Chief Justice rules in favour of Smart
The courts were chockfull of cases today. We start with the case of Speednet against Telemedia. Attorneys Andrew Marshalleck and Eamon Courtenay, on behalf of Smart, filed for and received an interim injunction on Monday that restrained Telemedia from taking any further actions that would damage its services to its customers. That injunction held in place until today when Speednet’s attorneys squared off with Telemedia’s Lawyer Lois Young. Young argued her case in the afternoon. But by six o clock, Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh upheld the injunction and ruled that Telemedia should allow Speednet and Smart Access to the E1 equipment and all other equipment on Telemedia’s compound and towers. In essence he ruled that everything should be reverted to the way it was prior to August twenty-fourth when Telemedia was nationalized. News Five caught up with the attorneys as the left the courtroom tonight.
Eamon Courtenay, Attorney for Speednet
“It is a matter of ninety thousand subscribers whose service was interrupted by Telemedia. I think the decision of the learned Chief Justice was very well reasoned, it was carefully crafted and it is an important decision. First of all, it clarifies the role of the court and the P.U.C. when there are disputes between the service providers and the court established, as we submitted, that there is a role for the court even though the P.U.C. may be seized of a dispute because the court has to grant injunctions where somebody is being prejudiced in the interim. I think also, the court underscored the fact that there are five agreements between the parties and that those agreements must be respected. If there’s a dispute between the parties on those agreements, there is a process for resolving the dispute on those agreements and in the interim, the parties should abide by the agreement. And if they don’t, the court will issue an order to enforce and force them to abide by their agreement. And I think finally, what the court really upheld here is that a dominant service provider, in this case Telemedia, whose infrastructure is required to enable SpeedNet to provide services to its ninety thousand customers, must be made available on fair terms in a non-discriminatory manner and in such a way that does not interfere with the service of the industry. In the meantime, any disputes that are existing between the parties can be resolved, but paramount is the service and the continued service to the people.”
Lois Young, Attorney for Telemedia
“Yeah I lost, but I lost—yeah I lost.”
Jules Vasquez, Channel 7
“But you can’t be pleased with that outcome.”
Lois Young
“No, because I think it’s wrong and I don’t see how his order can be enforced.”
Karen Bevans, Chief Operating Officer
“We, ourselves, have concerns about the results. We are in the process of preparing, in conjunction with what the P.U.C. mentioned and with their timeline, and now this ruling today. So I think we need urgent advice from the attorney as to how we proceed now. We must comply with the ruling of the court, but as to how we proceed, then I need the advice of the attorney.”
Eamon Courtenay
“I’m sure that the technical people at Telemedia and SpeedNet are going to sit down and return things to the status quo as it existed before.”
Jose Sanchez
“So the towers that Smart was taken off, will they be returned to those towers?”
Eamon Courtenay
“That’s a matter for Telemedia. The court’s order was very clear. Everything that we asked for was granted by the Chief Justice and I’m sure they’re going to abide by the ruling of the Chief Justice.”
Lois Young
“He was choosing his words carefully but my argument to him was that this is a P.U.C. matter. He doesn’t have the expertise to determine who is a dominant provider. Inviting the P.U.C. to intervene on this is not going to cut it. Why should the P.U.C. intervene on this? The court has taken onto itself a jurisdiction that, in my view, has. I think my advice will be to the Chairman of the Board and to Mrs. Bevans to appeal.”
While the court injunction allows Smart services to return to normal. The telecom battle will not be settled until the P.U.C. makes a decision on the Telemedia/Smart dispute which is expected to take place on December twenty third.
