CCJ rules against Guyana telephone company in VOIP case

The Trinidad-based Carib-bean Court of Justice (CCJ) has ruled that the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) breached its contract in disconnecting a customer's Internet service because of his use of Vonage, an Internet phone service which uses voice-over Internet protocol technology.

In a ruling Monday, the CCJ said it was allowing James Samuel's appeal while dismissing the cross appeal of the telecommunications company.

The CCJ accepted the findings of the trial judge that Samuels had not signed any written agreement with GT&T and was given no notice of any restrictions on his Internet usage.

But the court refused to rule on whether Samuels' action infringed the Telecommunica-tions Act, saying that was a matter for Guyana's director of telecommunications to determine.

The CCJ also expressed no view on whether GT&T's exclusive licence was void based on the Civil Law Act, and the Constitution, because those matters were not part of Samuels' original claim.

GT&T was ordered to pay damages and costs as awarded by the trial judge as well as the costs of the appeal before the CCJ.

- CMC