A hearing on a complaint by Digicel, which says its customers were being discriminated against by GTT, was adjourned yesterday after the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) could not come to a decision because of the lack of information.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Digicel Kevin Kelly and CEO of GTT Justin Nedd were among the representatives from both companies who gathered yesterday in the PUC conference room, where a discussion on the issue was held.
According to Kelly, his company complained to the PUC since GTT was charging it a higher rate for international calls.
“So let’s say they charge $60 per minute now, they are doing a promotion and charging $30 per minute and all we are saying is that you need to give us that promotion for our customers. We are not objecting to their promotion in any shape or form but are saying basically that the international aspect should be the same for Digicel as for GTT because they have the monopoly,” Kelly explained, while pointing out that even though the PUC sets a rate limit, it is still up to GTT what it charges his company, which sends its traffic through GTT.
“…All we are asking is for them to extend the same courtesy. We wouldn’t be here if GTT didn’t have a monopoly. It’s a really simple argument on our side,” he added.
However, Nedd defended his company’s actions by arguing that Digicel has been running “an illegal link” that has cost GTT major losses. “Digicel has an illegal link that we have been talking about for several years. When we look at it, we estimate from our revenue US$40 to US$50M that we have lost because Digicel is running an illegal operation,” he said, while pointing out that they have raised the issue with the previous and present governments but nothing has been done about it.
When asked whether he has proof of his accusations, Nedd explained that he has personally visited Suriname and was told by regulators there that “they are appalled that the link is still working and nothing was being done.”
“So, when we offer this bundle, we are trying to ensure that our customers get more value because as a company what we try to do is do more, improve our services, such as bringing more data, voice and more destinations.
So we can make offers to customers that are compelling. I don’t even know why we are here. I don’t even know why they complained,” Nedd noted, while stating that GTT has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to investigate the matter and even hired two independent consultants that confirmed its findings.
After adjourning the matter for more than 30 minutes for deliberations, Chairman of the PUC Justice Prem Persaud related that the commission needed more documents from both sides to better understand their claims. “We find the complaint by Digicel difficult to make a finding [on] at this point in time,” he said, while requesting information within the next five days.
Persaud also implored both companies to notify the commission within 48 hours of any promotions they plan on having.
