A US investment firm is to acquire Bermuda's long distance carrier, TeleBermuda International Limited.

After five months kept under wraps, the identity of the purchaser has finally been revealed to be US-based Stonington Partners, Inc through a Bermuda company, Javelin Connections Bermuda Ltd.

TBI is one of only two companies with a class A licence to operate long distance voice traffic in Bermuda. Cable & Wireless, the other licensed entity, is also foreign owned.

Back in November, TBI president James Fitzgerald announced that a sale was imminent but neither he nor Telecommunications and E-commerce minister, Renee Webb, would say who the new owner was.

At that time, Ms Webb commented that the buyer was "not what we might have wished for" - a reference to the fact that it would not be Bermuda owned.

In actual fact, TBI's parent, GlobeNet, has been wholly owned by a Canadian company 360Networks for nearly three years. However, the sale of TBI was viewed as an opportunity to get part of Bermuda's telecommunication infrastructure back into Bermudian hands.

However Friday's announcement means that the Ministry of Telecommunications has given assurances that a licence will not be withheld from TBI under the proposed new ownership.

For shareholders of TBI, this will be welcome news, allowing them to realise their investment in the company which has secured approximately 50 percent of the international long distance voice market in Bermuda.

It's also good news for the Bermuda consumer as larger capital resources should allow TBI to expand its services. But for the industry as a whole, it leaves as many questions unanswered as it resolves.

For some observers such as Michael Leverock of Cellular One, it seems inconsistent that Class A carriers are not subject to the same restrictions as Class B wireless carriers which dictate that no more than 60 percent may be foreign owned.

Class A carriers are equally important to Bermuda's telecommunications, said Mr. Leverock, adding: "It's a little bit more critical because if you don't have infrastructure for international communications as an Island you are totally isolated."

This was a point brought home last month when TBI experienced a problem with its circuits in the US which resulted in some users in Bermuda being deprived of overseas Internet access for several hours.

In general Mr. Leverock said that he was pleased to see the deal come to fruition, however, and Class C Internet service providers Logic and North Rock agreed that it was good news for the industry.

Jeff Hamill, managing director of Class C carrier Logic Communications, said: "We hope that they will continue to operate the company with a focus on Bermuda and continue to concentrate on quality of service for the Bermuda market."

Tom Coelho, general manager of North Rock Communications, said: "As one of TeleBermuda's largest customers, we are pleased to hear the announcement of Stonington's purchase of TeleBermuda...The closure of the purchase has been long awaited and we anticipate a smooth, seamless transition."

Trey Fitzgibbons, one of the founding partners of Stonington, said: "TeleBermuda represents tremendous potential and opportunity in the short, medium and long term. The business model, market positioning and success achieved by TBI are exemplary. We look to TeleBermuda and its employees to further drive its success into other regions and thereby further expand its growth, business base and employee base within Bermuda."

Calls to the Ministry of Telecommunications for comment were unanswered at the time of going to Press.