CableVision and Government will meet today in a bid to end the row which resulted in cable service being axed across the island.

But the two sides continued to publicly attack each other yesterday, with Telecommunications Minister Renee Webb saying talks had been on course until CableVision's lawyer Alan Dunch got involved.

Meanwhile CableVision Chairman Rod Hansen questioned Government's motives and gave no hint of when cable would be turned back on.

Ms Webb said Government would not back down from demanding that the company agree to better service standards before discussing improving the offer of a one-year licence which CableVision has rejected.

She said: "We are meeting again tomorrow and that's a good development.

"It was going well until Alan Dunch got involved."

Mr. Dunch said of the talks. "That's news to me."

Ms Webb said Mr. Dunch had wanted to attend Wednesday's meeting on service level agreements but was barred because a Government lawyer could not be found to ensure the Telecommunications Ministry also had legal representation.

Ms Webb said the company then took a hard line stance and demanded a 15-year licence in exchange for signing the service level agreement.

Mr. Hansen attacked Government's handling of the matter for leading to the impasse.

He said: "While these (hopefully) final negotiations are going on with the Ministry, we - and frankly many of our customers - are left wondering about the motives and methods employed by the Ministry throughout this licence renewal process.

"Why did no one ask for a service agreement last April when we formally applied to have our 15-year licence renewed, or even the year before when we made our first application?

"At no time over the 18-month period were we given any indication that the Ministry wanted to attach conditions to our licence. So why was this 11th-hour brinkmanship imposed on everyone?

"We are still wondering why the Minister refused to meet with us until well after our licence had expired."

"After all, we had been speaking to each other regularly - and I might add quite cordially - throughout the year.

"Why did the Minister suddenly cease all communications with us and proceed to speak to us only through the media? "Why would a government minister push a private company that is majority owned by Bermudians - to the brink of its very ability to survive, and then accuse it of making threats?

"If you look at our letter to the Minister in which we declined the one year licence, you will see there is nothing resembling a threat.

"If you look at her letter proposing the licence, you will see there is no mention of a service agreement.

However The Royal Gazette obtained the letter sent to CableVision boss Jeremy Elmas which accompanied the one year licence issued on August 22.

It says: "The length of any future renewal periods will be reviewed based on the company's improvements in quality of service."

Ms Webb refuted CableVision's claim that Government had blocked further talks yesterday.

She said the Solicitor General Wilhelm Bourne had rang Mr. Dunch on Wednesday offering a temporary licence in a bid to keep the cable on as talks continued.

She said: "He flatly refused. It's unconscionable to turn the TV off when we were looking to give them a temporary licence."

She said Government had been badgering CableVision to improve service for a year and had said it would affect the licence it got if it did not shape up. "This was said by me to (CableVision General Manager) Jeremy Elmas. That's who I meet with. It's nothing new. Only CableVision think it's new."

Mr. Dunch said the company had not had any formal complaints from the Ministry about their quality of service and first heard about it in a letter received on August 30, a day before their 15-year licence expired.

Government claimed yesterday that it was clear from the outset that only when a service level agreement was in place would an extended licence be discussed.

But Mr. Dunch said this was a figment of someone's imagination and the company understood the two would be exchanged simultaneously but he admitted he had nothing in writing to this effect.

He hit back: "There's nothing in writing to the contrary."

Ms Webb she said it was laughable for Mr. Dunch to say the company had not had a formal complaint from Government about service standards.

She said complaints had poured in ever since CableVision started installing the controversial set-top boxes.

"Everything we received, whether it was phone messages, e-mails, letters, we sent to them."

Mr. Hansen said the company had signed a detailed service level commitment yesterday on Wednesday. The agreement has not been given to Government until they issue a licence.

"We believe the time has come to issue us a licence. It makes no sense to make Cablevision, or the Bermuda public, to wait any longer."

CableVision was asked about refund procedure and issued a brief statement last night saying it had a policy to issue refunds for customers if their service was down for more than 24 hours.