Jamaica’s Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) has ordered operators Digicel and Flow to alleviate “persistent quality of service (QoS) issues”.
The regulator notes that both operators’ networks experience frequent dropped calls and interrupted voice and data provision. The regulator has met with executives from the operators to detail their “serious concerns about the current service levels, and what appears to be a lack of diligence in [the operators’] resolution.”
Both operators cited an explosion in demand and usage of data as being the primary cause of their service issues. They acknowledged that their customer communication had been inadequate as they have failed to update subscribers on service outages.
However, while Digicel ascribed the issues to a modernisation programme that it started two years ago, Flow denied that there was any underlying problem with its infrastructure, claiming that the QoS problems were isolated or citing vandalism and maintenance as factors.
It is unclear whether OUR currently has the legal power to force action from the operators, as it stated that it will “push for powers to quickly impose and enforce sanctions for customer service breaches in any future enactment or amendment of ICT legislation.”
