C & W Meets Net2Phone
Senior management of Cableand Wireless (C&W), the present exclusive provider of telephoneand Internet services in the Cayman Islands, and senior officialsand a legal advisor from Net2Phone, the Internet Telephony provider,met here on Monday, in an attempt to resolve the block placedby C&W on Net2Phone Internet services.
Sources close to the discussions have indicatedthat nothing has been resolved in regard to removal of the blockplaced by C & W, which action prevented subscribers from makinglong distance calls through their Internet service, for as littleas ten percent of the rates charged by the telecommunicationsgiant.
It is known that a number of options havebeen discussed and C&W could be pressed in a matter of days- through legal action, locally and at an international level-- to remove the block.
It has been suggested that should the Companyfail to release the block or respond, Net2Phone and other providersof Internet Telephony Services are prepared to do whatever isnecessary to have the matter resolved.
In addition, Net2Phone wants to assure theirusers in the Cayman Islands that it is working at all levels tohave the service back and running without interruption.
When contacted for a comment on this development,a spokesman for the distributors of Net2Phone said, "Withthe recent world focus on the Cayman Islands in respect of theinternational media's attention on this territory's change inlegislation which may affect the way the Cayman Islands operate- this move by Cable and Wireless could only add harm to the needfor Cayman to diversify its economy - particularly in the areaof e-commerce - which requires drastically reduced rates to becompetitive, in comparison to what is now being paid."
It is known that a petition being circulatedto present to Government in an attempt to get C&W to the bargainingtable to review its monopoly operations and pricing structurehas "so far met with much success," according to theorganisers.
When contacted for a response to this development,a spokesperson for Cable and Wireless said that they "prefernot to comment on speculation."
In the meantime, Net2Phone and other voiceover Internet users await the resolution of this impasse.