Utilities watchdog opposes plan for single ICT regulator
Published:Friday | January 20, 2012 | 12:00 AM
Steven Jackson, Business Reporter
The Office of Utilities Regulation is opposing any efforts to restructure its portfolio, taking a position that runs counter to government policy initiated under the old administration as well as the major players in the market it polices.
In its new budget document, the OUR resolved to reject any proposal aimed at either merging or diminishing the agency.
Last summer, then Prime Minister Bruce Golding said that the telecommunications division of the OUR would be spun off as a separate entity as the Government tried to keep pace with the evolving sector.
Golding suggested that the sector was expansive and intricate enough to require its own watchdog after scrutinising and later approving the complex acquisition deal between Digicel and Claro.
The OUR's portfolio currently covers the telecommunications, electricity and water sectors, as well as bus fares.
The agency, which is led by director general Zia Mian, is against the divorce of its telecoms functions, saying the evolution of technology is leading to greater fusion of the telecoms and electricity sectors, and that a split in the portfolio runs counter to the trend.
"Our understanding is that there will be a single ICT regulator in the near future and that the OUR has not been so named," said the OUR report.
"... it is the considered view of the OUR that this decision runs counter to the global trend of utilities convergence, whereby the electricity company of the future will be a large conduit of data transmission, which is the backbone of the telecoms revolution. The greater convergence of these two utilities will create greater synergy in their regulation. Therefore, the establishment of a separate, stand-alone ICT regulator is likely to create regulatory conflicts between these two sectors, and will ultimately increase the total cost of regulation and be counter to the public interest."
The OUR's position is counter to the major players in the telecoms market.
Digicel Jamaica, the largest player with more than two million subscribers, is backing the plan; as is its closest rival, LIME Jamaica.