Digicel seeks missing tape

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A crucial meeting between Government and Digicel officials and lawyers was recorded on tape and could shed light on the bitter dispute over international long distance. But the audio tape of the September 16, 2011 meeting appears to have gone missing, The Royal Gazette has learned.

Digicel has stated that Government approved its launch of ILD at the recorded meeting.

The existence of the tape has come up in previous court hearings in Government and TBi’s battle with Digicel over its launch of ILD.

Since late last year Digicel lawyers have made repeated requests for a copy of the tape recording. It’s understood Government itself had asked for the meeting to be recorded and Digicel CEO Wayne Caines agreed to it being recorded.

The Royal Gazette understands that to date, Government still has not confirmed exactly what happened to the recording, other than to suggest at one stage that the Telecoms Department may no longer have it. It’s not known whether the recording was lost, erased or otherwise discarded.

Copies of documents obtained by this newspaper show that Digicel has served a writ of subpoena on acting director of Telcoms Patricia Deshields requiring her “to attend at trial and produce a copy of her recording”.

Digicel said this week: “The Government was represented at this recorded meeting by Ms Patricia DeShields; Acting Director of Telecommunications, Mr Michael Wells of the Department of Telecommunications and Mr Melvin Douglas, Solicitor General and legal adviser to the Government of Bermuda.

“The Government approval of Digicel’s long distance services through Transact was expressly approved by those Government representatives at that meeting and with the benefit of legal advice provided by the Solicitor General.”

Digicel said a letter of October 20, 2011 recorded the fact that approval has been granted at the September 16 meeting.

“As such, the letter simply confirmed what had already happened the previous month,” Digicel said, adding that the letter “was merely the culmination of a lengthy process, which took place between July and October 2011, whereby Digicel’s purchase of Transact for the purpose of providing long distance service was expressly and unambiguously approved by Government”.

In February, Telecoms replaced Crown counsel with private lawyers Saul Froomkin OBE QC and Venous Memari.

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