A newly formed labor advocacy organization is escalating tensions around Belize Telemedia Limited’s (BTL) planned $80 million acquisition of telecommunications rival Speednet/Smart, demanding full public transparency for the proposed deal’s valuation and outstanding corporate obligations.
The Belize Communications Workers for Justice (BCWJ), the latest group to throw its weight against the merger, formally renewed its opposition in an official statement released Wednesday, challenging BTL to break down exactly what assets are included in the eight-figure purchase price.
Currently, BTL claims it can integrate Speednet’s entire customer base onto its existing telecommunications infrastructure. Given that, BCWJ argues the Belizean public is entitled to a clear, detailed breakdown of how Speednet’s core assets – including its digital technology, physical network infrastructure, wireless spectrum licenses, existing customer base, and other intangible assets – were calculated to reach the $80 million valuation.
Beyond valuation transparency, the group is pushing for a full regulatory and independent review of the transaction before any approval is granted. Specifically, BCWJ is calling for the release of multi-year audited financial records for Speednet, an independent third-party valuation of the company’s assets, a formal technical audit of Speednet’s infrastructure, and a public assessment of how the acquisition would reshape market competition, impact consumer pricing and service quality, and affect existing jobs at both companies.
The organization has also thrown a second major issue into the debate: BTL’s long-unresolved severance and gratuity claims from hundreds of former employees. According to BCWJ, legal representatives for 146 ex-BTL workers submitted a Pre-Action Protocol Letter to the company on August 10, formalizing their outstanding claims for unpaid statutory benefits. While those individual claims are now moving through the national court system, BCWJ argues the unresolved liability creates a critical question that regulators and company leaders must address before the acquisition moves forward.
“Before BTL commits $80 million to acquire another company, has it fully quantified and provided for its unresolved obligations to former workers?” the group asked in its statement.
BCWJ is now calling on all relevant national oversight bodies – including BTL’s own leadership, the Social Security Board, the Public Utilities Commission, and Belize’s national Cabinet – to impose a full, unredacted scrutiny of the proposed transaction, rejecting any push for a quick approval without public disclosure. Closing its statement, the organization emphasized its core demand for accountability: “$80 million deserves answers. Show Belize the evidence.”