Digicel Jamaica Loses Interconnection Legal Action

­Digicel Jamaica has lost a long running legal fight over the regulatory control of interconnection rates between mobile network operators. The company had tried to argue that the Office of Utilities regulation (OUR) lacked the authority to regulate the termination rates, but lost an earlier case with the Jamaican Court of Appeal.

An appeal to the UK's Privy Council, which acts as the highest court for Jamaica has now upheld the earlier ruling.

The Office of Utilities regulation can now step in to settle interconnection rates between the mobile networks.

The ruling agreed that the law required that each operator is obliged to offer interconnection with other telecoms networks, but that the lack of price regulation meant that an operator could de-facto block interconnection by imposing excessive pricing.

Posted to the site on 22nd January 2010