Paulwell to sort out LIME-Digicel issues in two weeks

Edmond Campbell and Steven Jackson, Staff Reporters

PHILLIP PAULWELL, newly appointed minister of science, technology, energy and mining, has committed to resolving, in two weeks, the current contentious competition conflict between telecommunications firms Digicel and LIME.

Paulwell said yesterday that the ministry was in discussions with LIME and Digicel to iron out the concerns at hand.

The two main telecoms players have been engaged in heightened public warfare since Digicel announced it would be closing the Claro network, which it acquired last year, on March 1.

"We have given ourselves a deadline of two weeks to sort out some of the competition issues that affect the industry," Paulwell told journalists during a press briefing yesterday at the ministry's offices in New Kingston.

Moving urgently

Vowing not to return to the days when the country was subject to a monopoly in the telecommunications sector, Paulwell stressed that the ministry was moving urgently to resolve "issues of competition that are at the heart of the matter" between LIME and Digicel.

Meanwhile, LIME Jamaica Chairman Chris Dehring yesterday said the telecoms market remained uncompetitive as the Government has failed to institute a flat rate to call rival networks.

Currently, it costs more than double, on average, for a LIME customer to call a phone on the Digicel network, making it cheaper, Dehring reasoned, to call China than a neighbour in Jamaica.

"The impact on the industry is that it is just not viable for other companies to offer voice service. The richest man in the world (Carlos Slim Helú) who owns América Móvil - Claro's parent, one of the largest mobile operators on the planet with almost 200 million customers, he came to Jamaica and couldn't make a dent in the market," he said of Claro's five-year local operation.

Dehring was speaking yesterday during a Rotary luncheon at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.

Lime calls for new act

The LIME chairman contended that it was time for the Government to implement the new Telecoms Act which was before Parliament and would have the effect of flattening rates in order to engender better competition.

"The need of the hour is for an overhaul of our telecoms regulations. One rate for every customer to call any network," he said.

Dehring earlier described LIME as the smaller player which required a level field.

Contrastingly, LIME was the market leader a decade ago (as Cable & Wireless) in the then newly liberalised telecoms market.

However, Digicel began operations in 2000 and gained the lion's share of the market within two years of operation. Currently, the mobile market stands at 2.9 million.

Noting that the Office of Utilities Regulation has not yet completed work on changes that are to be introduced to the regulatory framework, Paulwell said: "It is our job to see to the completion of that work and to set the rules so that the market can operate efficiently."

He added: "The urgency for this is not lost on us."