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FORM 6-K
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER
PURSUANT TO RULE 13A-16 OR 15D-16 OF
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the month of: OCTOBER 19, 2001
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[GRAPHIC]
TRICOM, S.A.
(Translation of registrant's name into English)
AVENIDA LOPE DE VEGA NO. 95, SANTO DOMINGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
(Address of principal executives offices)
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual
reports under cover Form 20-F or Form 40-F.
Form 20-F X Form 40-F
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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information
contained in this Form is also thereby furnishing the information to the
Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Yes No X
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If "Yes" is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the
registrant in connection with Rule 12g3-2(b): 82-_________
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The following is a description of certain recent developments in litigation:
ALL AMERICA CABLES & RADIO LITIGATION
On August 13, 2001, Instituto Dominicano de Telecomunicaciones, or
Indotel, the Dominican telecommunications regulator, issued an order, in
response to a complaint filed by All America Cables & Radio, a subsidiary of
Centennial Corp., that we are not dominant in the Dominican market and that the
interconnection agreement we offered to All America was not discriminatory. The
interconnection agreement that we offered to enter into with All America was the
same as we entered into with France Telecom in the Dominican Republic and which,
we understand, All America has with Codetel and which Codetel has with France
Telecom. Indotel further ruled that if we granted to All America the economic
concessions that it seeks from us, the allowance would create discrimination
against other carriers in the Dominican Republic, violating the Dominican law
and the Dominican constitution.
On September 14, 2001, Indotel issued an order, in response to a motion
submitted by All America for reconsideration of August 13, that ratified the
August 13 order and ordered us and All America to enter into an interconnection
agreement on substantially the terms and conditions that we proposed.
On September 4, 2001, Centennial Communications Corp. and its affiliates
filed a complaint against Tricom USA Inc. with the United States Federal
Communications Commission claiming that
o We refused to provide Centennial's affiliate in the Dominican
Republic with sufficient facilities and reasonable,
nondiscriminatory terms for connecting traffic between ours and its
network in the Dominican Republic.
o Centennial should not pay to Tricom, S.A. the market rate for
terminating calls to Tricom customers in the Dominican Republic
determined by Indotel, approximately US$.042 per minute, but should
pay $US.011 per minute; our refusal to agree to this rate is
discriminatory; and even if Centennial pays the same international
termination rate as Tricom USA, Tricom USA gets a benefit because it
is affiliated with Tricom, S.A.
o We engage in discriminatory behavior because other U.S. carriers
including Tricom USA get better interconnection capacity from
Tricom, S.A. between the United States and the Dominican Republic
than does Centennial.
o We are harming competition in the United States by limiting the
number of interconnection facilities we have made available to
connect calls from Centennial's
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customers to ours, inflating the price for local termination of
international traffic and refusing in general to deal with
Centennial on a nondiscriminatory basis.
o We are violating the conditions of the license granted to Tricom USA
by the FCC to operate as a facilities based carrier which provides
that neither Tricom USA nor any persons controlling it would
participate in any favorable interconnection arrangements or special
concessions not available to other U.S. carriers.
Centennial requests that the FCC:
o order Tricom USA to cease accepting special concessions from Tricom
S.A.;
o require Tricom USA and Tricom S.A. to provide adequate
interconnection capacity to Centennial and reduce the access charge
to a level consistent with costs;
o find that Tricom USA is liable to Centennial for damages to
compensate Centennial for the losses that it suffered as a result of
Tricom's violations of law and the FCC's rules; and
o revoke Tricom USA's Section 214 license if Tricom USA does not stop
receiving special concessions from Tricom, S.A.
We have replied to Centennial's complaint with the FCC on October 13,
2001. We responded that:
o Indotel is the regulator with jurisdiction over the complaint and
Centennial is attempting to appeal the decision by Indotel in the
action brought by All America Cables & Radio Inc. against Tricom
in the Dominican Rebuplic;
o Centennial failed to provide any evidence that Tricom USA accepts
special concessions from Tricom S.A.;
o The relief sought by Centennial is improper as Tricom USA owns no
facilities in the Dominican Republic and the FCC has no
jurisdiction over Tricom S.A., which is the only entity that could
provide the interconnection capacity sought by All America Cables &
Radio.
We requested that the FCC reject jurisdiction over the matter or deny
the relief sought by Centennial in its entirety.
BELL SOUTH LITIGATION
On May 8, 2001, BSC of Panama, S.A., a subsidiary of Bell South, which
owns one of the two cellular telecommunications concessions granted by the
Panamanian government, requested that the Panamanian ENTE REGULADOR DE LOS
SERVICIOS PUBLICOS, or ENTE, investigate Tricom Panama, S.A. for violations of
the Telecommunications Act and the ENTE's regulations. Bell South claimed that
Tricom Panama:
o will use its iDEN based trunking services to provide cellular
telecommunications services, in violation of our license; and
o although we proved that our iDEN system has been modified to disable
"hand off" capabilities, the fact that the equipment has these
capabilities represents a breach of regulations and our license.
The ENTE has not issued any ruling on Bell South's request, but has stated
publicly that Panamanian regulations do not limit the provision of mobile
services to a particular technology.
On August 24, 2001, Bell South requested that the ENTE initiate a legal
review before the Third Chamber of the Panamanian Supreme Court of Justice, of
the interpretation given by the ENTE to the definition of "Conventional Trunking
System Services." Bell South alleges that the interpretation given by the ENTE
to the definition of
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"Conventional Trunking System Services," found in Resolution No. JD-025 of
December 12, 1996 violates several articles of the Telecommunications Act,
including that the ENTE's interpretation allows a trunking service provider to
use any mobile system, including any type of cellular systems, as long as the
"Hand-Off" capabilities is disabled. Bell South claims that this violates the
Telecommunications Act, which states that cellular services are a Type A Service
that can only be provided by Bell South and the other holder of a Type A
License, Cable & Wireless.
The ENTE has replied that it only regulates services and not technology
and that the definition of "Conventional Trunking System Services" protects the
temporary exclusivity regime given to cellular services because it does not
allow the participation of new cellular service providers in the Panamanian
market. The license given to Tricom Panama is for the operation of conventional
trunking services which it plans to operate with the iDEN system.
The legal review by the Third Chamber of the Panamanian Supreme Court of
Justice requested by Bell South cannot be undertaken until the Supreme Court
resolves a constitutional review regarding the lack of procedure for it to
undertake a legal review of the sort sought by Bell South. To date, the Supreme
Court has not indicated whether it will review the procedure.
On August 28, 2001, Bell South obtained a precautionary order from the
Seventh Civil Court of the First Judicial Circuit requiring Tricom Panama to
cease all activity directly or indirectly related to the installation and supply
of telecommunication services using Motorola's iDEN system. This order forms
part of a tort claim, submitted by Bell South on September 4, 2001, against
Tricom for US$20,000,000 for the possible damages that Tricom Panama may cause
Bell South in the event that Tricom Panama initiates operations of an iDEN-based
trunking service.
On September 11, 2001 Tricom Panama submitted a motion before the Seventh
Civil Court to substitute a bond for the precautionary order to cease its
activities and at the same time appealed to the Superior Civil Chamber the
precautionary order itself. On October 1, 2001, the Seventh Civil Court denied
Tricom Panama's motion and, on October 8, 2001, Tricom Panama also appealed this
decision to the Superior Civil Chamber. The Tricom Panama defense if based on
the following principles:
o only the ENTE has by law the power to discontinue public utilities
services;
o this precautionary measure can only be applied to real property (not
to personal property);
o there is no imminent damage that justifies the precautionary
measure.
On September 11, 2001, Bell South submitted a complaint stating that
Tricom Panama was in default of the court order.
Tricom Panama also submitted a motion to the Seventh Civil Court to
dismiss Bell South's tort claim and to invalidate the precautionary order, due
to the court's lack
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of jurisdiction over a matter that should be decided by the ENTE. On September
28, 2001, Tricom Panama filed a US$1,000,000 damages counterclaim against Bell
South for the public campaign set against Tricom Panama by Bell South and for
the unfounded investigation requested before the ENTE.
We believe, based on the advice of our Panamanian legal counsel, that Bell
South should not succeed in its claims because:
o Bellsouth cannot claim any damages caused by Tricom Panama
activities, since Tricom Panama operations are protected under a
legitimate Conventional Trunking System Services license.
o The Ente is the only authority empowered to declare that the
telecommunications services to be provided by Tricom Panama are not
conventional trunking services, or that the iden system cannot be
used to provide conventional trunking systems.
o Tricom Panama has yet to finish installation of their
telecommunication equipment and has not begun to advertise or offer
other services, therefore, Bellsouth can not prove any possible
damages derived from Tricom Panama's operations.
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
TRICOM, S.A
Dated: October 19, 2001 By: s/ Carl H. Carlson
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Carl H. Carlson
Executive Vice President
and Member of the
Office of the President