Dear Editor,

I heard it with my own ears but I could hardly believe it. Commenting on radio about the ongoing furore in the mobile industry, Minister Phillip Paulwell, instead of confronting the thorny issue of the Digicel/Claro deal, seemingly tried to sidestep the issue by saying that he believes that there is still room for at least one more player in the industry.

I therefore have to worry about the long-term future of this industry. Minister Paulwell just doesn’t seem to get it, and one would have hoped that his nearly four years in Opposition would have helped his reasoning.

Minister, you granted a licence some years ago to AT&T. What happened there? Another licence was given to Claro, whose owner is the richest man in the world (Carlos Slim), and the millions he threw into the fray, mostly at Digicel, just bounced off like water running off a duck’s back.

If neither of these two entities could have made a scratch in the stranglehold that Digicel has on the industry, which new player is going to be able to do so? And which new player is going to be crazy enough to invest, considering the current scenario where not even the deep pockets of Mr Slim could succeed?

Minister, what Jamaicans need is not another mobile company so that we are forced to continue to carry two or even three phones. What we need is to be able to buy one phone and call any network for roughly the same price, and then let the value offered by the respective companies determine where the customer spends his/her money.

Another player, Mr Minister? I don’t think so. Fix what is easy to fix and help us to get out of the multiple-phone syndrome. I am not sure this exists anywhere else in the world.

Mr Paulwell, we have gone the route of another player twice before and it has made no difference. I remind you, if you need reminding, of the classic definition of insanity, whether you credit Ben Franklin or Albert Einstein: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Mark Rogers

Kingston 6