By DENNIE QUILL, ContributorA MONTH or so ago the Broadcasting Commission published a notice in the newspapers listing a number of cable operators whose licences had been suspended, presumably for broadcasting programmes without proper authorisation in violation of the law. Although this action failed to stir any public reaction I thought it must rank as one of the most vivid illustrations of bureaucratic ineptitude.
The suspension of an operator's licence only means that his customers are deprived of the service for which they have a valid contract and the cable operator has an opportunity to take a holiday and cool off on a beach somewhere.
Certainly the Broadcasting Commission must know that many of the shoe-string operators that have been licensed have no written contract with their customers and there are no procedures for rebates on suspension of service.
In any event if I contract with an operator to provide service for, say, $1,500 per month and through no fault of mine the service is suspended for say ten days, a rebate of $500 for the ten days lost is not equitable compensation. I still have the subscriber premises cable and equipment languishing in my house not to speak of the inconvenience.
SANCTION
Although I was not personally affected by this situation, I thought this was such arrant nonsense that I called the Broadcasting Commission to find out what motivated them to take this decision. Amazingly, the representative with whom I spoke, readily agreed that the suspension made no sense and was quick to point out that under the law suspension is a sanction imposed by the Minister not by the Commission. She ended with this line "Sometimes the good have to suffer for the bad. Right?"
It beats me that the government cannot devise an appropriate sanction to aim its artillery at the dishonest cable operator and not allow shrapnel to hit the consumer. The strongest deterrent is to hit the operator where it hurts most in his pocket. A hefty fine would have that effect at the same time disgorging the illicit profits made by someone who is not providing proper service and put funds in the hands of the Commission without harming the innocent customers.
Current Governmental policy in relation to the cable industry represents the perpetuation of a grave mistake made in the infancy of the industry. In the first place, let us not forget that most of these operators are persons who were illegally trespassing upon the works of the public utilities and their illegal works were subsequently rewarded with licences.
CORPORATE ENTITY
Secondly, the Jamaican government ever so sensitive to the 'Big Man' criticism has failed to realise that cable is indeed big business. AT&T and Compcast are the two principal operators in the US and we all know that AT&T was at one time the largest corporate entity on earth and Compcast is now bigger then they ever were. The simple fact is that a cable operator providing service to a few thousand customers in one or two communities does not have the economies of scale and concomitant resources to consistently procure programmes on a legitimate basis. That is an incontrovertible fact.
Besides, a condition of any cable licence should be an obligation to provide appropriate local programming. That would call for the development of production houses which would ensure that the indigenous culture is preserved and enhanced. It takes money lots of it to do this. The cable operator does not have the resources to produce programmes of international standards. Instead we are bombarded with the ultimate in coarseness and the gyrations of whining machines 24/7. I don't accept that what is served up as local programming reflects the Jamaican culture. Our young children are receiving excellent lessons in how to become dancehall divas but they are surely not getting any cultural enrichment from these programmes.
ECONOMIC REALITIES
I predict that in a few years the government will come to its senses just as it did following the mini-bus experience and will realise that given Jamaica's demographics and economic realities there is only room for three large-scale cable operators - one operating islandwide, the second in the Corporate Area and the third in rural areas. Such a structure would ensure that each Jamaican anywhere in the island has access to two operators thereby creating a competitive environment yet ensuring appropriate economies of scale it is full time we got rid of community monopolies vested in the multitude of petty operators. Let us hope that when the time comes as it certainly will we will not have another NTCS-type debacle.
It is a fact that established radio and television stations that expressed an interest in the industry and who did not jump into the illegality were left on the sidelines - further proof of the often-quoted truism that the man who plays by the rule gets shafted!
Dennie Quill is a veteran journalist who may be reached at Denniequill@hotmail.com
