Grave anomalies in Bermuda's telecommunications market pose a serious threat to competition, Internet provider North Rock Communications Ltd. has alleged.

North Rock uncovered the obstacles to a free market in an application to the Telecommunications Commission for its licence to be amended so it can compete directly with local carriers BTC and Quantum.

The upgrade would enable it to provide services directly to customers rather than through the facilities of its rivals.

And the company hit out at the "unlevel playing field'' between the carriers and the "potential for abuse'' which meant the big players could make things extremely difficult for their smaller competitors.

It follows in the wake of Telecommunications Minister Renee Webb's vow last week to a forum of business leaders that the Government was committed to deregulating the sector to propel it towards competition.

She said this was vital to drive prices down and improve service in order for Bermuda to compete internationally and catch the e-commerce wave.

North Rock's application said changes in Bermuda's telecommunications market meant the company was excluded from the local carrier market segment while the local carriers had been permitted to enter its Internet arena.

In March last year BTC bought North Rock's main competitor Logic Communications, and the other local carrier Quantum Communications had also entered the Internet market, it said.

This left North Rock "at a serious competitive disadvantage'' since it had to rely on its business rivals to provide the facilities it needed to operate in the fast-paced high tech telecommunications game.

And North Rock said BTC had informed it they would not be able to provide dedicated connections to some North Rock customers for up to a year.

"North Rock depends on BTC and Quantum for all connectivity to our customers and International Service Providers. The potential for abuse under these circumstances is immense,'' the application says.

"We rely on competitors to deliver, install and maintain service to North Rock customers.

"In addition we must rely on these organisations to deliver new technologies, when in fact these technologies will compete with their present offerings.'' In a letter to Telecommunication Commission chairperson Ellen Lim, North Rock executives say BTC is "unable to deliver'' the facilities it requires to expand its service while Quantum's "future is uncertain''.

"Even if Quantum becomes fully operational, their ability to deliver circuits is limited to only 32 buildings. For these reasons it is imperative that North Rock be permitted to offer services directly to our clients.'' North Rock hint at poor levels of trouble shooting from BTC, which can undermine its ability to satisfy customers.

The application reveals in early 1998 North Rock customers suddenly began experiencing a 70 percent failure rate on connections during critical initial months of operation.

"BTC eventually made the necessary adjustments to correct the problem.

Unfortunately the whole process took six weeks,'' the application said.

"There is an inherent concern, though by no means do we imply that this has occurred, that local loop providers do not have a vested interest to solve the failures.'' BTC was also unable to provide connections in a "timely manner'' with an order placed in December last year not available until February 2000. "The average delivery of commercial circuits with BTC is six weeks. North Rock commercial accounts are looking for a ten day delivery window. North Rock may be impeded in introducing new high speed technologies and value added services due to either lack of cooperation, or failure to introduce required services by the local loop providers.

"Meanwhile they may be able to exploit their positions as carriers through cross-subsidisation of products and common billing therefore unfairly competing with North Rock.'' North Rock calls on the Government to amend its licence "on the public's behalf'' to allow businesses and residents to "take maximum advantage of a competitive market''.

It hinted at an expanded range of services that could become available to customers in Bermuda "beyond traditional voice and data communications''.

North Rock spokeswoman Vicki Coelho said if the application was approved the company would not be able to facilitate local telephone calls straight away: "But that's where we're headed, down the road a bit.'' Renee Webb