SXMElections.com

Judge to decide Tuesday on Bada Bing witnesses

PHILIPSBURG--Judge Koos van de Ven decided on Thursday to adjourn the preliminary hearing in the so-called "Orca" trial until next week Tuesday, to consider requests of the defence for additional investigations and the hearing of witnesses.

It is not yet known when the actual court case will be heard, but in any case not before mid-January 2015; most likely in March or April 2015.

In the trial, Member of Parliament (MP) Patrick Illidge (48) will be charged with accepting bribes from Bada Bing and Lunteren N.V Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Editorial - Wait and see

Tuesday's report that a fourth St. Maarten mobile service concession has been granted to local television station owner Elwaldo Arrindell obviously caught many by surprise. It seems the licence itself dates back almost two years and was issued by then-minister of telecommunications Romeo Pantophlet of the NA/DP/Independent 3 government.

While the news was met with some concern by both United Telecommunication Services (UTS) and the TelEm Group (see today's related story), clients unhappy with the two current cell phone providers on the Dutch side UTS (Chippie) and TelCell may take a different view Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Concession given for 4th mobile service provider

PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten's fourth mobile service concession has been granted officially to Elwaldo Arrindell, who was granted a licence in August 28, 2012, by former Minister of Telecommunication Romeo Pantophlet after initially having requested one in 1997.

The concession will allow him to operate, which can translate to a somewhat worrying development for established local providers TelCell and United Telecommunications Services (UTS).

Although Arrindell was not available for comment yesterday, he shared with The Daily Herald last year that, if successful, he hoped to launch a new cellular phone company by the end of 2013 Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Fourth Mobile Telecom Provider Is Not Necessarily Good News

St. Maarten – The mobile telecommunications market in St. Maarten is in for a rough ride and an uncertain future after Elwaldo Arrindell’s company Beach Mart NV obtained a concession for the exploitation of a mobile telecommunication infrastructure. With the existing providers – TelEm and UTS – and another party ready to jump on the bandwagon – Brenda Wathey’s Corporate Innovations – the island may soon have four providers competing for the business of the roughly 67,000 mobile subscribers that make up the local market.

The concession Elwaldo Arrindell obtained could spell bad news for the TelEm Group of Companies Read more

---

Candidates in this article: