Dear Editor,
This is in response to the Jamaica Observer article ‘Cabinet to review OCG report on Caricel’, published on Monday, July 25, 2016.
We wish to respond to certain assertions in your article, specifically, “Symbiote/Caricel said that it had advised the SMA [Spectrum Management Authority] that it had installed and tested the equipment under its existing domestic mobile spectrum licence, and requested guidance from the authority which, it said, was ‘flatly refused’. The testing was stopped.”
While we are constrained to respond to each and every assertion made, given our commitment to keep information in relation with our clients confidential, we wish to place on record that:
1. The issuance of the service provider and carrier licence by the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) does not guarantee the grant or issuance of a domestic mobile spectrum licence. The licences issued by the OUR are no more than a prerequisite which must be satisfied in order to be considered for a domestic mobile spectrum licence. It is only after issuance of a domestic mobile spectrum licence that a licensee has permission to transmit any signal in the band so authorised.
2. The band that is the subject of your article is the 700 MHz band. To date, one licence has been issued in the band, which was to Digicel in 2014. Therefore, no other company has the legal right to carry out any transmission within the 700 MHz band until duly authorised by the authority. Further, licences for one part or band of the spectrum do not give any rights to do any transmissions in other parts or bands of the spectrum.
Currently, neither Symbiote nor Caricel (two separate companies), nor any company that they have succeeded, are in possession of a valid domestic mobile spectrum licence. As such, any mobile transmissions by either of these companies, unless explicitly authorised by the authority, would be in contravention of the Telecommunications Act and the Radio and Telegraph Control Act.
3. A review of our records indicated that at no time did the authority refuse or fail to provide guidance to Symbiote. In fact, the authority provided exhaustive guidance to the entity between 2013 up until July 2016 in relation to its desire to acquire a domestic mobile spectrum licence.
We welcome any review by the relevant government authority into our conduct in this matter, as it will confirm that we have acted professionally in the execution of our duties and obligations to our clients, the Government, and people of Jamaica.
David McBean
Managing director
Spectrum Management Authority Kingston
This is in response to the Jamaica Observer article ‘Cabinet to review OCG report on Caricel’, published on Monday, July 25, 2016.
We wish to respond to certain assertions in your article, specifically, “Symbiote/Caricel said that it had advised the SMA [Spectrum Management Authority] that it had installed and tested the equipment under its existing domestic mobile spectrum licence, and requested guidance from the authority which, it said, was ‘flatly refused’. The testing was stopped.”
While we are constrained to respond to each and every assertion made, given our commitment to keep information in relation with our clients confidential, we wish to place on record that:
1. The issuance of the service provider and carrier licence by the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) does not guarantee the grant or issuance of a domestic mobile spectrum licence. The licences issued by the OUR are no more than a prerequisite which must be satisfied in order to be considered for a domestic mobile spectrum licence. It is only after issuance of a domestic mobile spectrum licence that a licensee has permission to transmit any signal in the band so authorised.
2. The band that is the subject of your article is the 700 MHz band. To date, one licence has been issued in the band, which was to Digicel in 2014. Therefore, no other company has the legal right to carry out any transmission within the 700 MHz band until duly authorised by the authority. Further, licences for one part or band of the spectrum do not give any rights to do any transmissions in other parts or bands of the spectrum.
Currently, neither Symbiote nor Caricel (two separate companies), nor any company that they have succeeded, are in possession of a valid domestic mobile spectrum licence. As such, any mobile transmissions by either of these companies, unless explicitly authorised by the authority, would be in contravention of the Telecommunications Act and the Radio and Telegraph Control Act.
3. A review of our records indicated that at no time did the authority refuse or fail to provide guidance to Symbiote. In fact, the authority provided exhaustive guidance to the entity between 2013 up until July 2016 in relation to its desire to acquire a domestic mobile spectrum licence.
We welcome any review by the relevant government authority into our conduct in this matter, as it will confirm that we have acted professionally in the execution of our duties and obligations to our clients, the Government, and people of Jamaica.
David McBean
Managing director
Spectrum Management Authority Kingston