GPRS Dispute Between Jamaica's Networks

In the face of claims being made by Jamaica's Cable & Wireless that they have launched GPRS services, Digicel has taken action. The company has registered a dispute with the Fair Trading Commission regarding the claim, stating that the technology is not yet commercially available and won't be for quite some time.

"We have some concerns over what we see as an extremely premature announcement that is misleading to the public" stated Digicel CEO Seamus Lynch. "The services they claim you can get right now are not currently available and apparently won't be for some time. This is clearly false advertising. It is unfair to consumers and bad for the industry."

Contrary to the advertising which stated, "Now you can access the internet on the go", calls to Cable & Wireless' Customer Care Department confirmed that the service is not yet commercially available, and that the company is not currently offering GPRS enabled handsets to customers. Consumers are being advised that they cannot sign up for the services right now, and there are no pricing details available.

The announcement is a follow-up to one made in late 2002 regarding the company's plans to establish its own GSM network in the face of strong competition from Digicel. "We regard this as smoke & mirrors, we have heard these utterings from C&W before, however we will not sit by and allow any competitor to make false claims and not call them on it. That's the true spirit of competition, keep it fair and above board," stated Lynch.

The Fair Trading Commission has been asked to investigate the matter.

Cable & Wireless Jamaica said that it had completed the first of a series of test calls on its GPRS network in March."

Posted to the site on 30th June 2003