Shadow Minister of Telecommunications Cole Simons contends the letter which authorised the purchase of Transact by Digicel Limited by then Minister Walter Roban may not have been authorised.Responding to the Ministerial statement by the Minister Marc Bean on Friday, Mr Simons, said the industry “is spending millions of dollars in legal fees, and court costs”on the issue.In a statement released yesterday he said: “There is a real sense by the Minister and within the Ministry, that the October 20, 2011 letter was ultra vires, in that it was not authorised in accordance with the Telecommunications Act and Government’s General Orders.”And he has called for “an explanation as to how this so called ultra vires letter was allowed”, and he wants to know why the communications protocols prescribed by the Ministry was not adhered to.“The bigger question is why would the Ministry consider granting the bundled service approval to Digicel, and disadvantage the other carriers, when the Electronic Transactions Act, and the Regulatory Authority Act was just around the bend?”“On Digicel’s side, I am very concerned that their legal team were not able to sense that the letter granted by the Ministry, was not issued in accordance with Government’s General Orders, and the Telecommunications Act,” said Mr Simons.“From where I sit, this whole debacle has been mishandled, and should have never ended up in Court.“When this misunderstanding occurred, the then Minister of Telecommunications should have met with Digicel to immediately clear up any misunderstanding, and at the same time address the authorisation error.“The Minister should have provided leadership, and clarity around the issues, as all of the other industry players were following the law, and acting within the remit of their licenses,” he said.“I ask that the Minister to address these issues, as they form the true heart of the problem.“In regards to the free issuance of spectrum to carriers as they enter market, and that Digicel Bermuda Limited failed to state that the spectrum that Digicel now holds was actually allocated to its predecessor companies, long before Digicel entered the Bermuda market.”Mr Simons questioned why this issue was “brought into the fray”. “This government has never effectively managed the optimal use of spectrum so that there are substantively more benefits, for the industry, and the community at large.“If this Government was smart, it should have been auditing Bermuda’s spectrum allocation on a regular basis.‘“The audits would have ensured that the usage complies with the law, and that the usage is equitably spread across the ever changing telecommunications industry,” he said.This would ensure that Bermuda “enjoys the real benefits” in his view.“I am passionate about this because spectrum are granted at no cost to the industry service providers, and that most of the benefits and returns should remain in this country.“If Bermuda intends to continue as a major player in the digital, and telecommunications space, they must raise the bar when it comes to management and performance standards. They must meet international best practice standards in all spaces,” said Mr Simons.He called on Government to “resolve this issue and get this Digicel matter behind us”, in a manner that is both “firm and fair”.On Friday, the Minister, Marc Bean slammed Digicel Bermuda for making “harmful” and “dangerous” allegations in the media as the battle over international long distance descended into an all-out war of words.Digicel hit back accusing Government members of acting “with a bizarre and troubling inconsistency”.The company stated that “it received express approval from Government to purchase Transact for the purpose of selling ILD services”.However, Mr Bean charged that it was the Government’s view that Digicel “jumped the gun and has attempted to gain a head start on other competitors’ by launching ILD.