Caricel may appeal court ruling to save telecoms licence

There is indication that embattled telecommunications company Caricel might be heading back to court as part of efforts to prevent the Government of Jamaica from yanking its licence.
  
Caricel's legal team on Wednesday made several recommendations to the company's management regarding its next move following Tuesday's Supreme Court ruling. Among the recommendations is for the company to appeal the ruling.
  
Douglas Leys, attorney for Caricel, told RJR News the company's image has been negatively affected by the recent developments.
                                                      
"While those bad notices exist, and in the absence of them being withdrawn, then it's causing the company a lot of harm from the perspective that it will be very difficult for them to interact with investors with bad notices hanging over their heads. So I recommended that it's either the notices be withdrawn - which the authorities do not appear to sanction - or we have to go to court the get them officially quashed," Mr. Leys argued.
     
The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected Caricel's application for an injunction to block an investigation being conducted by Jamaican regulators that could result in the revocation of two licences granted to it last year.

Government action

In the meantime, Justice Minister Delroy Chuck has hinted that the Government could take action against telecommunications service provider Symbiote Investments, which trades as Caricel, for a possible breach of its contract. 
    
While refusing to go into detail, Mr. Chuck, speaking with RJR News on Wednesday morning, said the company failed to uphold its end of the agreement as "certain conditions of the licence were not met."

He defended the government’s decision to grant the licence despite being cautioned by the Office of the Contractor General, saying, "When we granted the licence, we did our due diligence. Whether we were wrong is to be determined."