Conditions being negotiated in Digicel/Claro deal

Jamaica’s Prime Minister Bruce Golding (pictured), is expected to make a statement on the pending merger between telecommunications companies Digicel, and Claro, by next week, including conditionalities that are now under negotiation.

Making the disclosure at yesterday’s post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House, Minister with responsibility for Information, Telecommunications and Special Projects Daryl Vaz said Golding would speak to the deal in a “wholesome way”, addressing its effects, what will be done to ensure that competition remains in the telecommunications marketplace, and that consumers would benefit.

“A decision has been made, but the decision has conditionalities, which are still being discussed and negotiated,” Vaz said.

In March, Digicel announced that it had signed an agreement with América Móvil to acquire its Claro business in Jamaica, and to sell to América Móvil its businesses in Honduras and El Salvador.

The deal had been challenged by Digicel’s competitor, Landline Internet Mobile and Entertainment (LIME), which said that considering the significance of the merger to the Jamaican telecommunications industry, the government, the Office of Utilities Regulation and the Fair Trading Commission should carefully assess it before making a decision.

Meanwhile, on the matter of the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) and the recent launch of an investigation into the company’s billing practices by the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), Minister Vaz said it is likely that Prime Minister Golding would make a statement on the matter.

The OUR last week said it would intensify its regulatory oversight of the light and power company and had taken note of the public outcry over excessive electricity bills in recent months. It would also be investigating, among other things, high consumption complaints; replacement of old meters; and the billing practices of the JPS.

The agency is to complete its investigation in six weeks, and make the findings public.

Vaz also said that Energy and Mining Minister Clive Mullings would be taking to Cabinet the matter of giving more legal teeth to the OUR, by strengthening its powers under the OUR Act, to allow the agency to give greater protection to consumers.

Source: Caribbean360