Falklands : CHAMBER OF COMMERCE PULLS OUT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS CONSULTATIVE FORUM
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 18.03.2009 (Article Archived on 29.04.2009)
Following a meeting of the Chamber Council on 11/3/2009 the Chamber of Commerce has decided not to take part in further meetings of the Telecommunications Consultative Forum.
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE PULLS OUT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS CONSULTATIVE FORUM
Following a meeting of the Chamber Council on 11/3/2009 the Chamber of Commerce has decided not to take part in further meetings of the Telecommunications Consultative Forum.
The creation of the Forum was long requested by the Chamber of Commerce, and two of its representatives have participated in the two meetings of the Forum since its establishment. However, those representatives have recently reported back to the Chamber, and the Chamber has concluded that FIG has made little progress in ensuring these meetings formalize a regime of greater regulatory transparency as recommended by FIG’s consultant Dr Chris Doyle in his 2007 report
The Chamber of Commerce and its representatives actively participated in membership of the Forum to improve telecommunication links and internet access, The Chamber especially note the concluding remarks of Dr Doyle Senior Research Fellow at Warwick University in his 2005 report which he referred to again in 2007 as follows:
“But perhaps the biggest gain in improvement over the next few years would derive from closer scrutiny by the FIG of C&W Falkland Islands. At present it appears that FIG routinely receives the annual management accounts presented by C&W Falkland Islands, with little attention paid to quality of service performance and profitability.
In the policy recommendations outlined below, I advocate a more hands on approach to ensure that consumers on the Islands get a fair deal, and that C&W Falkland Islands receive a reasonable return on the assets employed.”
The principle observations in Dr Doyle’s 2005 report included
Prices – too high.
Quality of services - too low and inconsistent
Advanced business internet services – inadequate
The Chamber of Commerce firmly believes FIG has done little or nothing to address these points.
On regulation Dr Doyle recommended that FIG should scrutinise more closely the activities of the licensee and that this should be achieved by:
(i) Requiring C&W Falklands to submit an annual performance report to FIG (to the Chief Executives office) at the end of each financial year.
(ii) The annual performance report should be presented to the Executive Council and made public following their approval (made public means provided online and in hard copy in the library) A summary of the report should be delivered to all subscribers to the C&W network.
(iii) The annual performance report would provide information on services, investment, prices, quality of service, profitability and future service plans.
(iv) The FIG should establish targets, based on benchmarks from other jurisdictions, against which the performance of the licensee would be appraised.
(v) The licensee should be allowed to submit pleas for changes to its tariffs in the annual performance report, and approval should be granted subject to the performance of the licensee.
The Falkland Islands Government’s complete failure to properly address these issues has severely hindered private sector development and has let down seasonal and other consumers in the Islands. Continued participation in a forum that is clearly ineffective and which fundamentally fails to openly address the genuine concerns of issues raised by FIG’s consultant and the wider business membership of the Chamber (which represents over 90 local businesses) makes for a very unhappy and discontented situation with the present regulatory process.
Chamber members are giving freely of large amounts of time and expertise to assist the FIG with producing economic strategies to secure a future for the Falkland Islands, yet vital business tools that are needed for this - the internet - remain unworkable, despite our positive and constructive attempts to give the feedback that is needed to improve matters.
Dr Doyle clearly stated that FIG should impress upon Cable & Wireless that services provided to users, and business users in particular, should, where possible, be equivalent to those that are offered in competitive markets. Without speedy remedial action from FIG, business users will have no option but to actively seek out alternative telecommunication solutions for their business needs, which are vital to sustained private sector development.
Chamber Council
13/3/2009
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