Digicel, LIME war rages on

Telecommunications company LIME is accusing Digicel of discriminatory pricing following a decision by its competitor to hike the rate of calls from LIME landlines to Digicel mobiles.



As of January 1, the rate for calls from LIME landlines to Digicel mobiles will be hiked by 21 per cent during peak hours.



This will take the rate from $7.00 to $8.50.



However, off-peak and weekend rates will be reduced by seven per cent, from $7.00 to $6.50 cents.



LIME is upset over the move and has made a complaint to the authorities.



Country manager for LIME, Geoff Houston, claims that the rate increase is discriminatory, as Digicel is maintaining a lower price for fixed wireless calls to its mobile phones.



According to him, it’s an abuse of dominance because Digicel is asking LIME landline customers to pay twice as much to call Digicel mobile phones, as they charge their own fixed-wireless customers to call those same Digicel mobile phones.



Mr Houston says the impact on customers will be significant, as most calls are made during peak hours.



Meanwhile, the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) says it has received notice from LIME about the pending increase.



The OUR says while it has set a cap on the price that companies can demand for calls terminating on their networks, the average increase from Digicel does not breach the cap.