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Sure reassures customers of its commitment to the Channel Islands and will challenge the regulator's latest provisional case against them
Sure reassures customers of its commitment to the Channel Islands and will challenge the regulator's latest provisional case against them
Following the draft decision from the Guernsey Competition & Regulatory Authority (GCRA) (issued 21 April 2021) and its subsequent media statements, Sure is reassuring customers of its dedication to the Channel Islands market.
Sure is a global business which is headquartered in Guernsey and has always encouraged sustainable competition. Sure is not withdrawing from any market, including the Jersey market, as is evidenced by its ongoing and significant multimillion-pound investment there.
The regulator's latest draft decision follows on from an earlier attempt to pursue Sure and JT over alleged 5G network sharing. As with that investigation, Sure will vigorously defend the latest round of allegations, which it considers to be spurious. Of particular concern is the regulator's attempt to portray Sure as having operated in any way clandestinely. In Sure's view, this is wholly at odds with the regulator's own request that the telecoms operators should enter into discussions, and runs completely counter to the consistent, proactive and open-handed approach that Sure has adopted with the regulator in connection with that request.
Sure has already had to spend considerable time, effort and money responding to the earlier investigation and will now, nearly a year and a half later, be forced to repeat this. Sure would much rather be spending its time on delivering the best possible service to customers.
Alistair Beak, Acting Group Chief Executive Officer of Sure, said: “As a responsible operator we only enter and operate in markets in a fair and reasonable manner. We believe in open markets and sustainable competition.
“To suggest, as the GCRA has done, that Sure conducted a secret set of discussions with JT and had agreed to withdraw from the Jersey market, borders on the nonsensical; it makes no commercial sense. We would never enter into such an arrangement and are astonished at the regulator's provisional finding. We are also extremely disappointed at the regulator's approach to this matter. Regrettably, despite the token reference to the provisional nature of the regulator's findings, we have limited faith that we will be given a fair hearing through this process.
“We are committed to the islands we operate in and the customers we serve and therefore look forward to being able to clear our name, in court if need be.”