distance callback services deserve praise.

These services, in which the customer calls a designated number in the US which then calls back with the number the person wants on the phone line, do provide cheap long distance calls. That's usually a good thing.

What's bad is that they are able to do it at the expense of establishd long distance carriers who have spent millions of dollars on undersea cables and all the equipment needed.

What's worse is that the decision by the Government some years ago to ban callback services put a Bermudian entreprenuer, Michael Leverock, out of business at the same time it was unable to stop overseas callback operators from selling their services to Bermudian residents.

Now, as Ms Webb moves to have US authorities enforce the ban, that kind of inequity should become a thing of the past.

Still, callback services only arise when there is a wide enough gap in long distance rates between one country (like the US) and another (say Bermuda) to enable callback operators to offer an attractive price to the Bermuda resident and to make a profit.

The real answer to stopping callback services is to ensure that prices between different countries vary very little, and the only way to achieve that is through competition. That clearly is happening in Bermuda. Government needs to do all it can to ensure it continues.

ELECTRIC CARS EDT Electric cars Belco Holdings, the parent company of the Bermuda Electric Light Company and Bermuda Gas and Utility, deserves credit for its plans to bring in four electric vehicles.

Cynics will say that it is easier for Belco to use the cars than anyone else since it is, after all, in the electricity business.

It also makes business sense for Belco to promote the use of cars powered by electricity instead of the internal combustion engine. After all, if electric cars ever really take off, then Belco's bottom line will benefit.

However, the community will also benefit. The reduction of exhaust pipe emissions will mean cleaner air and that is important for this Island, which seems to be congenitally incapable of reducing the number of vehicles on the road.

While that is the primary environmental benefit, the reduction in noise pollution is a close second; imagine a Bermuda where the rumble of car engines is replaced by the much quieter hum of electric engines.

Electric car enthusiasts also say that the vehicles are cheaper to run than internal combustion cars and trucks, in spite of higher start-up costs.

It is good to see a corporate leader like Belco take this step. If it proves successful, other companies should follow.