Two separate teams vying to build a US$20-$30-million fiberoptic cable line into Jamaica have expressed concern that only one licence may be issued by technology minister Philip Paulwell, leaving the other investor without the legal right to lay the cable.

"We always assumed that we would get the landing rights for the fiber," said David Hall, chief executive officer at Digicel Jamaica, one of the two teams seeking the licence. "We believe it would have been embraced by the minister as it would drive down prices."

The fibre-line would provide an alternative and competition to Cable & Wireless and would also, the investors say, drive down Jamaica's Internet and telephone costs.

The 1,000-kilometre fibre line running on the ocean floor would link Jamaica to Miami, USA. Fibre allows a lot of information to be transferred at a very fast rate.

Digicel Jamaica Ltd, which is a cell service provider and carrier, wants clarification on the specifics of the licencing document, including the applicable fees.

Another group of investors also sought clarification, and met with Paulwell earlier this week. The team - Trans-Caribbean Cable Company (TCCC) - argued that the minister should not offer a single and exclusive licence.

Interestingly, those who support the idea of an exclusive licence make the case that it would provide an incentive to the investors by guaranteeing returns on the investment. However, an exclusive licence, TCCC argues, can be bad for competition, enabling one player to control the fibre and set prices to its benefit.

"But if the minister does offer an exclusive licence, it should not offer it to a carrier, but to a neutral player," argues Brain Crawford, president of Trans-Caribbean Cable Company (TCCC). TCCC's team is a consortium of 15 telecoms companies including five Jamaican firms.

Currently two cables exit Jamaica, but only one has the capacity to carry significant load - CJF, which is controlled by telecom services provider Cable & Wireless (C&W). The other which is no longer upgradable, is TCS-1, controlled by a consortium of many players including C&W and US-based AT&T.

The TCCC fibre is planned to replace (or support) the TCS-1. Currently TCS allows for a maximum 140 megabits of capacity, while the TCCC proposes to build a new cable offering between 160-320 gigabits of capacity.

TCCC's least cost model sees the cable exiting Jamaica into the Dominican Republic and then connecting to an existing cable in Puerto Rico.

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