Letter appears to show Govt gave permission for Digicel-Transact long-distance service

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Nearly three months after completing its inquiry, the Telecoms Commission still has not announced a decision in the dispute over Digicel international long distance (ILD), which the company continues to offer.

The dispute could ultimately end up back in Supreme Court, where The Royal Gazette understands it could get even uglier.

A letter from the Department of Telecommunications to Digicel, obtained by this newspaper and which was submitted to the court, appears to confirm in writing that Digicel was given the go-ahead to offer Digicel-branded international long distance under the Transact licence.

The apparent blessing by Government was originally received by Digicel in a meeting on September 16, four days before it closed a deal to purchase ISP Transact.

It’s not clear how Government would respond to the letter if the case goes back to court; it replaced its crown counsel with private lawyers in late February.

Past statements by Government’s lawyer suggested despite what the letter said, the Telecoms Department held a different view of what Digicel and Transact were and were not allowed to do. It’s been Government’s case, as stated in previous affidavits, that the ILD offered through Transact was not lawful.

The Telecoms Commission looked essentially at whether the ILD service offered by Digicel/Transact was in compliance with the two companies’ licences.

The October 20 letter of clarification to Digicel from acting director of Telecommunications, Michael Wells, clearly states: “In your query 3 you stated/questioned “It is acceptable to offer all three services of ISP/Mobile and ILD (utilizing VOIP) to customers who request this under the Digicel brand using our Mobile Licence and Transact licence”. In our noted response we gave you a conditional “Yes”. “Yes, if you provide an Interconnection Agreement between yourself and Transact, outlining the terms and conditions of such billing arrangements”. Please be reminded that under Transact Class C Licences it can offer ILD over VOIP only.”

The letter was copied (Cc) to both the Permanent Secretary Dr Derrick Binns, and chairman of the Telecommunications Commission Ronald Simmons.

In addition, a memo from the meeting of September 16, sumarises Digicel’s queries of Government in respect of its intended provision of services under Transact’s licence.

In that memo, to acting Telecoms director Patricia DeShields, Digicel sets out its “intended use of the Digicel group brand” for the marketing of the new services, and that Transact and DIgicel “will continue to be separate legal entities”.

Asked about the delay in the Telecoms Commission’s decision, a spokesperson for the Telecoms Department said yesterday it can assure that “once a decision has been made the public will be notified”.

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