The St. Lucia government says the telecommunication company, DIGICEL, “has not followed the correct protocol” after postpaid customers were informed of a “price adjustment”.
Senior Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Ports, Transport, Physical Development, and Urban Renewal, Stephenson King, told reporters that while the company is not adhering to the correct protocol in its price adjustment notice, he is still hopeful for an amicable resolution.
DIGICEL postpaid customers have reported that the company informed them of a five percent monthly subscription fee increase as it deals with the impact of substantial increases in business costs.
The company said the fees will be applied to bills due from December 29.
“I have seen those notices going around and obviously DIGICEL has not followed the correct protocol,” King told reporters.
King said the National Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (NTRC) and the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL) would receive such applications from service providers, and that they would seek justification for the service providers’ pricing requests.
But he noted that DIGICEL in its notice to customers cited reasons for proposing the increase and the NTRC is now looking at the proposal.
King told reporters that he had also spoken to ECTEL and is awaiting a response from both entities.
“…I have also reached out to DIGICEL themselves and I have had a conversation with them and hopefully we’ll be able to resolve this matter amicably,” King added.
CMC/
