Government is expecting to hear any day now what its next move should be over the outlawed callback telephone companies operating in Bermuda.

Licensing watchdog the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is set to respond within the next few days to an official complaint by the Telecommunications Ministry about callback firm GlobalTel.

Government went to war with GlobalTel after it made the operating of call-back companies in Bermuda illegal in mid-December.

However, GlobalTel retaliated by aggressively stepping up its recruitment campaign, repeatedly cold calling residents and businesses with automated messages and offering an even cheaper service for overseas phone calls.

But the ministry stepped in and seized equipment belonging to GlobalTel on three occasions from three different sites.

However, no matter how many times it shut down the company, it continued to defiantly bounce back in a matter of days.

Telecommunications Minister Renee Webb also blamed GlobalTel for causing chaos to the 911 emergency line, after a number of people on the Island received anonymous messages on their pagers asking them to call a long number beginning with 911.

She said she believed the move had been in direct response to Government shutting down GlobalTel's lines.

All of the activities of both GlobalTel and Government were recorded and sent to the FCC, which licenses all US communication firms which offer a service overseas.

Last night, Director of Telecommunications Greg Swan said he was expecting to hear from the FCC at any time now.

He said: "GlobalTel is under the jurisdiction of the FCC and if the FCC indicates that they have breached one of the guidelines it has stipulated, then it could take action.

"I don't know what it will do, but I think what ever decision is made, it should be in our favour.

"Once we have the feedback from the FCC, we will know what direction to go in and what action we should take.

"Because GlobalTel was so blatant about what it was doing, we believe we have a strong case.'' Mr. Swan said the report sent to the FCC contained everything, from information about the seizure of equipment to e-mails GlobalTel sent to its customers.

He said he believed it was proof enough that Government had done everything in its power to stop GlobalTel operating, and ultimately hoped that the FCC would take action.

GlobalTel decision expected One option would be for the FCC to impose sanctions, or even revoke its licence.

Mr. Swan added: "I am feeling quite upbeat about everything.

"It has been about four weeks since we sent the file, and the fact that we have not had an answer from them yet is possibly a good sign.'' He said there were other call-back firms operating in Bermuda, but as GlobalTel had been the most blatant Government thought it would start there.

It has only helped one country before in its attempts to prevent call-back firms from operating, and even then licences were not revoked, but sanctions put in place.

When The Royal Gazette contacted the FCC in January it said it could not guarantee that it would intervene.

And it said the usual process was for a country to take the firm to court, and only if that proved unsuccessful would it consider getting involved.

The FCC said as it condoned the existence of call-back firms and believed them to be healthy for competition and the customer, the onus was very much on countries when it came to stopping them.

John Copes, Attorney Advisor for the International Bureau of the FCC, said: "What we say is if a country can show that it has unsuccessfully prosecuted the company concerned, then we may consider looking at the case and getting involved.''