Business

IN A move that could pave the way for lower call rates locally, the Telecommunications Appeals Tribunal has dismissed an appeal from Mossel Jamaica Limited against a decision of the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR).

In its decision, the OUR had sought to declare Mossel - trading as Digicel - and other mobile public voice carriers, dominant in call termination services.

The ruling opens the door for the OUR to determine whether tele-communications firms have impeded the main-tenance or development of effective and fair com-petition in the market.

The issue of high termination rate has been a long-standing concern within the sector, with LIME and Claro both accusing the Irish-owned Digicel of anti-competitive behaviour.

Geoff Houston, LIME's managing director, in applauding the decision yesterday, called for a review of Digicel's termination rate to make its own assessment of whether the mobile giants are compliant.

Responding to the ruling, Richard Fraser, head of legal and regulatory affairs at Digicel, said: "Digicel is currently assessing the underlying rationale of the decision and our right to appeal same. To be clear, Digicel continues to believe that competition - of which there is plenty in the market - is the best form of regulation as it provides the most immediate and tangible benefits to consumers."

Under Section 30 of the Telecommunications Act 2000, a dominant phone company is required to provide, among other things, interconnection on a non-discriminatory basis with charges being cost oriented.

Section 33 of the Telecommunications Act 2000 also sets out the guidelines to be used by the OUR to determine the prices at which interconnection is to be provided by a dominant public voice carrier.