go to Government in two weeks, the Telecommunications Ministry says.

The report, by the Telecommunications Commission, contains information critical to a decision on whether to open up telecommunications to competition. Ministry director Mr. Ted Pitman said the Commission had been given a two-week extension from its October 15 deadline.

Its report is drawing information from the Bermuda Telephone Company and Cable & Wireless to supplement this summer's Commission report recommending "controlled and limited competition.'' It said competition "can be accomplished by licensing one competitor to provide domestic service in competition with Telco, and one competitor to provide competition in international service with Cable & Wireless.'' The Commission report contains technical information on such things as telecommunication rates and traffic patterns -- "a lot of information,'' one source said.

The nine companies vying for a piece of the action are Global Access (Bermuda), North Atlantic Telecommunications, Island Bell, Bermuda International Telecommunications, Bermuda Global Access Ltd., TeleBermuda International, Bermuda Digital Communications, Telecommunications (Bda & West Indies) Ltd., and Telco.

The decision on competition will be made just weeks after Britain announced it was opening up telephone service to the United States to new competition, saying it should result in cheaper phone calls.

The decision means new players can lease lines from Britain's two international phone companies, British Telecommunications and Mercury, a unit of Cable & Wireless.