Bermuda's newest cable television service should be up and running within the next six months, its principals say.

But court action initiated by Hardell Entertainment Limited may well put a spanner in the works. The local communications company obtained a Supreme Court order yesterday morning allowing it to sue the Telecommunications Minister.

At a press conference yesterday, Telecommunications Minister Renee Webb confirmed that World on Wireless Limited (WOW), a company headed by Gavin Wilson, Troy Symonds and Shaun Davis, has been granted a license to provide wireless cable service in Bermuda.

The news means the end of Bermuda CableVision's monopoly.

"Since the (licensing) hearings, held in October 2002, the public has been anxiously awaiting the announcement of a new wireless cable TV carrier," Ms Webb said. "It is our anticipation that this decision will provide competitive and alternative programming for the residents of Bermuda."

Mr. Wilson said that while the projected start date reflected in part "perfect world thinking" it was in fact quite feasible.

WOW now has to submit an operational plan to Telecommunications. The Minister indicated that she was not overly concerned about plans by local cable company Hardell to apply for a court injunction.

"I wouldn't be surprised if anybody goes to court. The telecommunications industry is a very lucrative industry and people tend to challenge. So if they go to court we are used to that," she said.

Notice of Hardell's court action had actually been served minutes before the press conference was scheduled to take place. Yesterday, Corey Butterfield, Hardell's general manager, explained that the company had been granted a license and frequency allocation to operate a wireless cable service in Bermuda some years ago and were told to wait until relevant regulations were in place.

"We have been trying to get the regulations for seven years," he said. In October last year, the company complied with the Minister's request for a business plan, but a meeting to discuss the document and plans to launch the service never materialised, Mr. Butterfield continued.

"In September last year, we wrote and said we were ready to launch and conduct a trial in six months... Two weeks later they write saying they had revoked our frequencies."

Hearings into new cable licenses began in October. Hardell's court action, if successful, will quash the decision to revoke the frequencies, force the Minister to issue the license that was granted and prevent her from allocating it to any other party, until the case is resolved.

The matter could be heard within the next two months, The Royal Gazette understands.

WOW will likely be headquartered at Cable and Wireless's Devonshire site, Mr. Wilson said, with street access for the general public in Hamilton.

Subscribers will have access to about 90 channels and the company will have to carry local programming as required by law.

"We hope we can serve the Bermudian public well and keep the prices as best as we can," said Mr. Symonds