Appeals Court cancels injunction, rules for BTL

The injunction preventing BTL from blocking the use of money saving Internet telephone devices has been overturned by the Belize Court of Appeal. The order nullifies last year’s Supreme Court decision by Justice George Meerabux that prevented the phone company from barring the use of the I.P. Star machine and similar services under its exclusive license with government. The Court of Appeal found there were no grounds for granting the injunction in the first place and ordered the original plaintiff, Business Machines and Solutions Ltd., to pay all court costs. BTL’s attorney, Lois Young Barrow, told News 5 that she will also seek compensation for lost revenues caused by the injunction. Business Machines and Solutions is a part of the Glenn Godfrey Group, a conglomerate which is seeking to become the major competitor to BTL when its monopoly contract expires at the end of 2002.