By Horace Palacio: Every modern economy learns this lesson sooner or later. Competition builds innovation. Monopolies kill it. When one company controls an entire market, prices rise, service declines, and consumers lose. That is not ideology. That is economics. And Belize is now standing at a dangerous crossroads.
A monopoly is simple in layman’s terms. It is when one company dominates a market so completely that consumers have no real choice. When that happens, the company no longer has to try harder, improve service, or lower prices. It just has to exist. That is bad for customers, bad for innovation, and bad for the country.
That is why most countries have competition laws. Belize is no different. The Belize Telecommunications Act is built around one core idea. Competition must exist. Former Public Utilities Commission chairman John Avery, who served for over twelve years, made that very clear. He stated plainly that the law expects competition and that actions designed to eliminate competitors and create a monopoly are against both the spirit and the letter of the law.
This is where the BTL saga becomes troubling. The plan for BTL to buy out SMART and multiple cable companies is not just a business transaction. It is a structural shift in the economy. If one entity controls telecom infrastructure, mobile services, and cable distribution, competition effectively disappears. According to Avery, such a move could violate the Telecommunications Act and expose the license holder to severe penalties including fines, jail time, and even forfeiture of its license.
Supporters argue consolidation brings efficiency. That sounds good until you look at the history of monopolies. Efficiency for who. Not the consumer. When competition disappears, prices rarely go down. Innovation slows. Service quality stagnates. Consumers are locked in. Belizeans already complain about cost and quality of telecom services. Removing competition will not fix that. It will make it worse.
Telecom is not just another business. It is the backbone of the modern economy. It supports education, healthcare, finance, tourism, remote work, and national security. If telecom falls into monopoly control, the entire economy becomes more fragile. Small businesses suffer. Entrepreneurs lose options. Consumers lose leverage.
John Avery also pointed out something Belizeans should not ignore. For decades, governments promised competition. Millions were spent restructuring the sector with that goal in mind. To now reverse course and allow monopoly behavior raises a serious question. What kind of economic signal does this send. That rules change when it is convenient. That laws apply selectively. That long term planning means nothing.
Belize is a small country. That makes competition even more important, not less. In small markets, monopolies become powerful quickly and accountability becomes weak. That is why regulators exist. The silence or hesitation of oversight bodies in moments like this is deeply concerning. Regulation only matters if it is enforced.
This is not an argument against BTL as a company. It is an argument against any entity becoming too powerful in a critical sector. Strong companies are good. Dominant monopolies are not. Belize needs more competition, not less. More innovation, not consolidation for convenience.
If Belize wants a digital future, it must protect competition fiercely. The economy cannot grow on comfort and control. It grows on pressure, choice, and innovation. The moment Belize allows monopolies to take root, it chooses stagnation over progress.
This is not about personalities or politics. It is about economic survival. Monopolies do not build strong economies. They weaken them. Belize must choose wisely.
The post Monopolies kill economies and Belize is playing with fire appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
By Horace Palacio: Every modern economy learns this lesson sooner or later. Competition builds innovation. Monopolies kill it. When one company controls an entire market, prices rise, service declines, and consumers lose. That is not ideology. That is economics. And Belize is now standing at a dangerous crossroads. A monopoly is simple in layman’s terms.
The post Monopolies kill economies and Belize is playing with fire appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
