OCEANIC Digital Jamaica (MiPhone) has filed a court action against Cable and Wireless Jamaica.
In a release issued by the company yesterday, the company said: "The legal action is being taken because Oceanic objects to C&WJ's heavy-handed monopolistic practices designed to slow down the deregulation process and to keep wireless and international telephone service rates much higher than in other Caribbean countries. Oceanic intends to fight for its position to bring more affordable telecommunications services to Jamaica."
Oceanic's action contends that C&WJ improperly, and in breach of its interconnection obligation, reduced C&WJ's interconnection facilities with Oceanic to prevent Oceanic from competing with C&WJ for international long distance traffic originating outside of Jamaica. Further, C&WJ recklessly published a press release stating that Oceanic was bringing telephone traffic into Jamaica illegally.
"What C&WJ has characterised as illegal traffic is a dispute about how much Oceanic has to pay to C&WJ to terminate traffic on C&WJ's wireline and wireless systems. C&WJ currently terminates international long distance traffic on Oceanic's wireless system. Oceanic believes that since it received its International Long Distance License from the Jamaican Government in March 2003 that it has the legal right to terminate international telephone traffic on C&WJ's wireline and wireless telephone systems to and for the benefit of all telephone users in Jamaica."
In March 2003, C&WJ proposed what is known as RIO-5, a new tariff to all telephone companies wanting to process telephone traffic to and from C&WJ's wireline subscribers. RIO-5 imposes an additional tariff of nearly $1 per minute on all other carriers for every call sent or received by C&WJ wireline subscribers, whether international or involving other wireless or landline telephone companies in Jamaica.
Oceanic Digital Jamaica and Digicel had jointly initiated a court action to prevent C&WJ from imposing these higher tariffs on their Jamaican subscribers. These tariffs will cost the typical Jamaican wireless telephone subscriber well over $100 per month and cost the Jamaican public as a whole over $150 million per month. These additional tariffs are being imposed in a way that will make Jamaica's cellular telephone service appear more costly while making the costs landline service appear unchanged, the company contends.
