BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, Thursday October 22, 2015 – The Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL) Council of Ministers has chastised the company formed from the LIME and FLOW merger for announcing new, increased broadband rates before finalizing an agreement with the regulatory body.
The ministers made their disappointment clear in a statement issued this week, following their 32nd regular meeting last Thursday.
They explained that at a meeting between the merging parties and ECTEL on July 13, the merging parties accepted several conditions proposed by ECTEL on net neutrality and the unrestricted use of Over the Top Services, roaming, a harmonized entry level broadband package and permitting customers to migrate to the most favourable service plan for them, and gave a commitment to work with the Council of Ministers and ECTEL to ensure that services were offered at affordable prices and at the highest quality levels.
A draft agreement was submitted by ECTEL and on September 14, the merging companies responded with an amended version of the draft which the regulator said rendered the agreement “unenforceable”.
The proposed amendments from the merging parties have therefore been rejected by ECTEL and agreement is still to be reached.
The ECTEL Council of Ministers said it is therefore “unacceptable that at this time when the wordings of conditions agreed to are being finalized, FLOW has announced its intention to increase broadband rates in the territories affected by the merger”.
“This announcement goes against the spirit of the discussions between the merging parties and the regulator. The Council demands that the merging parties honour the commitments including the provision of services at affordable prices, which have been made to the regulator and also announced publicly.”
The Council said it intends to continue to protect the interest of consumers and advocate in the best interests of the citizens of the ECTEL Member States.
“We encourage all stakeholders including consumer agencies to come together in a united effort to ensure that the merging parties adhere to and not delay implementation of the conditions agreed with the regulators,” it added.