new cheap phone service.

C&W must consider reasonable requests to do a deal, said Minister in charge of telecommunications the Hon. Michael Winfield yesterday.

And they would be "extremely unwise'' to refuse, he said.

Sen. Winfield was commenting on the controversial move by local service Global Access Bermuda to offer cheap overseas phone calls.

A Supreme Court judge has ruled GAB's service was illegal because it did not have a Government licence.

The judge backed C&W's blocking of GAB calls and pointed out the law gave C&W exclusive rights over the Island's long-distance phone links.

But despite the ruling, GAB and at least two other local outfits are hoping to get licences.

And yesterday Sen. Winfield seemed to hold out hope for them.

He said Government was taking advice on the judge's decision. But he pointed out the court had been considering the version of the law then in effect.

It had now been updated by Parliament in the anticipation of GAB-type services appearing.

"Any arrangement for the provision of international telecommunications is going to have to involve C&W, as does the Bermuda Telephone Company arrangement at the moment,'' he said.

"It's up to GAB to make an arrangement with C&W that is suitable and that would therefore allow us to issue a licence.

"We can't grant a licence without that arrangement being in place.'' In discussions GAB did not seem against the idea of a deal with C&W, he said. And neither did other proposed services.

C&W would be "extremely unwise'' to refuse to allow GAB to use their system -- because the giant firm's whole business was telecommunications.

"They can't really say no,'' he said. They had obligations under the Telecommunications Act to provide services, and to agree to reasonable requests.

"They can't reasonably withhold that permission.'' And neither could they "gouge'' GAB by making them pay excessively, he said.

This was because the Telecommunications Commission set down the C&W's rates.

The commissioners could also step in to sort out a deal if one side was not happy.

"If one carrier is unhappy with another carrier they can go to the commission and the commission can resolve the matter.'' Government could also give notice to end C&W's exclusive rights, he said. He added that new amendments to the law "facilitated'' services like those of GAB.

"We anticipated this type of service coming on line a year ago. We drafted an amendment to clearly provide that all of these services would come under the Act.'' The Minister said the aim in giving C&W exclusive rights in the first place was to "ensure that they felt it was worthwhile to invest in relatively huge amounts in the infrastructure''.