Denis O’Brien ‘is on the wrong side of history’, says Viber chief

Digicel is embroiled in a cross-Caribbean scrap with a phalanx of angry VoIP (internet telephony) providers, upon which Denis O'Brien's company wants to levy fees for providing voice call services using its data network.

Digicel has blocked access to VoIP companies recently, prompting Viber’s chief executive Talmon Marco to sniff that the billionaire is “on the wrong side of history”.

I can almost hear O’Brien lacing up his gloves in response. It’s all very redolent of when he famously dismissed Tony O’Reilly as an “old-style” media mogul.

VoIP is starting to hollow out the call revenues of mobile providers as subscribers realise they can avoid call charges by using internet telephony services on their mobiles at cheaper data rates. O’Brien is not happy.

Regulators across the Caribbean have begun to step in to the row.

Haiti's regulator this week asked Digicel to reopen access to VoIP, following a similar request in Trinidad & Tobago.

“His arguments are a decade old,” said Marco. “Increasingly, users want just an internet connection from their carrier. It’s called being a utility. In many countries, Mr O’Brien’s net censorship will be considered illegal.”

Digicel told me yesterday: “Unlicensed VoIP operators like Viber use telecoms networks to deliver their services, but do not pay any money for the privilege. This is illegal bypass activity. We know that certain of these VoIP companies get paid to deliver these services and deliberately disguise calls to avoid legitimate charges. As a result, we have been forced to take firm action and have blocked certain VoIP applications.”

Negotiations are ongoing for a “commercial” settlement. Money talks.