The Fair Trading Commission (FTC) dealt Digicel a double blow yesterday by not only slapping down the company over accusations it made in an appeal but also throwing it out calling the grounds “baseless”.
In a ruling that included a terse rebuke of the Jamaica-headquartered telecommunications giant, the FTC denied Digicel’s appeal of its 2011 ruling that allowed Cable & Wireless (C&W) to undertake a Long Run Incremental Cost (LRIC) study that would work out what costs and tariffs to charge competitors like Digicel for interconnection services. The FTC also designed guidelines that C&W had to follow in that process.
Among its grounds of appeal, Digicel accused the FTC of being unfair, “irrational and/or unreasonable”; that it was in breach of the rules of natural justice; failed to provide Digicel with copies of all important documents and material; accused the FTC of working “in conjunction with C&W” on the Enhanced Allocation Model (EAM); and that it did not allow Digicel a chance to comment or respond to C&W’s submissions.
However, the FTC commissioners, headed by chairman Sir Neville Nicholls, said it was Digicel which had to prove its case and stressed among other things that a review was “not a vehicle . . . to reargue submissions . . . because they do not agree with the decision”.
Read the full story in today’s DAILY?NATION.
