As The Bahamas enters a new era in information and communications technology (ICT) competition -- with the advent of Internet Protocol television (IPTV), the long-awaited liberalization of the cellular market and other advances -- the major players in ICT services are all agreeing on ways to settle disputes within the sector.
The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) issued a statement on December 31, 2014 on its alternative dispute resolution (ADR) guidelines consultation document, and at the same time published its ADR scheme for disputes between licensees.
The consultation took place between March and May 2014, and the documents published by URCA form the basis of the regulatory measures establishing the ADR schemes the regulator will implement for the resolution of disputes between licensees and disputes between consumers and licensees.
Through the consultation process, URCA heard from members of the public, licensees and interested parties: The regulator said in a press release that the submissions were "generally constructive, insightful and useful".
Among those who provided written responses to the consultation document were the Bahamas Telecommunications Company Limited (BTC), the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas (BCB), Cable Bahamas Ltd. [also responding on behalf of its affiliates Caribbean Crossings Ltd. and Systems Resource Group Limited] and Digicel Group.
According to the statement published by URCA, BTC is of the view that successful dispute resolution is the key to attracting investment, bolstering competition and developing the communications sector, and believes that the ADR guidelines provide for the use of minimal and well-focused intervention to create an environment of incentives for constructive ADR.
The BCB said it looked forward to the implementation of nondiscriminatory ADR procedures to resolve disputes, but urged URCA to take a more active role in ensuring that its codes, guidelines and regulations are adhered to by all licensees, rather than only acting on complaints submitted to URCA that URCA considers "worthy".
The BCB also called on URCA to actively monitor all radio and television licensees to ensure compliance.
Both Cable Bahamas -- which said it supports a dispute resolution scheme that is fair, timely and cost effective -- and BCB represented a desire that after implementation, the ADR guidelines be reviewed by industry stakeholders periodically to ensure that they are fit for purpose.
The published ADR scheme is designed to provide practical guidance in the step-by-step handling of disputes by URCA between licensees. It is intended to inform the parties to a dispute of the level of response and action to be expected from URCA in the ADR process. Key components of the ADR scheme include the general procedures URCA expects to follow in respect of resolving disputes between licensees; the procedures for mediation, arbitration and the issuance of the appropriate regulatory and other measures by URCA to the end of resolving disputes between licensees, and procedures associated with the referral by URCA of complex and highly specialized disputes between licensees to a dispute resolution panel.
URCA will publish a separate ADR scheme for disputes between consumers and licensees as soon as reasonably practicable.

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