GibFibre Ltd (trading as GibFibre Speed) (Respondent) v Gibraltar Regulatory Authority (Appellant) (Gibraltar)

Case summary

Case ID

JCPC/2020/0014

Jurisdiction

Gibraltar

Parties

Appellant(s)

Gibraltar Regulatory Authority

Respondent(s)

GibFibre Ltd (trading as GibFibre Speed)

Issue

Does Article 5 of Directive 2002/19/EC (the Access Directive) give the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority the power to require Gibtelecom Ltd to allow GibFibre Ltd access to its data centre?

Facts

Gibtelecom Ltd is a telecommunications company owned by the Government of Gibraltar. It owns and operates a data centre at Mount Pleasant where it hosts third party servers. The Respondent, GibFibre Ltd operates a public electronic communications network in Gibraltar and provides electronic communication services. GibFibre sought to provide electronic communication services to potential customers whose servers were hosted at the data centre. To that end, GibFibre approached Gibtelecom to enter into an agreement to give GibFibre access to the data centre, allowing it to connect directly with the servers of potential customers. However, Gibtelecom refused to negotiate access. GibFibre therefore approached the Appellant, the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority, as the regulator of the telecommunications industry in Gibraltar for assistance and intervention. While sympathetic to GibFibre’s complaint, the Authority ultimately concluded that it was not within its powers to compel Gibtelecom to grant GibFibre access. GibFibre appealed that decision to the Supreme Court of Gibraltar. The Supreme Court upheld the Authority’s decision, finding that the Authority did not have power to order access under the Access Directive. On appeal, the Court of Appeal for Gibraltar allowed GibFibre’s appeal finding that the Authority did have the requisite power under Article 5 of the Directive. The Authority now appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

Date of issue

14 February 2020

Judgment details

Judgment date

29 November 2021

Neutral citation

[2021] UKPC 31

Judgment links

Appeal

Justices

Lord Reed

Lord Lloyd-Jones

Lord Sales

Lord Hamblen

Lord Leggatt

Hearing dates

Full hearing

Start date

6 October 2021

End date

7 October 2021

Watch hearings

Back to top