Telecom provider Cable & Wireless (C&W) in Barbados was ordered Friday to pay an undisclosed amount of money to rival Digicel for not passing on full discounts on international calls to Digicel customers, according to a Barbados Fair Trading Commission ruling.

C&W has to refund Digicel the difference between what C&W charged Digicel and the retail rates charged to C&W's customers during the promotional periods.
The telecommunication market is not fully liberalised and international calls have to pass through C&W's network.

On March 29, C&W announced that they would offer a promotional discount on international calls to their mobile customers and on September 17, it announced another promotional discount on international calls for its fixed line customers.

As a result of these promotional discounts, C&W was charging Digicel more for international services than it was billing its own retail customers, a release said.

Celebrating the ruling, Digicel Eastern Caribbean's chief executive officer Kevin White commented that "until such time as international services in Barbados are fully liberalised consumers will not be able to enjoy the benefits of a competitive market."

The amount to be refunded is not yet determined, said Maureen Rabbitt, corporate communications manager at Digicel Jamaica.

Digicel operates in seven countries across the region.

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