Bermuda's telecommunications chief has moved to defuse a row between bickering firms and warned: "Don't fight your battles in the press!'' Bob Stewart, Chairman of the Telecommunications Commission, also accused TeleBermuda International, Cable and Wireless and BTC of "slowing down competition'' by fighting among each other.

He was responding to claims from TBI general manager Jeff Conyers that C&W had employed an aggressive policy to fight off the new competition.

Mr. Conyers also told The Royal Gazette he was "disappointed'' and had "no sympathy'' with a newspaper ad campaign launched by C&W executives as part of their $100 million legal battle with Government.

Cable and Wireless are suing amid claims they have lost 25 percent of market share since TBI entered the long-distance calls market last year.

They are angry that TBI receives protection from Government, stopping C&W from lowering rates and introducing other customer offers.

Mr. Conyers said he hoped the protection for his firm would last at least two more years.

But Mr. Stewart hinted the protection may not last too long -- allowing both firms to compete with each other to reduce the cost of international phone calls.

He said: "Number one, that decision is in the hands of the minister, Sen.

E.T. (Bob) Richards.

"But number two, the Telecommunications Commission is much more interested in competition than we are in protection.

"The executives of telecommunications firms should not be fighting each other in the newspaper.

"But the most important message to them is not to try to slow down the competition process. That's not to anyone's advantage and it applies to TBI, BTC and Cable and Wireless.

"The sooner competition comes to the market, the better off everybody will be. How soon that will be and when the protection will end is a question we cannot answer at the moment.

"But protectionism isn't a viable long-term alternative for Bermuda and that applies equally to the telecommunications industry, as it does with other industries.'' Cable and Wireless general manager Colin Little has declined to return calls to The Royal Gazette to speak about the communications battle.

But his counterpart at TBI, Mr. Conyers, said: "I do not know Colin Little that well but I have met him and thankfully this has not descended to a personal level.

"I can respect their business decision. But their position and their thought process were slightly different when they came in as the new boy in the UK, with Mercury.

"Now I think they have carried it too far. I would go as far as to say that there's even been a customer reaction against them for the manner in which they have handled it.

"They misunderstood the Bermudian marketplace, running it too much off the Island, and that certainly didn't deter people from joining TBI.

"Not everybody has moved, clearly. But Cable and Wireless have been here for more than 100 years and they obviously have some good, loyal customers.

"The point about protected rates is a straightforward one. Cable and Wireless have an infrastructure which is paid for.

"You can't have an incumbent firm pricing lower than their own costs to drive newcomers out.''