Tag: OfReg

Telecom provider fined $400k over rate hike

Telecom provider fined $400k over rate hike

| 21/08/2023 | 32 Comments

(CNS): Regional telecommunications company Flow has been fined $400,000 by the Utility Regulation and Competition Office (OfReg) after breaching its licence. Flow increased its business customer rates from $30 to $34.99 from January 2019 to April 2022 without approval. OfReg also said the firm failed to comply with its obligation to provide the regulator with […]

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OfReg finally makes telecoms warn of outages

OfReg finally makes telecoms warn of outages

| 27/07/2023 | 29 Comments

(CNS): More than six years after the Utility Regulation and Competition Office (OfReg) was established and over three since the auditor general raised the alarm about its numerous failings, officials have confirmed new rules that require licensed telecommunications companies to notify customers of planned outages. They must also now submit detailed reports on why communications […]

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Chairmen appointed to NRA and OfReg boards

Chairmen appointed to NRA and OfReg boards

| 09/06/2023 | 21 Comments

(CNS): Mark Parchment, a local financial and development consultant, has been appointed as the National Roads Authority chairperson, and attorney Samuel Jackson is the new chairperson of the OfReg board. The NRA seat has been vacant since Gilbert McLean was appointed but declined to take up the job in February. Rudy Ebanks, the former OfReg […]

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OfReg clears more piecemeal CUC green capacity

OfReg clears more piecemeal CUC green capacity

| 05/06/2023 | 23 Comments

(CNS): The Utility Regulation and Competition Office (OfReg) has given CUC the green light to release another 6MW of capacity for the Consumer-Owned Renewable Energy (CORE) and Distributed Energy Resources (DER) programmes in the continuing piecemeal approach to the adoption of renewable energy in Cayman. As the clock ticks on the government’s unrealistic goal to […]

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Minister aims to improve utility provision

Minister aims to improve utility provision

| 11/04/2023 | 39 Comments

(CNS): Infrastructure Minister Jay Ebanks, who has taken over responsibility for OfReg, the beleaguered utilities regulator, has said he wants to ensure its remit is clearly defined and it is empowered to deliver on that remit so that it can improve the utility services delivered by operators. OfReg oversees water, fuels, energy and telecommunications, which […]

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UK regulator’s crisis expert reviewing OfReg

UK regulator’s crisis expert reviewing OfReg

| 04/04/2023 | 35 Comments

(CNS): Aidan Stringfellow, head of Crisis Response and Policy and International Affairs at Ofgem, the UK utility regulator for gas and electricity, visited the Cayman Islands last week to offer support to the Utility Regulation and Competition Office (OfReg). The visit follows news that the planning and infrastructure ministry has taken over responsibility for OfReg […]

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Ebanks quits OfReg council, refusing to be ‘seat warmer’

Ebanks quits OfReg council, refusing to be ‘seat warmer’

| 14/03/2023 | 111 Comments

(CNS): Just a few months after George Ebanks was appointed as chair of the Consumer Council, created to advise the Utility Regulation and Competition Office (OfReg) and feed in consumer concerns, the local businessman has resigned, saying he refuses to be a seat warmer and describing the council as a “cheap employee” of the regulator. […]

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Little Cayman residents livid over terrible Flow service

Little Cayman residents livid over terrible Flow service

| 10/02/2023 | 51 Comments

(CNS): Over 60% of the people who live on Little Cayman have filed a formal complaint to OfReg about what they say is the appallingly bad telecommunications service from Flow they have received for as far back as 15 years. The regulator said 95 residents and business owners had contacted the office, and within days […]

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Consumer Council chair commits to representing people

Consumer Council chair commits to representing people

| 30/01/2023 | 55 Comments

(CNS): George Ebanks, the chair of the newly established Consumer Council, has told CNS that he is committed to consulting with the public and ensuring their concerns are conveyed to the Utility Regulation and Competition Office (OfReg), which created this new body to protect the rights of consumers. Ebanks said he would not allow the […]

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CIG cuts deal for free World Cup games on TV

CIG cuts deal for free World Cup games on TV

| 22/11/2022 | 31 Comments

(CNS): Local cable and internet TV provider Logic, which has exclusive broadcast rights in the Cayman Islands to the FIFA World Cup, has agreed to provide 22 games for free on CIGTV channels on other providers as well as across its own free over-the-air service. OfReg and the Cayman Islands Government have cut a deal […]

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OfReg and CUC to define ‘fair price’ on solar

OfReg and CUC to define ‘fair price’ on solar

| 19/11/2022 | 40 Comments

(CNS): Both the Utility Regulation and Competition Office (OfReg) and Caribbean Utilities Company have begun separate and independent studies to gather evidence on a price that is fair for solar providers and for customers as the Cayman Islands inches towards a much-needed expansion of alternative, renewable fuel supplies. But in the face of the current […]

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