DENIS O’BRIEN’S Digicel telecoms business has lost an appeal against a ruling made in favour of Cable & Wireless-owned rival Lime, which cost it €2.7 million.
Digicel operates mobile networks in the Caribbean, where it is one of the biggest players in the telecoms market.
The House of Lords recently shot down an appeal by Digicel against a ruling by Jamaica’s Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) relating to charges the company was imposing on Lime for calls from that operator to the Digicel network.
The ruling means that Lime, a Caribbean-based Cable & Wireless subsidiary, which competes with Digicel in a number of markets, can keep 340 million Jamaican dollars (€2.7 million), which Mr O’Brien’s company was originally ordered to pay to its rival.
The dispute dates back to 2002. Digicel was charging Lime, then Cable & Wireless Jamaica, 12 Jamaican dollars (9.6 cent) a minute for carrying calls from Lime customers to those on Digicel’s network.
The OUR had set a ceiling of eight Jamaican dollars for such charges – known as termination rates – but the then communications minister Phillip Paulwell intervened and said the regulator did not have the right to determine Digicel’s termination rates.
However, the OUR maintained that it did, and ordered Digicel to repay $340 million Jamaican dollars to Lime. Digicel appealed this through the Jamaican courts, which ultimately ruled that the regulator was correct and that the minister had exceeded his powers.
The company then took the case to England’s House of Lords, which has jurisdiction as the final appeal court in Jamaica, as the country is still part of the British commonwealth.
The House of Lords’ Privy Council ruled last week in favour of the OUR and against Digicel.
Digicel told The Irish Timesyesterday that it will suffer no financial impact and said its customers would not be affected.
“It is merely that a point of clarification has been agreed as to who has the final say when it comes to setting termination rates,” the company added.
Denis O’Brien controls Digicel, which operates in 26 countries in the Caribbean and Central and South America. A sister company, Digicel Pacific, operates in seven markets, including Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.
One of Digicel’s markets is Haiti, and the company and Denis O’Brien are involved in a number of initiatives to raise money to aid the country’s earthquake recovery. The company operates a foundation focused on development work in various parts of the Caribbean.
In Ireland, Mr O’Brien’s Communicorp group owns a number of radio stations. He is a major shareholder in Independent News & Media.
