Barbadian consumers stand to benefit from more user-friendly service contracts with the Fair Trading Commission’s (FTC) introduction of the residential Mobile Code (The Code).
During a media conference last Friday, at the FTC’s offices, Barbados’ two mobile providers were praised for working together in the development of The Code. As the regulator, the FTC began the process over two years ago working with several agencies, including Digicel (Barbados) Ltd. and Flow, to establish a more consumer-focused contract, with the objective of making it easier for residential mobile customers to understand its key elements.
Minister of Energy and Business, Lisa Cummins, said The Code was critical for a country like Barbados, where mobile phone penetration was one of the most dense, per capita.
“How do we have a mechanism in place that allows promotion on one hand and consumer protection on the other hand? I want to suggest that it is this kind of collaboration among service providers and the consumer protection agencies, including those that fall under my Ministry, that can perhaps be a landmark across the broader community, in a range of areas to ensure that consumers are, at all times, central to the decision-making and that there are mechanisms that allow for consumer redress.
“There’s already the Office of the Public Counsel; the Consumer Affairs Tribunal is also there, but we want to ensure that consumers continue to be at the centre of much of the work that we do. This code represents the vision of the telecommunications industry that prioritises those needs and those rights. While it supports competitiveness and innovation, it also ensures that consumers enjoy the transparency and fairness that we all aspire to, while using those telecommunications services,” she stated.
FTC’s Director of Consumer Protection, Dava Leslie-Ward, explained: “The FTC is the guardian of consumer rights; we are therefore very pleased we were able to finalise the Mobile Telecommunications Code, which will promote fairness, [and] transparency in the mobile telecommunications industry.”
She also spoke to the collaborative approach taken in the development of The Code. “In addition to Digicel and Flow, the FTC’s Consumer Protection team worked with Barbados National Standards Unit, Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Office of Public Counsel, Barbados Association of Retired Persons, the Telecommunications Unit, and Corey Worrell, as a consumer representative/advocate.”
During a media conference held on October 27, two Barbadian competitors worked together in the development of a more consumer-friendly list of benefits, which constitute the recently launched residential Mobile Code.