OPT-NC ordered to pay damages to local ISP

The New Caledonian internet service provider (ISP) Internet NC has won a two-year legal battle against the state-owned regulator and fixed line incumbent operator Office des Postes et Telecommunications de Nouvelle-Caledonie (OPT-NC). Internet NC had gone to court accusing OPT-NC of breaches in its contractual obligations with regard to quality of service on leased lines. It claimed that internet bandwidth was unreliable and there were frequent interruptions to the service. According to a report from local newspaper Les Nouvelles Caledoniennes, OPT-NC maintains that its contract includes ‘best effort’ obligations but does not stipulate minimum service level guarantees. The state telco has said it may appeal the court’s decision. According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, at the end of September 2013 New Caledonia had an estimated 49,000 broadband subscribers, up from 46,361 at the start of the year and 42,767 at end-2011.