Bermuda’s telecoms watchdog has slammed an advert by mobile firm Digicel that takes a swipe at rival Logic.

Now Regulatory Authority (RA) CEO Philip Micallef has written to Digicel chief Wayne Caines saying the ad is in “bad taste”.

The advert, which ran in yesterday’s edition of The Royal Gazette, promotes a one-year free internet deal from Digicel — which is being investigated by the Regulatory Authority after Logic complained it was “predatory and anti-competitive”.

Mr Micallef said in a e-mail letter to Digicel: “The advert is unlikely to fall into the category of unethical or unlawful conduct on the part of Digicel.

“However, the RA feels that is in bad taste.”

The advert promoting the home internet offer appears under a cartoon which reads: “Stop! Don’t read the ad below. Logic will thank you.” Digicel ran a similar advert earlier this month, which carried the text: “Below is the promotion Logic doesn’t want you to know about.”

But Mr Caines last night was unrepentant over the adverts — although he declined to say whether the firm would run similar adverts in the future.

He said: “As you may be aware, when we launched this promotion, which saves customers $600 over the course of a year, Logic complained.

“It seems that Logic is now complaining that we have drawn attention to the fact that they did not want customers to benefit from this promotion in the first place.”

Mr Caines added: “We respect Logic as a competitor in a dynamic telecommunications market. The irony of this second complaint, however, must be apparent to our customers.

“Digicel will continue to bring new and innovative promotions to the market because we believe that ultimately customers benefit.

“Prices have decreased across the board since we first introduced Digicel internet. That is something of which we are proud. We aim to make people smile with our promotions and the most recent ads are no exception.”

The Royal Gazette revealed that Logic chief Vicky Coelho asked the RA to pull the plug on the promotion pending the launch of an investigation into the Digicel offer.

The RA agreed to launch a probe — but ruled the promotion could continue to run prior to a final ruling.

Mr Micallef said in his e-mail that Digicel can continue to offer the deal — which Logic claims is Digicel using its muscle to gain unfair commercial advantage — while the Authority looks at the complaint.

But Mr Micallef said: “Against this backdrop, it would appear as though Digicel are using the circumstances of Logic’s complaint and the RA’s decision regarding one portion of it to gain further commercial advantage over Logic solely on the basis that Logic has used its right to complain concerning the promotion.”

Mr Micallef added: “The RA encourages competition between carriers and believes that competition within the bounds of reasonableness is good for the consumer.

“In this particular instance, however, the RA considers the advert to run contrary to what is ordinarily considered healthy competition and has strayed away from the promotion of Digicel’s services and its belief that it provides good value to customers and into the area of poking fun at a fellow ICOL holder for failing to succeed in one part of its complaint.

“This e-mail is not a decision and will have no bearing on the investigation into Digicel’s actions concerning the promotion itself.

“However, the RA believes it is important to let carriers know where they stand on certain aspects of advertising when the circumstances arise.”