Like
many offshore jurisdictions, Belize has ambitions
to be a leading e-commerce location, and it
was early in passing legislation to enable
and regulate Internet
gambling. This has been successful in
attracting some operators, although the tax
regime isn't all that wonderful.
In
order to strengthen the country's telecommunications
infrastructure, the government in 2003 moved
to increase competition in the sector by allowing
Innovative Communication Corporation, LLC
to acquire a controlling stake in Belize Telecommunications
Ltd (now known as Belize Telemedia Limited,
or BTL), the national telephone company of
Belize whose monopoly expired earlier in the
year from existing owners Carlisle Holdings
Limited.
However,
the telecoms development strategy hit a set
back when, in February 2005, the Belizean
government seized back control of BTL from
ICC after accusing the firm of failing to
pay more then USD57 million due to it under
the sale agreement. A complex international
legal dispute ensued, and after failing to
obey a March 11, 2005 ruling by a US District
Court ordering Belize to restore control of
BTL to ICC, the government of then Prime Minister
Said Musa was on 31 March, 2005, found in
contempt of court and fined USD50,000 a day.
On
August 31 2005, ICC filed a Memorandum of
Law in Miami restoring ICC's Jeffrey Prosser
as Chairman of the Board of Directors of BTL.
In
2006, however, the court rescinded its ruling
against Belize, and the government reportedly
attempted
to re-sell shares in BTL to British peer Lord
Ashcroft, who had previously owned them.
Despite
the ongoing legal dispute over the ownership
of BTL between its two dominant shareholders,
(Michael Ashcroft and ICC), the Belize Senate
approved on May 29, 2007, the controversial
Belize Telecommunications Undertaking (Belize
Telecommunications Limited Operations) Vesting
Act, which transferred all of the goodwill,
properties, assets, obligations and rights
of Belize Telecommunications Limited to a
new entity known as Belize Telemedia Limited.
The
government argued that such a measure would
bring stability to the country's telecommunications
sector and allow investment to take place
in the GSM cellular network and a new wireless
network to expand voice and internet services
to rural areas. However, opponents of the
move said the transfer hinged on a secret
deal struck in September 2006.
The
end of the legal monopoly and the start-up
of a competitor, Intelco, have had little
effect on the state of the market in Belize.
Internet access is generally good,
but prices are much higher than for similar
service in the US.
In
2005, BTL began rolling out new wireless internet
services, starting with the launch of the
Internet HotSpot service in June 2005. This
increased internet accessibility for business
travellers and tourists by providing high-speed
wireless access in large hotels, airports
and other transit points. Later in the same
month, BTL expanded its wireless internet
coverage to areas outside of the coverage
of its wired DSL service.
In
2000 the Government encouraged the opening
of a private e-commerce park, opened by Datapro
International Inc in the Belize City Export
Processing Zone (EPZ) thereby guaranteeing
freedom from taxes to incoming dotcoms.
The
park, the only one in the region, has successfully
stimulated Belize's e-business sector. It
has generated over 650 full time jobs so far
and is growing rapidly.
Office
space is being offered in 1,000 to 2,000 sq.
ft. units in individual or shared buildings
equipped with all utilities on a 24 hour guarded
gated compound: pre-installed fiber optic
cable, fiber optic link, satellite communication
center, and support facilities are available.
The park has six buildings already built with
a total capacity of over 100,000 sq.ft., fully
airconditioned. The park's private operator
provides its own long distance service independently
from the local carrier, 1-800 telephone service
and a technical training center. The location
is only minutes from the International Airport
and about 15 minutes from the commercial center
of Belize, Belize City.
Companies
in an Export Processing Zone benefit from
a highly attractive tax and customs regime.
An on-site Customs Office guarantees rapid
delivery of incoming goods. Bandwidth is available
from 64K to T1 at rates between US$950.00
and US$14,200.00. These are all-inclusive
costs including the installation of underground
fiber optic cables with direct satellite connection.
For
on-line betting and gaming operators, a particularly
attractive feature of the park is the coupling
of the IBC regime with that of the Export
Processing Zone regime, a result which legally
bypasses the need for licencing under the
Computer Wagering Licensing Act. The Attorney
General has confirmed that once an e-business
is validly established through the park's
official attorneys Glenn D. Godfrey & Co.,
(www.offshoreservices.com)
there is no need for any other license.
Although
the E-Park is evidence of progress, local
firm the Belize Development Trust says that
e-commerce will struggle to develop outside
the Zone: 'There should be about 4 different,
or maybe more, local competitive telephone
systems, with regulatory sharing agreements
and price sharing for using each other's installations
in an overlapping manner. There also should
be at the current state of progress, about
100 local ISP services around the nation using
the telephone services of the 4 telecommunications
suppliers.'
In
November 2007, The Ministry of National Development
signed an agreement with Infotel International
Limited, granting them Export Processing Zone
(EPZ) status to establish a call centre operation
and ICT business in Belize City.
Under
the investment plan, Infotel will provide
data and voice processing services, including
telemarketing, customer support, direct marketing,
e-mail and website hosting, as well as other
call centre services. Infotel has already
established firm business relations with a
number of international companies through
its marketing alliance with Strategic Link
Consulting Ltd, which operates out of Atlanta
in the USA.
The
approval for Infotel to operate in Belize
is part of a new thrust by the government
of Belize to expand the EPZ programme to include
ICT companies, especially since they create
higher income jobs for Belizeans. At the time
of the agreement, two local companies managed
ICT parks and a total of five ICT companies
were operating as EPZs in these parks. These
companies include Ready Call Ltd., an international
call centre operation, and Pinnacle BST, an
ICT application service, call centre support
and software consulting company. It is expected
that employment at these ICT companies with
EPZ status would increase from less than 1,000
to over 2,000 within two years.
In
April 2008, Belize Telemedia Limited announced
that it was replacing the telephone equipment
in six rural areas, with new state-of-the-art
telecommunication switches that will provide
High Speed Internet and many other services
to business and residential customers. The
project was part of the company’s commitment
to provide a more reliable telecommunications
network across the country, ensuring uniformity
in telecommunication services throughout Belize.
The project was initiated in November 2007
with residents of August Pine Ridge benefiting
from the first installation.
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Belize
Internet Gambling Law
Belize
is one of the few countries that has enacted
legislation allowing for the establishment
of online wagering. Its Computer Wagering
Licensing Act, 1995, which came into force
on May 28, 1996, provides for the proper conduct
and regulation of gambling via the Internet.
Besides
legalising wagering on the Internet, the Act
also provides for the licensing of computer
services operators who provide Internet users
with the facility to wager against each other
on sporting events or other games of chance.
'Computer
Internet' is defined in the Act as being any
publicly accessible data transmission network,
or any privately-owned data transmission network
which is authorised to transmit such data.
And, computer wagering service is defined
as being a computer service which allows computer
users to wager on sporting events or other
games of chance against each other through
the Computer Internet.
The
Belize Computer Wagering Licensing Board vets
all applications for licences to provide computer
wagering services and, with the prior approval
of the Minister of Home Affairs (Minister),
can grant exclusive licences. They are also
responsible for the control and regulation
of all persons who provide computer wagering
services.
Application
for a licence to provide computer wagering
services, should be accompanied by the prescribed
licence fee, which at the time of writing
may be either an annual fee of USD15,000 for
a non-exclusive licence. If an application
is refused, the licence fee is refundable
subject to an administrative charge.
A
considerable amount of documentation needs
to be submitted upon application for a licence
to provide computer wagering services.
As
a security for the performance of obligations
under the licence and for the payment of any
fine, licensees are required to make a cash
deposit of USD500,000. Other regulatory requirements
include (at the time of writing):
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Belize
Offshore Activities
The natural bonding of the Internet and Offshore
stems from the fact that both, of their nature,
manage to avoid tax. Businesses which can
operate on the Internet without, so to speak,
touching ground in a high-tax jurisdiction
will naturally migrate to offshore jurisdictions;
while businesses that already have offshore
existence will find it highly convenient to
be able to use the Internet to trade with
their high-tax customers without having to
make a landing in their countries.
By
locating websites in offshore jurisdictions
to carry out functions previously based in
high-tax jurisdictions such as sales and marketing,
treasury management, supply of financial services,
and most of all, the supply of digital goods
such as music, video, training, software etc,
businesses can take advantage of low rates
of taxation for increasingly substantial parts
of their operation.
Given
its location in the centre of the Americas,
and the popularity of its offshore legislation,
it should be open to Belize to become a centre
of e-commerce activity.
For information about the impact of e-commerce
on a number of the main offshore activities
which take place in Belize, click on a link
below to go to our specialist E-commerce site
Offshore-e-com.com
Sales
and Distribution of Physical Products
Sales
and Distribution of Digital Products
Banking
and Financial Services (including Investment
Funds)
Corporate
Support Functions
To
see an analysis of the current state of legal
and tax issues surrounding offshore e-commerce,
click
here.
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Belize
Case Studies
This
section will contain case studies of e-commerce
solutions applied to offshore business activities
carried out from Belize.To be kept updated
as to our progress click
here.
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