KINGSTON, Jamaica – Opposition spokesman on Science, ICT Dr Andrew Wheatley, is demanding that the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) discloses its final ruling on the blocking of Voice Over IP (VoIP) & Over the Top (OTT) services such as Viber, Whatsapp, and others by the island’s telecommunications operators.

The telecommunications companies last year blocked Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services from accessing their networks. They argued that VoIP providers are unlicensed and therefore are unauthorized to utilize their networks.

After several concerns were raised about the decision, OUR announced that it would be meeting with consumer groups, LIME (now FLOW), and Digicel to discuss complaints.

“It has now been over a year since concerns regarding this unresolved issue was brought to the fore by the Opposition, yet, with no explanation for the delays, the OUR is yet to advise the public of its final decision. This is totally unacceptable,” Wheatley argued.

He said “the country was promised a decision sometime within the first half of this year, but, while other decisions which came to the OUR long after the VoIP issue have been completed and publicised, we are yet to hear anything about this issue.” 

n addition to demanding OUR’s final ruling, Wheatley chided the Government for “treating the Jamaican consumer with utter contempt” and resisting calls to publicise the results of their decision.

“The current situation is totally unacceptable and the opposition is putting the Regulator and the Government on notice that the Opposition in continued defence of the Jamaican consumer will take the necessary steps to ensure that closure is brought to this issue. We will not let this issue go away until it is addressed!” the spokesman expressed.