Verticast's legal battle against Digicel and Flow to proceed

By Kimone Witter    

 

The legal showdown involving Verticast Media Group and telecommunications companies Flow and Digicel is set to proceed after the Supreme Court on Friday rejected an application for a stay of proceedings in an anti-competitive lawsuit.

 

In an oral decision, the judge refused the application filed by Digicel, with the telecoms company to pay Verticast's legal fees.

 

Digicel has 21 days to file a defence.

 

A case management conference has been set for February 19, 2025.

 

Attorney for Vericast Media Group, Dr. Delroy Beckford, outlined the arguments that were put forward by Digicel.

 

"That application for the stay of the proceeding was grounded in the position that they took that once an investigation is being done by the Fair Trading Commission, then proceedings ought to be stayed because that would amount to an abuse of process. But the court took the view that both proceedings can coexist. The court also took the view that the finding or any finding by the FTC would not be automatically binding," he explained. 

 

Verticast, the operators of the CSport cable channels and website, held the English Premier League broadcast rights in the Caribbean.

 

In April this year, the media company filed a lawsuit against Digicel and Flow for allegedly restricting access on their pay television cable networks.