Wheatley to revoke Symbiote licence

Telecommunications firm Symbiote, which trades as Caricel Jamaica, will have its licence revoked, Andrew Wheatley, minister of science, energy and technology, told the House of Representatives yesterday.

"I have written to the principals of Symbiote indicating that I have a receipt of a recommendation from the OUR (Office of Utilities Regulation) and, as such, I am proceeding with the revocation," the minister said.

Wheatley revealed that Symbiote had not complied with all the conditions that were attached to its Domestic Mobile Spectrum Licence. According to the technology minister, among the issues that Symbiote failed to address was the matter of outstanding fees. "There were several conditions that they breached and as such the OUR recommended that we proceed to revoke the licence."

Reports surfaced in February that the operations of Caricel had been acquired by South Africa's Involution Limited under a sale agreement negotiated in October 2017.

This triggered concerns from the then Office of the Contractor General, which noted that in order for the company to sell controlling shares it must first receive the approval of the minister, as dictated by the Telecommunications Act.

"If any entity wishes to put out whatever information they wish, I cannot prevent them from doing so, whether it is fake news or otherwise. What I can say here is that we have not given any approval, and for the transfer of the licence, you need ministerial approval, and no such approval was given," Wheatley insisted.