WESTERN BUREAU:
SOME RESIDENTS in Montego Bay will be without their primary source of entertainment this Christmas as cable service to some communities, which was being illegally supplied by the city's premier cable providers Cornwall Communication Limited (CCL), has been shut down.
"I find it so frustrating when I wake up in the morning and cannot watch the Jerry Springer show," said a teenager from Cornwall Courts, who had grown accustomed to a daily diet of cable television over the past two years. "I don't know how my father is going to manage as he is a CNN freak," the teenager added.
In a statement, the Broadcasting Commission, the agency with regulatory powers over cable operations in Jamaica, stated that CCL had terminated the illegal services it was offering to guard against the suspension of its licence. Among the areas affected by the shutdown are Iron Shore, Flankers, Salt Spring, Cornwall Courts, Coral Gardens, Green Pond and Pitfour.
In acknowledging that they had been acting in breach of the Broadcasting Commission's regulations, the principals of CCL apologised to the affected customers, who had entered into an arrangement with them, thinking the service provided was legal.
According to the Broadcasting Commission's statement, which appeared over the signature of its Executive Director Cordel Green, the Montego Bay-based CCL is only licensed to serve communities that fall within a four-mile radius of downtown Montego Bay and the Falmouth Zone, in Trelawny.
The release further stated that, 'Under the Broadcasting and Radio Re-Diffusion Act, providing service without a licence is a criminal offence and is punishable by a maximum of three years in jail or a fine not exceeding half a million dollars.'
In explaining the rationale behind its crackdown on illegal cable operation across the island, the Broadcasting Commission statement said that it was in a bid to create an orderly cable industry, which will provide for fair competition, respect for Jamaica's copyright obligations and proper monitoring by the commission.
While CCL has reportedly expressed and interest in seeking to operate legally in the areas now shutdown, the Broadcasting Commission said it is not automatic that they will be provided with a licence to do so. The commission is contending that CCL will have to show that they have the capacity to provide acceptable service in these additional areas before the application is considered.
