The Government has issued a statement in reply to recent public statements from GibFibre concerning the Communications Bill that was passed in Parliament.

A statement from the Government follows below:

HM Government of Gibraltar notes the most recent public statements from GibFibre concerning HMGoG telecommunications policy. 

Contrary to claims that GibFibre was not consulted, the Government confirms that it has, prior to the last General Election, engaged in discussions with GibFibre on its plan to transition to a single-operator model. 

This has been under consideration for some time, with complete transparency about the proposed licensing changes. 

The Government’s decision is intended to safeguard long-term stability,service quality, and consumer protection within Gibraltar’s telecommunications sector. 

Additionally, HMGoG notes that GibFibre recently lost its competition civil action against Gibtelecom and, as a result, is now required to pay Gibtelecom’s legal costs from that case. 

The argument on competition is therefore not as simple as it is made out to be. 

Further, despite GibFibre’s claim of unfair competition, the only other allegation of unfair competition HMGoG is aware of relates to GibFibre itself. 

HMGoG understands that Sky has recently made a formal complaint to the Royal Gibraltar Police requesting police action to cease alleged illegal transmission of its channels in Gibraltar. 

In addition, it is understood that Gibtelecom who provides (but pays for) similar content, is pursuing private litigation in the courts of Gibraltar against GibFibre. 

Ensuring a fair playing field in Gibraltar’s telecommunications industry is central to the Government’s legislative efforts, and we will continue to pursue new regulations to safeguard consumer interests and foster an equitable market environment. 

Finally, it should be understood by the public that Gibtelecom has legal responsibilities requiring it to provide territory wide service in an uninterrupted basis which would not apply to a new operator and which give a significant unfair advantage to a competitor. 

GibFibre seem to wish to avoid disclosing all of these matters to the public. 

The Government would, nonetheless, of course, be prepared to communicate with GibFibre on a positive and constructive basis, as it does with all businesses, should that company genuinely seek such engagement instead of pursuing a high profile exchange of press releases with the Government.