Jamaica Supreme Court Dismisses LIME Application for Injunctive Relief

Jamaica Supreme Court Justice Ingrid Mangatal

Yesterday, Justice Mangatal of the Jamaica Supreme Court dismissed an application by LIME for injunctive relied against Digicel as part of an ongoing court proceeding over fixed-to-mobile termination rates.  Justice Mangatal's decision provides a good overview of the legal test for injunctive relief in Jamaica (and other common law jurisdictions). She concluded that, while there appears to be serious issues to be tried in this proceeding, LIME did not provide sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the balance of convenience justifies injunctive relief.

In the main proceeding, LIME claims that Digicel's conduct in setting higher rates for the termination of fixed line calls from other networks to call Digicel's mobile network, while setting lower rates for calls from Digicel's fixed network to Digicel's mobile network, is an abuse of dominant position under the Fair Competition Act.  LIME also alleges that, under section 30 of the Telecommunications Act, Digicel did not comply with the obligation to provide interconnection on a non-discriminatory basis.  Accordingly, LIME argues that it has a private cause of action under section 48 of the Fair Competition Act and section 67 of the Telecommunications Act.

Interestingly, as part of its defence in the main proceeding, Digicel denied the existence of  "market to terminate calls on Digicel's mobile network".  This position is consistent with Digicel's arguments before the Telecommunications Appeals Tribunal (as previously discussed on this blog).  It is clearly at odds, however, with the conclusions of the Telecommunications Appeals Tribunal, as well as the position taken by the International Telecommunications Union and telecommunications regulators around the world, most of whom have concluded that mobile termination is a distinct market that requires regulation.  In her decision, Justice Mangatal seemed reluctant to delve into such a detailed and complex economic analysis.  It will be interesting to see if the trial judge will rule on this important issue.