Cable & Wireless BlocksNet2Phone
The local franchise holder of telephoneservices - Cable & Wireless (Cayman Islands) Limited, (C &W) issued "Information" to their Internet Customersat approximately 10:30 pm, Friday 28 July - reminding them of"some of the Terms and Conditions that apply to Internetservice provided by Cable & Wireless."
From inquiries made, as to what prompted C & W to issue itsrecent communication to Internet users, Cayman Net News has learnedthat approximately 2000 users of a long distance communicationscomputer related service - carried by providers of a number ofInternet-related companies, who have created compact overseasvoice communications technology and equipment, at about 80 percentless than it would cost to place overseas calls -- have been targetedfor the blockage.
The service most affected by C & W's action is Net2Phone userswho are being provided with 'Y@p' equipment sold by a local electronicsstore and available on the open market in the US. The purchaseof this particular piece of equipment, the size of a portabletelephone - has been described as "nothing but a portablephone with a built-in computer chip, which provides the ownerwith the capability of making overseas calls, paying about 12cent cents per minute, instead of 60 cents."
In it's communication sent out to its approximately 8000 internetusers, Cable & Wireless states:
"(1) You may not use, modify or adapt the Internet Serviceto transmit voice on our public telecommunications system or thatof any foreign telecommunications provider;
(2) You may not connect to the Public Switched TelecommunicationsNetwork at the local or distant end.
If you have misplaced your Terms and Conditions and want to reviewthem you may view them and/or print them from our web page:http://www.candw.ky/products/resident/internet/T&C.html
If you wish further clarification on this please e-mail us atcwterms@candw.ky.
Since Cable & Wireless came to the Cayman Islands in 1966,unlike other goods and services here, our prices have decreasedrather than increased For example in 1999 alone we reduced IDDrates by an average of 25%. This year already we have doubledthe number of Internet hours included in our dial-up plans andeliminated the volume charge element: in effect greater than 50%reduction in price to our dial-up Internet customers.
Next week we look forward to promoting further price reductionson some of our Internet services, particularly designed to furthersupport Cayman's e-business initiatives. Given the price structure,regulatory constraints on pricing, cross-subsidies, the cost structure,and the other economic factors particular to our business in theCayman Islands, we cannot sustain that trend if there is proliferationof the types of prohibited usages described above.
We at Cable & Wireless are committed to continue our trackrecord of reducing prices that will benefit all of our customersand the economy of our Islands. We thank you for your businessand for your support."
It is understood that Net2Phone and similar alternative long distanceservice providers are increasing worldwide daily. A spokespersonfor Net2Phone told Cayman Net News that: "We experiencedthe same problem here in Jordan ... but before long, we were ableto get our customers back on line. The interruption of Net2Phoneservices to our Cayman customers is only temporary. It will bejust a matter of time before they can continue using our serviceswhich has been saving them a great sum in overseas calls."
It has also been suggested that the fact Cable and Wireless' providerof long distance services in the United States is AT&T, theymay be forced to the bargaining table to accommodate Net2Phoneinternational customers, including those in the Cayman Islands-- because Net2Phone provides AT&T with business on a worldwidebasis.