Airtel-Vodafone appreciates the recent exercise carried out by the GCRA to review the cost of on-island leased line telecommunication services, however, the outcome is “far too little too late.”
It will have negligible benefit for telecom businesses such as Airtel-Vodafone buying these products to provide service to Guernsey retail consumers.
Avdhesh Chauhan, Head of Technology at Airtel-Vodafone said: “This price review exercise has finally happened after many years and was a great opportunity to address the extortionate price imbalances that exist in the leased line market when compared to other jurisdictions such as Jersey and the UK. Even after the price reduction, prices in Guernsey are still up to 84% higher than Jersey and up to 760% higher than the UK.
“Prices in Jersey are also expected to reduce further following the conclusion of an ongoing regulatory review.”
Avdhesh continued: “The outcome of this price review exercise does nothing to ease the cost of business connectivity. The GCRA’s final decision is a huge disabler to competition in the island and is a massive set back to invest in newer technology such as 5G which is contingent on reasonably priced leased line connectivity.”
