Capitalism on Parade: Digicel, LIME, Government, Consumers and Competition

By Mario Raphael Boothe

The recent events surrounding the Telecom sector involving the two remaining giants on the Island has brought flash the spotlight on the arguments concerning ‘Competition and its Benefits’ and ‘Governments involvement in the Private Sector”.

I’m sorry – not really – that I have to rain on ‘Big Business’ and Jamaica’s fledging capitalist population parade, but when the entire episode started I had a funny feeling that the Claro clowns would be bouncing around in the streets of New Kingston along with the fan fare associated with the respected camps of Digicel and LIME then it hit that Claro no longer operates within the confines of Jamaica – good times, competitive times.

The Circus came to town after The Office of Utilities Regulation (Governments regulatory right arm), on the command of Government, confirmed that the interim mobile termination rate will be five dollars per minute for incoming domestic and international telephone calls. This follows the amendments to the Telecommunications Act passed in Parliament earlier this year. Digicel - ever bashful on regulations – had some concerns with the OUR setting rates and stated that they had “grave concerns with the overarching powers which the Government is seeking to grant the OUR”. This comes after the ruckus with the Tax Administration.

LIME - been the true ringmaster - of the Jamaican telecom sector and along with the Minister Paulwell - patting himself on the back for job well done – were jumping in absolute Joy to the news of the OUR, this meant controlled competition and maybe a closer race, LIME reduced call charges on its network from $8 to $2.99 cents per minutes for prepaid, with post-paid ones being charged $1.99. A call from LIME to its competitor was 6.99, cheaper than the $8.99 Digicel charged for calls on its own network; LIME wasted no time in challenging its Competitor to drop its own rate for the good of the Jamaican consumer. LIME – playing the clown with egg on his face – trying to fight a lost battle.

Digicel refused to take on the challenge and walk the tight rope of balanced business, having to lower rates and still make a profit. After going behind closed doors and huddling its most paid executives and smartest financial gurus, Digicel took the path that many American Giant Corporations took before it, fight the Regulation instead of complying; shamelessly challenging the OUR in court for setting artificially low prices that wouldn’t have helped consumers in any way as the price would have been transferred elsewhere, after the companies begin losing too much to take on the cost. Digicel playing the sad clown

This was none more so true in Digicel’s, reply to LIME’s low rate after challenging the OUR , – let’s not be the bad guy, just look as the bad guy – with a dramatic cut to 2.89 with lesser benefits we all loved, including

Digicel's will now bill customers on a per minute basis bill customers on a per minute basis, which means The same call on the Digicel network will cost 5 dollars 78 cents, a full 29 cents more.

Digicel reduced the number of minutes customers get free. Customers would normally get 25 minutes free after the first 5 minutes on a call, but that has now been cut to just 10 minutes.

Those who would normally depend on free nights to talk after topping up with 200 dollars each day will find that the benefit has been reduced to one hour free at nights.

While has remained unchanged, continuing:

Billing on a per second basis; which for example will make a 1 and a half minute call on LIME's network cost 4 dollars 49 cents.

LIME customers talk after the first three minutes on the call gets 27 minutes free.

LIME customers are, after topping up with 100 dollars; talk free after 9pm until 

We will be expecting these to change in the near as the losses begin to rack up even more than the normal levels for LIME, in March LIME loss Ja. $20 billion.

The Jamaican population may not understand, Artificial Price setting, Price ceiling or capping, setting Maximum and Minimum Prices but what they should know is that due to lack of real competition within the market Digicel the highest supplier will soon shrink into non-existence after failed attempts to push around its expenses trying balance out its books and eventually leave the – Circus – market for good as a result of inability to supply the growing market and maintain low profits then we are back to the ‘Ringmaster” and a Circus with only a “Ringmaster” is Mono-tonous.

To end on a sarcastically unhappy note, what else does the Telecoms Act has under its- Big Tent of Contention- that might actually be helpful to competitions.

The Telecoms Act, gives power to the OUR and the Spectrum Management Authority ability to impose sanctions for breaches of the act. Technology Minister Phillip Paulwell said the agencies will be empowered to demand certain information from telecoms licensees. 

The legislation will now require mobile companies to share cell towers instead of the current practice of each having their own. Paulwell said this is aimed at bringing order to the system. 

The amendments could also see mobile phone users having the ability to switch networks while retaining their telephone number. 

The Party that cried "Poor”: Jamaican Politics in Poverty

As the fable goes the shepherd-boy, who watched a flock of sheep near a village, brought out the villagers three or four times by crying out, "Wolf! Wolf!" and when his neighbors came to help him, he laughed at them for their pains.  The Wolf, however, did truly come at last. The Shepherd-boy, now really alarmed, shouted in an agony of terror: "I Pray do come and help me; the Wolf is killing the sheep"; but no one paid any heed to his cries, nor rendered any assistance. The Wolf, having no cause of fear, at his leisure destroyed the whole flock.

The Opposition’s response to Peter Phillips Budget presentation seems to be taking on very similar characteristics to the story mentioned above the fairytale classic “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”. The Audley-Andrew team up seemed perfectly in synch and coordinated as they successfully attacked the Government on their Tax Proposal, “This Budget is not bitter medicine. It is poison." assured Holness; “what has been presented is not stimulus but potential toxic shocks to remaining sectors of the economy” voiced Shaw (Poison – Toxic, hmmm).

The perfect cohesion between the Rhetoric got my nose working and my mind soon to follow; I smelt betrayal in the air and I knew that this was not “Poor People Passion” (demonstrated wholesomely by Portia). Over the period of the Last Election cycle to now, we can definitely make the conclusion that the Peoples National Party led by Mama P most certainly said the word “Poor” and made mention to Poverty in Jamaica more times than their (Big Man Capitalist Counterparts) the Jamaica Labour Party. This is not a singular occurrence as the PNP as retained the ‘Poor People Party’ image since its socialist days under Manley.

In his Post Budget press conference on Friday, Andrew Holness was ‘animated’ (as one media house described it) with passion against the Tax on Basic Food Items, Books and Electricity. His words came forth but had nothing behind, they lacked substance, he ranted against distractions such as the CCJ, CARICOM and removal of the monarchy making absolutely sure that debt and poverty reduction should be atop of the government priorities. The intent of this Political strategy is clearly to get the one up on Portia while been a constructive opposition, but also ensuring that we remember her election promises and now see them fizzle as “barefaced deception”.

While I welcome such political fodder as it does have a place in a democracy, the inability of the JLP to look towards the future and provide us with an alternative budget (as practiced in many countries) showing us that they would do things differently instead of just saying “We would have done it different”, while refusing to present any alternative (tweaking the existing, is not an alternative), is the reason for my “crying wolf” conclusion. Pointing out the PNP and Portia’s failures doesn’t fix Jamaica’s.

The instantaneity of Jamaica Labour Party, to ride on the “Fear and Sensationalist” reaction to the budget by the Jamaican people, speaks volume about the evolution of politics (or lack of) in Jamaica. Even when they bash the Government on playing politics with the emotions of the people (referring to the Bitter Medicine/poison), they themselves get caught pulling the cats tail; to be fair, neither side can plead not guilty on the charge of political deception.  

Andrew Holness and his Labourite counterparts might actually be concerned about the “Poor”, and how the poor will be affected due to the tax package (giving the benefit of the doubt) but we can see that his Actions doesn’t match his rhetoric. Politics is meant to be a ‘rat race’ but not in the literal sense of the word “rat”.

There is no believing a liar, even when he speaks the truth.

We aren't a Christian Nation

By Mario Raphael Boothe

Jamaica's Conservative Christians  accepting the fact that 'we aren't a Christian nation' ruled by theocracy must happen this year of Jamaica's 50th Indepence, we cannot live under the delusion any longer. I know, coming from a christian it sounds weird but I'm compelled to allow common sense, discussion and love be the substitute for hate and bigotry. 

Not even The United States of America can claim the title of "Christian Nation". Their founding fathers of the nation were not Bible-believing Christians; they were deists. Deism was a philosophical belief that was widely accepted by the colonial intelligentsia at the time of the American Revolution. Its major tenets included belief in human reason as a reliable means of solving social and political problems and belief in a supreme deity who created the universe to operate solely by natural laws. The supreme God of the Deists removed himself entirely from the universe after creating it. They believed that he assumed no control over it, exerted no influence on natural phenomena, and gave no supernatural revelation to man. A necessary consequence of these beliefs was a rejection of many doctrines central to the Christian religion. Deists did not believe in the virgin birth, divinity, or resurrection of Jesus, the efficacy of prayer, the miracles of the Bible, or even the divine inspiration of the Bible.

Many people in the christian faith and other religions use their Theology as a defense to spread undesirable hatred around the world be it Anti-American Jihad-Muslims, Anti-Palestine Jews, or Anti-Gay, Anti-Abortion, Anti-Premarital Sex Christians.

We have to change the tone of the discussion from war to therapy or motivation for change (we don't war against flesh and blood but strongholds and principalities). If spiritual Christians really believe in 'Spiritual World' then they should not be attacking "Gay Demons" through the eyes and ears of man but through Prayer of the Holy Ghost. 

Christians (Liberal or Conservative) have not learnt from the teaching of Jesus or seen the mistakes of the past, when we burned people on crosses and torture them because they had sinned, if Christianity continue down this road of "out casting and rejecting:" sinners rather than receiving them and touching their lives and hearts in a meaningful way, we shall be cast back into the times of the Christian Crusades (hieght of religious intolerance for christians) of the 11th Century, in which millions of muslim followers died. Christianity must show that it too has grown not just the world.

And for those Christians that need biblical evidence, here it is:

Luke 19:10 reads, "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."

Higher Education doesn’t mean Expensive Education

“The Educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living from the dead” this quote is attributed to Aristotle.

The world of the 21th Century is one that many Experts in a wide range of areas across society believes to be the world of competitiveness like no other time in human history; competition between countries, races, religious and Political Ideology, classes, Financial Markets (evident more so on Wall St.) and almost everything that Humanity separates itself by, but Social Darwinism (survival of the fittest theory) or in this case (survival of the richest)  should have no place in the Education of Children from Early Childhood – Secondary or for those seeking ‘Higher Education’ at a Tertiary Institution be it Private or Public, in saying so I must give my support to any student union that stands up against the “No money, No Exam” Rule because once who have been gained entry through qualification and partial payment of fees then your free to sit your Exams. I must thank the University of the West Indies Student Guild for raising the issue once again earlier this week.

There is a preconceived notion in the world that to be properly educated and employable, one must have attended a private university that cost almost a life fortune just to live on campus much less the actual school fee. This classist Idea that a Public Community College or Vocational school is only for the “wat lef” in society, this is the reason why our institutions are underutilized, cast aside and neglected by both society and government, who seem to favor the private institution over the Publicly funded ones, which should make us cry shame and bloody murder at such actions like giving public grants to Private institutions to build sporting facilities and Labs. In a society where every penny counts, the grants would be better suited fixing the Community Colleges and paying the public teaching force to change public perceptions of what ‘Higher Education’ is. 

If the uneducated are as the same as the dead as stated by Aristotle then Jamaica is a land of mindless  walking zombies that have absolutely no purpose in life and if so how can consecutive Governments both JLP, PNP , Capitalist and Socialist really neglect Education by slashing and burning the sector in every budget just to balance the books. In this year’s budget I sincerely hope that education is spared and our society can be begin its resurrection from the jaws of death.

Budget Blues: Incorrect Spending and Ridiculous Spending Cuts

The Budget is a bore, most of the times if not all of the times. We sit and pretend to listen to reports on the complicated numbers and division of  those numbers among Ministries, hearing words such as Expenditure, Spending, Cuts, Capital A and B, Supplementary, etc. We have gotten to the point where not even the ‘Budget Debate’ is Important us as a society, although the decisions made by our leaders will affect each and every one of us in some way or other.

Is it that we trust our leaders to make these ‘Critical’ choices without our voices heard? On the contrary we could not be less concerned about what the Government does with our money; if we have to tighten our belts on our family’s budget so should the Government on the Country’s Budget, right?

But should you be afraid, Very afraid of this fiscal year Budget?

If you’re a Progressive anywhere in the world and your country is experiencing a economical down turn your mind automatically switches to Infrastructure and Short Term Development Project to revive the spending capabilities of your citizens but if you’re a hard-line conservative you will follow the crowd and shout ‘Spending Cuts’ and ‘Tax Breaks for Top Earners’ from mountain tops to skyscrapers accepting no other positions but your own, while holding the middle class and poor hostage as if you’re a suicide bomber, like the Tea Party in the ‘Debt Ceiling Battle’ in Washington D.C. USA, earlier this year. Jamaica has a hard-line conservative political party called, The Jamaica Labour Party.

Now here is the ‘Be very afraid part’, the Hon. Audley Shaw, Minister of Finance; star of the JLP economics, has taken a if I dare say it ‘Hill and Gully ride’ approach to this budget; increasing spending and mercilessly cut expenditure on across the board in his supplementary budget present on August 30, 2011. Obviously the Hill represents the spending hikes, while the Gully; cuts. If you don’t enjoy ‘Hill and Gully rides’, this should scare you, Minister Shaw budget includes: A $2.1-billion net increase, a $4.4 billion increase in spending on the recurrent side, a $2.4 billion cut in capital expenditure. But what does it all mean?

It means, those affected including Ministry of Energy and Mining, which lost $860 million allocated to the Petrojam refinery update and $50 million of the $450 million which had been allocated to the Rural Electrification Project. The Ministry of Education that lost $800 million from its capital budget, practically stalling construction of two high schools and one primary school, a School of Hospitality and Tourism Management and joint National Youth Service/Youth Information Centre offices.

So, Conservatism meet Conservatism; the budget is essential built around paying the public workers, whom deserve to get paid, but at the same destroying projects that would employ workers and improve our infrastructure and Education system. Spending cuts are necessary but spending by the Government in a developmental manner is essential as well in the functioning of a stable economy. If you’re afraid of this conservative dial tone of a budget, take comfort in China, Ha?

Question to the People: Will this Budget be able to get us out of the slump, with so much Cuts and incorrect spending?’

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20110831/lead/lead1.html

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/2-1b-more_9571950#ixzz1Wgr3D1yY