UPM Says Section 208 Complaint Coming Next Month at FCC vs. Digicel Haiti

UPM Telecom expects to file by mid-February at the FCC a Communications Act Section 208 complaint, summarizing its counterclaims against Digicel Haiti, said a joint status report Tuesday (docket 3:15-cv-00185) at the U.S. District Court for Oregon in Portland. The court stayed UPM's counterclaims for FCC review in October as Digicel’s fraud case against UPM progressed to a jury trial. Central to UPM’s counterclaims for the FCC to determine, say court papers, is whether Digicel, as a foreign telecommunications carrier, offered a common-carrier service to UPM that was subject to provisions of the Communications Act. If so, say the court papers, the FCC needs to determine whether Digicel’s termination of that service due to fraud constitutes an unjust and unreasonable practice and amounts to unreasonable discrimination under the statute. Digicel’s answer to UPM’s complaint will be due 30 days after filing, and UPM’s reply will be due 10 days after that, said the joint status report. An eight-member jury, deliberating for a day after a six-day trial, awarded Digicel $3.6 million in damages in November after finding UPM liable for running a “bypass” scheme that defrauded the Haitian mobile communications network provider and deprived it of the proper termination fees (see 2211220049).