CABLE & Wireless Jamaica's (C&WJ) decision to launch a GSM mobile network service has sparked a competitive battle which is being fought out in the media.
On July 17, C&WJ put on a spectacular show to launch its $5 billion show and continues to aggressively market this new service in an attempt to once again dominate the mobile phone market. Since its launch in 2001, Digicel has invested US$345 million with a customer base of over 700,000. C&WJ has responded by implementing a GSM network (also used by Digicel) and gone on an advertising offensive.
Digicel has called into question its rival's advertising campaign and has written to the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) complaining that C&WJ's advertisements are misleading the public as to the quality of Digicel phones and its service. The company complains that C&WJ is claiming that Digicel is advertising phones that it doesn't have available. Below is a copy of the letter sent by Digicel's marketing manager Harry Smith to the FTC's Director General Barbara Lee.
Dear Mrs Lee,
Re: Misleading Advertisement Cable & Wireless Limited (CW&J) Section 37 Fair Competition Act
We refer to the captioned matter and write to advise that Digicel would like to lodge a complaint with the Fair Trading Commission against C&WJ for a series of misleading advertisements in the press that are in our view, and based on the legal advice we have received, in breach of section 37 of the Fair Competition Act.
The advertisements in question were printed in The Gleaner on the following dates:
July 24th, 2003 - pg A12
July 29th, 2003 - pg A11
July 29th, 2003 - pg C12
These advertisements make representations that are misleading and contain information in relation to the character and performance of Digicel phones, service and network. In each instance, the statements made are capable of misleading the public into believing the C&WJ representations about Digicel that in fact are falsehoods. July 24th, 2003-(PGA12)
This advertisement claims that Digicel only has single band 900Mhz phones. This is incorrect as all our phones are at least dual band, with some being tri-band. The statement by C&WJ coveys incorrect misleading information and could deter persons from purchasing Digicel phones to the benefit of C&WJ.
JULY 29, 2003 (PG A11)
This advertisement makes reference to a quote in the Sunday Herald of July 27, 2003 which stated that of the 12 phone models advertised by Digicel, only two were available. It then implies that C&WJ has exposed another "Digi Dis".
This advertisement is misleading on two fronts; firstly the Sunday Herald quote is incorrect as there were more that two models available on the market.
Secondly it seeks to covey some sort of 'trickery' on the part of Digicel as it further re-enforces the Herald quote that only 2 of 12 models were available. In both instances, the ad seeks to covey a falsehood about the character of Digicel and our products.
JULY 29, 2003 (PG C12)
This advertisement speaks about 'ID-4' being a network problem as persons are unable to leave voicemail messages for Digicel customers. C&WJ has misrepresented our network and our products in this advertisement. The message "ID-4" is only heard in the specific instance when a Digicel customer does not have his/her voice mail activated. This is a customer decision and not a network fault as implied in the advertisement.
The advertisement further coveys to the public that this customer feature is somehow reflective of inadequate network quality. It is capable of misleading the public about the nature of our product and the character of the Digicel network and the intent on the part of C&WJ is to deter persons from purchasing Digicel phones to the benefit of C&WJ.
Based on the aforementioned points Digicel requests that the Fair Trading Commission carry out an investigation of the matter as you are empowered to do under Section 5 of the Act and impose the appropriate fines and or punishment against C&WJ for breaches of the Act. In the interim C&WJ should be directed to cease and desists from running the offending advertisements with immediate effect.
Please do not hesitate to contact us with respect to the matter should there be a need for any clarification.
