be coming to a close.

The Bermuda Telephone Company has until the end of today to submit its final arguments to the Telecommunications Commission as to why would-be rivals Quantum Communications should not have a licence.

The dispute began two months ago when BTC filed a complaint against Quantum, saying that its contract to operate a fibre optic cable was illegal.

The commission eventually dismissed the claim and instead blasted BTC for deliberately stalling the order to link up Quantum to its own network.

Instead BTC was told that it would have to set up the link by July 15. But just days before the deadline Telecommunications Minister E. T. (Bob) Richards issued a fresh ultimatum -- ordering a complete dossier of evidence from BTC.

Quantum has since submitted its own evidence as to why its licence is valid.

Yesterday Senator Richards confirmed that today was the final date on which submissions could be submitted. And he said that he would make a final decision on the issue "as soon as possible''.

"That will be the end of it as far as I'm concerned, although we will have to wait and see what happens once I've made my decision,'' he said.