?KINGSTON–The London High Court yesterday dismissed a lawsuit filed by Digicel, which initially sought at least US$50 million in damages alone from Telecommunications Services of T&T (TSTT) and several Cable & Wireless (C&W) companies for allegedly delaying Digicel's interconnection in T&T.
In an immediate response, Digicel expressed disappointment over the court's decision against Cable & Wireless Communications (C&WC) plc regarding what CWC's "alleged engagement in illegal behaviour designed to frustrate and delay Digicel's entry into various markets in the Caribbean." Digicel, which said it was currently considering its legal options, said Justice Morgan variously describes senior executives of TSTT, which is part-owned by C&WC, and its contractors, Nortel, as:
�2 acting "contrary to honest practices" and thereby breaking the law in Trinidad, with two defined breaches of the Protection Against Unfair Competition Act 1996
�2�deliberately giving false or misleading evidence at the trial
Digicel said that separately, in the Turks & Caicos Islands, Cable & Wireless West Indies was found to have been in breach of the contract it had with Digicel.
"Whilst Justice Morgan has ruled against Digicel on various points of law related to this court action, the outcome should be attributed to the weak regulatory frameworks in place in these Caribbean jurisdictions. "Indeed, the judge himself described the legislation as being "poorly drafted," Digicel said in an immediate response to the judgment. As a champion of competition for the good of consumers, Digicel believes that Cable & Wireless Communications plc should be brought to book.'
Digicel said it will be requesting that the Telecommunications Authority of T&T (TATT) to conduct a full inquiry into this matter to determine whether punitive action should be taken against TSTT in Trinidad, "particularly taking into account the judge's finding that TSTT and Nortel conspired to produce false and misleading documents that were provided to TATT." In 2007, Digicel challenged the actions of C&WC in obstructing Digicel's efforts to roll out mobile phone networks in T&T, St Lucia, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Grenada, Barbados, the Cayman Islands and the Turks & Caicos Islands between 2002 and 2006.
The trial lasted 77 days.
TSTT's response
Yesterday, TSTT said it was under a statutory duty to facilitate the interconnection process with any new network provider and to act in a non-discriminatory manner.
"It was alleged that notwithstanding this obligation, TSTT deliberately impeded and delayed Digicel's launch of competing networks in T&T and it was initially alleged that this was orchestrated by Cable & Wireless.
"These acts were said to have delayed Digicel's entry into the T&T market from December 30, 2005 to April 6, 2006.
TSTT said Digicel "amended its claim in several material respects on a number of occasions" during the course of the trial.
"By the end of the trial, many of Digicel's points against TSTT had been abandoned, so much so, that their modified claims had little or no correlation to their originally pleaded case," TSTT said.
In its statement, TSTT said following the changes in Digicel's case, the claim against TSTT was based solely upon breaches of the Protection Against Unfair Competition Act 1966 (PAUC). Digicel cited a series of allegations of specific conduct, which, they claimed, amounted to a breach of the PAUC.
TSTT strenuously denied that it had delayed the interconnection process.
?Judgment details
?TSTT said Justice Morgan determined there were only two specific instances in which TSTT's actions were in breach of the PAUC. Notwithstanding those, TSTT said Justice Morgan determined that Digicel failed to establish:
�2 that it suffered any loss or damage as a result of any action taken by TSTT, or
�2 that it had any real or substantial chance that interconnection would have been completed before March 31, 2006, and so, dismissed the case.
TSTT said Digicel has yet to succeed in a series of interconnection claims brought against it. "With TATT already presiding over three arbitrations dealing with interconnection–all of which TSTT has won–coupled with the victorious outcome for TSTT in the London courts, TSTT is confident there is no basis whatsoever for any investigation by TATT and, justifiably, considers the matter, closed."