One senior attorney who also acts for a major telecommunications carrier (both of whom will remain nameless) remarked to me last week that, given the state of the regulations and the attitude of the various carriers, he expected the carriers themselves to be embroiled in regulatory battles for the next two years.

To be fair to him this was not expressed with the type of glee that the public expects us lawyers to exhibit, more a sort of tired resignation.

It has been a very busy time in this industry (telecommunications and legal) and I agree with "my learned friend'' that the future looks equally busy.

Many reasons have combined to create what might almost be called a free-for-all.

Firstly, and most importantly, the advent of competition for both local and international carriers: TeleBermuda International (TBI) to compete with Cable & Wireless and initially Quantum to compete with BTC.

This would have been a nice and neat arrangement, with all carriers "pigeon-holed'', whether international, local or ISP. But suddenly the lines have become blurred, if not swept away.

Logic (an Internet Service Provider, or ISP) is offering LogicPhone, an international service, competing with Cable & Wireless and TBI. TBI and Cable & Wireless are now in the ISP market and North Rock is in the local "voice'' market. A turf war has ensued, with all carriers desperately trying to keep hold of their own areas. For example, TBI and Cable & Wireless do not want competition from the ISPs in the international market and the ISPs do not relish intrusion into their Internet market by TBI and Cable & Wireless.

Poured into this mix is the Government's clear desire to lower prices through competition, yet ensure that all carriers are making sufficient funds in order to buy and maintain state-of-the-art equipment.

At the same time, there is the regrettable but real problem that Government legislation and regulation simply cannot keep up with the developments or changes in technology. Other problems have been that the Ministry of Telecommunications has been terribly understaffed and this, coupled with the flood of applications, objections, complaints and amendments, has led to backlogs and -- dare I say it -- rushed work or decisions.

Many applications have been made with decisions not rendered for months, which, when rendered, have been difficult to understand. That, hopefully, will have been remedied by the hiring of further staff.

The Possible Way Forward: Far be it for me to suggest Government policy -- however, it appears that Government's policy of lowering prices as a result of competition has borne fruit.

It would seem that in relation to expediting regulatory matters, more attention needs to be given to the Telecommunications Commission.

This is not a criticism of those individuals who attend as best they can.

Surely, if Bermuda is to market itself as truly "cutting edge'', there needs to be a small, select and very knowledgeable group who can meet often (for example weekly) to determine the mass of material that is placed before them.

Failure to do so, I fear, will only lead to "my learned friend's'' prophecy proving correct! N.B.

This is the exact same Law Matters supplement that ran in The Royal Gazette on 20th September, 2000. However do the printing problems that affected the quality of the print, it was pulled from the circulation and did not appear again until the 9th October, 2000.