LIME Gives Jamaica Government Ultimatum

Category: News Created on Thursday, 09 February 2012 08:07 Written by CNS Business Release

Cable & Wireless Communications, the parent of LIME, has given the Jamaican government three months to make changes to its telecommunications regulations before it has to “make a decision” on its future in that country, the point of contention being the rate which LIME’s main competitor — Digicel — charges to terminate on its network, the Jamaica Observer reports. LIME says that only its fixed network is regulated in Jamaica and that Digicel is able to use incentives to encourage its customers not to call LIME customers. ICT Minister Phillip Paulwell said he believes he will be able to drastically change the rules within that time frame.

LIME Jamaica’s accumulated net loss between April 2007 and December 2011 stands at over $17 billion, and it could see its capital base wiped out in another six months if nothing changes, the Observer reports.

Gary Sinclair, LIME Jamaica’s managing director, said the impact of Digicel’s strategies “is worsened by the overwhelming size of the competitor's market share which means that the vast majority of phones in Jamaica will not make calls to the LIME network. This starves us of interconnection revenues from incoming calls, and stifles our growth.”