New telecoms law to boost regulator power, police anticompetitive practices
Published:Friday | September 2, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Prime Minister Bruce Golding said Tuesday that the telecommunications bill would be brought to Parliament within six weeks, and that the legislation would address the issue of competition.
Golding made the announcement in the context of Jamaica's approval of Digicel Group's acquisition of Claro Jamaica's operations, a deal that sparked concerns that Digicel's size could dissuade other companies from entering the telecoms market.
Jamaica has no laws directly policing antitrust behaviour.
The updated telecoms law proposes additional powers for the regulator, working with the Fair Trading Commission, to prescribe "safeguards aimed at preventing anticompetitive activity" in the telecoms sector.
The regulator will also be handed responsibility to protect small service providers who utilising services offered by large carriers, including examination and approval of customer contracts for wholesale and retail services, Golding said.
LIME Jamaica on Wednesday said the legislation should be introduced, as promised, without delay to replace what it said were outmoded telecoms regulations.
"LIME has long made the case that Jamaica's regulatory playing field is imbalanced and this has led to consumers being charged higher rates than necessary," the company said in a prepared statement.
"The prime minister's reference to the need to strengthen the telecoms legal and regulatory framework, bringing it into line with best practices, is an encouraging sign of improvement and LIME believes the legislative changes should be put in place without delay."
Under the revised telecoms law, the regulator will also be allowed to pursue "behavioural remedies", defined by Golding as:
- financial penalties on licensees;
- orders for compensation to persons adversely affected by actions of licensees that are in contravention of the Act; and
- orders to terminate, modify or nullify agreements.
The sector is regulated by the Office of Utilities Regulation, but Golding has previously announced that his administration plans to spin off that division into an independent body to create a single regulator for the growing, and complex, telecoms sector.
Digicel, the largest player, claims a customer base of two million. The Claro acquisition will add another 517,000 subscribers, according to Golding.
Digicel Group chief executive Colm Delves has said, however, that all but 40,000 of them are already Digicel customers.