Business
Wireless war: LIME takes credit for Digicel rate drop
(Jamaica Observer) – Telecommunications provider Landline Internet Mobile and Entertainment (LIME) on Friday said the industry is “beginning to see some results” from the company’s fight for “more affordable” call rates.
LIME made the statement in response to rival Digicel‘s announcement a day earlier that it was cutting cross-network prices for prepaid customers by as much as 49 percent.
“While we still offer the lowest mobile rate in the market, LIME has been pushing for more affordable telecoms rates and between our relentless efforts and the added consumer pressure, we are beginning to see some results,” said LIME Jamaica managing director Garry Sinclair.
“We expect much more significant benefits for Jamaican consumers when the emergency legislation, which the minister has committed to, is passed and the Office of Utilities Regulations (OUR) is allowed to set interim termination rates,” added Sinclair.
Digicel launched a flat JMD$8.99 (US0.10)-per-minute rate for prepaid customers on Thursday, the same day it started to shut down the Claro network it acquired last year. The move means Digicel prepaid customers will benefit from cheaper calls to Digicel users during the day and subscribers to the LIME and Flow networks, though having to pay an additional JMD$ 0.99 (US$0.01) per minute for night-time and weekend calls to other on-network users.
“We are always ensuring that we deliver on our commitments to delivering best value, best network and best service, and today we are happy to be delivering yet another best value option for our customers,” said Digicel Jamaica CEO Mark Linehan in a press statement accompanying the announcement.
LIME has been arguing for lower termination rates which would allow it to compete more effectively, with Sinclair saying last month that the company would be supportive of an interim JMD$5 (US$ 0.06) termination rate — the rate now is over JMD$10 (US$0.12).
