wo of Grenada’s leading trade unionists have expressed their total disgust and annoyance with the recent notification of a rise in price for Internet Broadband from Flow. The president of Grenada Union of Teachers (GUT) Lydon Lewis and president of the Technical and Allied Workers Union (TAWU) Chester Humphrey both lashed out at FLOW’s impending price increase at a recently held press conference. The telecommunications provider announced a few weeks ago that it will be increasing its Internet cost by $20, moving the monthly price from $79.50 to $99.50. The National Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (NTRC) has reportedly admitted that it was approached by FLOW but has not given approval for the increase. Humphrey, the current president of the Senate, told reporters that a consumer protection agency is needed in Grenada to have oversight of such matters. “All over the world, broadband prices are plummeting … so why here it is the opposite direction … simply because you have a monopoly – there is now no competition because Cable and Wireless has bought out the competitors,” he said. “… In other words, under the law, they don’t need permission; all they need to do is inform. We need to lead a movement, we consumers should be out there picketing Cable and Wireless and them and demand no increase”, he added. Meanwhile, Lewis said he believes that consumers are already very over-priced for services that are, most of the time, very poor from FLOW. “Imagine you’re paying minimum $80 for Channels that can be added free in most cases and Channels that are blocked when certain programmes are on. You have situations where you have frequent black-outs and now you’re telling me that services are about to go up again on an already, a very high consumer base in Grenada. This is terrible,” he remarked. Lewis suggested that consumers should unsubscribe for a few months to send a message to FLOW. “Bite the bullet, ask to cut it off. Let them see what it will be like not to earn income for three months. In fact, how many of us look at the Channels we pay for anyway, and you have Internet service that drops more often than ripe mangoes, and it’s really poor and to add more weight on king sugar as we say in local parlance, it’s really inconsiderate to the working people and to those struggling persons who pay these bills every month,” he told reporters. The GUT President warned that he is prepared to call on his membership to consider carefully the subscription from these companies to show disapproval to the present service providers in Grenada. Source: ja observer