UPDATE: CCT claims to have done nothing beyond authorisations
CCT Chief Executive Officer Mr. Averad Penn told reporters yesterday May 15, 2014 at a press conference that they have done nothing beyond the authorisations.
"We live in a regulated environment and we have done nothing that is beyond the authorisations which we have been granted by the TRC,” said Mr Penn.
In a statement dated May 14, 2014, Mr Guy L. Malone, Chief Executive Officer of the TRC had said that after careful consideration and consultation conducted with reference to section 75(1) of the Telecommunications Act, 2006, it had determined that CCT breached section 20(1) (a) of the Act which resulted in the fine.
However CCT’s Penn is insisting, "we went out, we asked for permission, we have written letters; we told them we wanted to test, we have gotten pioneer status. From our perspective, we have tried to be as above board as possible, and we are a little disappointed in the fine that has come down to us and obviously we will look to see what recourse we have, moving forward".
He hastened to note that CCT does not have an adverse relationship with the TRC as they are the regulators of the industry.
Penn said that they have never been shy about the fact that they are building a new network that does include LTE technology. He said that they got pioneer status to bring in LTE technology of which they did inform the TRC as they were going along the way.
“We have installed this new technology here within the BVI and we are waiting for an opportunity to bring it to the customers,” Penn admitted.
He further noted that up until now they have not given LTE technology to any customer because they are awaiting that approval. “We bought it; we built it; we put it up with that pioneer status and we are waiting patiently and are hoping to get approval so we can bring it to the customers,” he added.
"They are the regulators and they can do what is in their prerogative to do in terms of fining and regulation, and we respect that. We will just continue to zealously advocate for our shareholders,” said Penn.
See previous story posted on May 14, 2014:
UPDATE: TRC fines CCT $50k for unauthorised use of spectrum
- says no operator has been authorised to use 700MHz spectrum
ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI – The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) has issued a fine to Caribbean Cellular Telephone Ltd (CCT) in the amount of $50,000 in relation to CCT’s "unauthorized use" of the 700MHz spectrum.
In a statement today May 14, 2014, Guy L. Malone, Chief Executive Officer of the TRC said that after careful consideration and consultation conducted with reference to section 75(1) of the Telecommunications Act, 2006, it had determined that CCT breached section 20(1) (a) of the Act and, “as a result, has imposed a fine on CCT pursuant to section 75(2) (b) of the Act in sum of US$50,000.”
“CCT is not and has never been in possession of a frequency authorisation for the 700 MHz band,” said Malone. This story was firstly and accurately reported by this news site on April 24, 2014.
“After receiving a complaint from another licence holder and carrying out its own tests on the identified spectrum, the TRC questioned CCT over its alleged use of the 700MHz band. Whilst CCT’s responses to the TRC’s written inquiries were initially unsatisfactory, CCT subsequently admitted its use of the 700MHz spectrum during February and March of 2014,” Malone said in his statement.
“CCT was provided with a written summary of the TRC’s preliminary findings and the proposed Fine and neither the findings nor the Fine were disputed by it,” said the statement.
According to the Malone, the TRC reiterates that any unauthorised use of the spectrum is a serious matter in the context of the development of the telecommunications sector in the Virgin Islands.
“The TRC is currently preparing to allocate 700MHz spectrum in a spectrum award process and any unauthorised use is disruptive and ultimately delays the approvals that will be granted to licensees. The allocation process for the 700 MHz bandwidth is an important issue for all service providers and the general public in the Virgin Islands due to its suitability for use in conjunction with the latest 4G LTE (long term evolution) technology. The TRC would like to confirm to the public that no operator has yet been authorised to use the 700 MHz spectrum for launching 4G LTE services,” the statement said.
Malone’s statement went on to say that the unauthorised use of the spectrum in this way “is contrary to the interests of all stakeholders” in the Virgin Islands and the TRC will not tolerate it.
“This is especially the case when such actions would interfere with the 700 MHz allocation process. The TRC is now pressing on with the process of allocating frequencies that will allow the launch of new and innovative mobile service in the Virgin Islands such as 4G LTE,” said Malone in the statement.
Repeated efforts by this news site to reach CCT for a reaction to the TRC imposed fine were unsuccessful up to post time.
See previous story posted on April 24, 2014:
Who’s in breach of prohibited 700MHz spectrum usage?
- TRC indicates that it has legal proceedings ongoing against a violator
ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI – It is a barrel of secrets surrounding the legal predicament one telecommunication company may have found itself in resulting in the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (the “TRC”) taking legal action/s.
Yesterday April 23, 2014 this news site sought to follow up with TRC’s Chief Executive Officer Mr Guy L. Malone on the progress made so far as it relates to the granting of requests from licensees to provide authorization to use the 700 MHz band. He responded, “I cannot comment on that. We have legal issues we are dealing with [regarding] one of the operators so I am not going to comment anything on that right now, I can’t.”
Asked which of the operators they are having legal issues with Mr Malone again said that he cannot comment. Further asked if there was any other matter as it relates to the spectrum that he could comment on, the CEO again said, “I wouldn’t disclose anything with respect to the spectrum because there are legal issues and I prefer to keep it that way.”
Following the confirmation that there are legal proceedings against one of the telecommunications companies operating here in the Virgin Islands, two of three, LIME BVI and Digicel BVI were contacted by this news site. Efforts to reach the management of CCT Global Communications were futile up to late yesterday afternoon.
Both LIME and Digicel confirmed to this news site that they are not aware of any legal action/s against their individual companies in relation to the 700MHz Spectrum.
On March 14, 2014 the TRC had circulated a press release indicating that as at that date no licensee was authorized to use the 700 MHz frequency and that until requisite approvals are granted by the TRC any activity whatsoever in that bandwidth would be contrary to existing licensees and frequency authorizations and a contravention of the Telecommunications Act, 2006 (the “Act”). As such any unauthorized use of the spectrum is contrary to the provisions of the Act which are set out to ensure fairness amongst all public suppliers and ultimately to protect the consumer interest.
“The TRC reminds all licensees and stakeholders that any unauthorized activity on the 700 MHz spectrum for whatever purpose would be a contravention of the Act, viewed very seriously by the TRC and that in such circumstances the TRC would take whatever action it might deem appropriate to protect the interests of all stakeholders,” TRC had cautioned in that press release.
As this news site sought answers to open ended questions surrounding the whole issue of the illegal breach of the spectrum and what may be factor/s that are causing delay in moving forward to granting permission for the use of the 700MHz band in the Virgin Islands, authentic sources told this news site that two of the companies did detect ‘waves’ which indicated that someone had activated the frequency.
TRC had said in their press release that it has made significant progress regarding plans to meet requests from licensees to provide authorization to use the 700 MHz band and thereby facilitate the use of new technologies for the overall benefit of the residents and businesses of the Virgin Islands.
“The TRC is currently setting out a process to award the 700 MHz spectrum and will inform licensed public suppliers accordingly,” stated the March 14, 2014 press release.
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59 Responses to “UPDATE: CCT claims to have done nothing beyond authorisations”
"So why don' they just free up the damn spectrum so we can get the real 4G?"
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