I have to be careful not to show any bias here as, having been involved with the ICTA when it first came to power, I have not much love for them.

However, since their new head, Alee Fa’amoe, has taken over, there seems to be a man who shows no bias one way or another and is ready to use his dentist drill on anyone who he referees as “FOUL”.

It was only a few weeks ago he slapped a local telecomm provider with a $75,000 fine following an outage that left customers unable to access the emergency 911 service.

Now he has issued a media statement hitting Cable & Wireless (Cayman Islands) Ltd, our FLOW brand, suggesting the company has been misleading the immigration department over its senior management team.

“In the process of conducting its usual due diligence data gathering related to the change of ownership of Cable & Wireless Cayman Islands, the authority uncovered some troubling irregularities. Although the inquiry is ongoing, the authority feels that due to the information currently before it, it is not appropriate to continue to consider certain individuals as legal officers of the licensee,” the statement said.

It also said, “in order for the Authority and Licensee to continue to communicate with each other, the Authority has requested that the Licensee appoint a new CEO who is an individual employed by the Licensee and legally resident in the country.

“The inquiry has raised serious concerns relating to certain persons’ legal status in the Cayman Islands.

“Although the inquiry is ongoing, the Authority feels that due to the information currently before it, it is not appropriate to continue to consider certain individuals as legal officers of the Licensee.”

The ICTA has been reviewing the proposed purchase of CWC by Liberty Global.

CNS recently inquired into this and said ICTA responded with, “The transaction would result in Liberty owning CWC, the parent company of local licensee Cable & Wireless (Cayman Islands) Ltd. The ICTA law requires the authority to approve of a change of ownership of a licensee.”

Good for them.

Having had to deal with the old Cable & Wireless what they said and what they did was like chalk and cheese. Then they got away with it.

Now they are in the dentist chair and the bite is now painful.

The full ICTA Cable & Wireless Inquiry release:

Last week the Information and Communications Technology Authority (ICTA) launched an inquiry into the employment arrangements of senior level managers of Cable & Wireless (Cayman Islands) Ltd. The inquiry has raised serious concerns relating to certain persons’ legal status in the Cayman Islands.

The Authority has been reviewing the proposed purchase of CWC by Liberty Global. The transaction would result in Liberty owning CWC, the parent company of local licensee Cable & Wireless (Cayman Islands) Ltd. The ICTA Law requires the Authority to approve of a change of ownership of a licensee.

In the process of conducting its usual due diligence data gathering related to the change of ownership of Cable & Wireless Cayman Islands, the Authority uncovered some troubling irregularities.

Although the inquiry is ongoing, the Authority feels that due to the information currently before it, it is not appropriate to continue to consider certain individuals as legal officers of the Licensee. As a consequence, and in order for the Authority and Licensee to continue to communicate with each other, the Authority has requested that the Licensee appoint a new CEO who is an individual employed by the Licensee and legally resident in the country.