with the help of 30 "expert test users'' -- cellular phone addicts.

This will see the company in its new Reid Street headquarters -- previously Crissons -- ready to sign up its first customers in the last week of June.

And Mr. Eve said five "customer care representatives'' had been hired, and the company would have up to 14 employees by the end of the year.

Battle of the networks: Bermuda's mobile phone customers will have a choice of networks when the CellularOne team launches their service.