JCRA executive director Charles Webb
PHONE and post costs will come under scrutiny from the competition watchdog next year.
The Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority will also make a final decision on an application by Citipost DSA Ltd to compete with Jersey Post in shipping items to the UK for fulfilment companies.
The JCRA have lodged a strategic plan for 2010 which they say sets out what they want to achieve next year. But they also want people to make suggestions about anything that they think the authority has missed.
All the proposed aims run alongside the JCRA’s responsibility to investigate anti-competitive arrangements, abuses of dominant market positions and investigate applications for mergers.
Article posted on 25th November, 2009 - 2.56pm
24 Article Comments
The JCRA kicking the Dooky out of already struggling Business on the Islands Behalf while drawing hugely bloated wages for them selves………..arent we all glad we have them around , what would we do without them
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Stables empty, better bolt the door, hmm where did me horse go? To little to late again.
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And what about looking into Condor?
Their monopoly…their pricing…
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No Chuckie NO !
People want you to have some balls and look at food and fuel prices.
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I will certainly make “suggestions about things they think the authority have missed ”
1. Another Electricity supplier ?
2. another Gas provider ?
3.cost of Sea travel beween Jersey St Malo and the UK mainland.
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Jersey to St Malo 2 people and car circa £150
Southampton to I.O.W. 2 people and car circa £60
Same journey time, only difference the I.O.W. council look after the interests of the Islanders.
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How many times do I have to spell it out?
1. Travel costs to and especially from Jersey.
2. Import/export costs.
3. Food/fuel prices.
Sort these crippling costs out if you dare. Looking at these would save islanders a small fortune every year.
The JCRA is not earning its keep as far as I am concerned. It is however taking money from the pot and Jersey cannot afford this luxury. I myself would close it down, and save the money, if it is unable to do a lot better than this lame effort.
Maybe those in charge will take note and do something about it? I’ll believe it when I see prices come down over here. I might even take a trip to France once the prices on the ferry are realistic for us islanders. Any guesses on how long this will take?
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@Mogit #6
“…only difference…”
What about the lack of immigration controls, and the fact that it’s only a third of the distance?
Surely there’s a valid cost per passenger for both these?
What about the fact that there isn’t any competition from air travel? that the IoW has around 50% more of a ‘captive’ market and the route is between it and it’s trade mainland?
There’s over 5million journeys to/from the IoW and it’s mainland, do you think if Condor reduced it’s fare (pro-rata to account for fuel cost of course + immigration costs) we would see similar numbers, and associated pro-rata increase in travel?
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@ Adrian #7
“…1. Travel costs to and especially from Jersey.
2. Import/export costs.
3. Food/fuel prices…”
Aren’t all the things you mention actually the same, and due to the very fact we’re on an island?
1&2 especially seem to be the same issue, and dealing with it would obviously deal in part with 3; but how to deal with it?
Look at Mogit’s figures from post 6: Mogit shows that a journey, UK>UK that is about 33% the distance costs approximate 40% that of a journey Jersey>France which includes the addition costs of trading with another country, exchange rates fluctuations etc. and ‘benefits’ from the competition from more than one supplier.
So, how would you deal with the cost of being an island? Is the answer to do what the Isle of Wight has done: move physically closer to mainland UK and hand all power to Westminster?
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I agree re the JCRA.
They hav,nt done nothing for us.
They were brought in after the horse had bolted regarding morrisons.
They have done absolutely nothing for joe public since.
Competion is a joke in jersey.
they allow the same shops to trade all over the island to stifle competition.
Therefore they are not doing their job properly.
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#9
The isle of wight,s tourism went up by 400% this year from last year,and indeed many south coast resorts in uk had many more visitors due to the week pound.
And they actually thought they would all flock to jersey.
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@ bella #11
What’s you point? that people flocked to to the IoW over Jersey because there was competition on sea routes there; despite the per-mile cost being actually higher?
I think it’s got more to do with the ease of travel than the cost, the time it takes and the booking process etc. which you can’t expect to compete on equal terms due to geography.
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#12
My point is i cannot answer your question today as i have to put my brain into gear and think it though before i can give you my answer.
Thank you for calling.
will you please leave your name and telephone number and i will get back to you as soon as i have consulted an expert on this very important question.
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29 November.
Bella #13: Still waiting for you to put your brain into gear, dear!
No rational person would even dream of leaving a phone number on a public web site.
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#14
My alter ego has now taken over my overtaxed brain.
This brain has limited cells as well.so cannot answer the original question either.
but as two brains are better than one we will try and work something out and come up with an excuse why we cannot answer just yet.
Did,nt the original expert drown his sorrows dow,n at the pub.
The eejit thinks the demon drink solves all his problems so he does.
when he sobers up i will consult him befor he goes back on the razzle.
Thank you for calling,we value you as a very important blogger.
If you leave you name and number we will try and get back to you,if himself has sobered up.
good day
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How mad is this,the JCRA have some say on Telecoms…but not on the yellow pages charging policy which has a “rolling” contract,ie: as a consumer you are obliged to opt out in writing,rather than re opt in,so if you happen to be away when the notice arrives,whammo you are in again,a practice which has been outlawed eveywhere else…any of you politicians want to take this up….?
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I am reading the JEB from Columbus, Ohio USA for the first time after making the acquaintance of a Jersey resident. My point of view is from an uninformed but willing to listen and learn from Jersey residents.
What do you need a “competition board” in the first place? Doesn’t free market capitalism work in Jersey? Have monopolistic business practices been established due to the “island nation economy” of Jersey?
In doing research I on Jersey I learned much in a short time that interests me about Jersey. However, as mentioned repeatedly in other comments the travel costs to & from Jersey, food & fuel cost in Jersey seem unusually high when compared to other “island nations” I have visited and compared to Jersey. Why is this?
Perhaps Jersey needs a European or American style “big box” retailer to provide true competition and drive down retail food & fuel prices in Jersey as well as true discount airfare service to boost tourism and travel expenditures in Jersey.
Am I on the right track or do I not understand at all the Jersey markets? Thanks for your time and opinions. I am here to learn.
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buckeyeguy
unfortunatley it boils down to greed an incompetence. The government here couldn’t organise a piss-up in a brewery……..but they will hire a consultant to have a good go at telling us it’s a bad idea and that alone will cost an arm and a leg for the privilege:-)
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All those above who are moaning about Condor, JEC etc.
Email the JCRA and complain.
I have about the bloody prices of Cineworld, got a lawyer type answer. After I managed to decipher it, the JCRA don’t seem to care.
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Buckey Guy
As a “foreigner” myself, I agree with your contention that Jersey requires a “big box” retailer to enter the local market and reduce retail costs across the island – especially a cut price supermarket (this is another story in itself). Unfortunately for the consumers of Jersey, no such retailer would ever be allowed here becuase to do so would not be in the interest of all those local retailers who would soon struggle to rip off the greater population. You see, locals in Jersey are a highly protected species, and not that I disagree with the slogan of “shopping locally” etc, I think that there has to be an element of common sense, particularly with the advent of internet shopping which is commonplace these days where so many people use the local shops as nothing more than a show room.
One thing you have to remember is that for an island of only 90,000 people, there is only so much scope for economies of scale. Also, with Jersey being a finance sector with some awfully wealthy people who are able to pay the prices demanded of them, which the retailers use to justify the prices they charge.
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19 gripping stuff…. I know the type of reply you mean…like cinema candyfloss…..looks like something from a distance till you try to get your teeth in it….if The JCRA are not going to fight the peoples corner when nescessary….why would we continue to fund or need them….?
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Please please please look into Condors monopoly pricing… this people of jersey, is one of the main reasons for these over-inflated prices you pay in everything you buy here!
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@ Get real Jersey!! #22
“…Please please please look into Condors monopoly pricing…”
This has already been brought up in, for example, posts 6&7; I’ve tried to address the subject in my posts 8,9 & 12, giving some examples as to why the argument is flawed, but as yet nobody’s come back with actual examples of the service offered being comparably over-priced. Living on an island is inherently more expensive, and the fares may well be ‘expensive’, but do you really think they could be (realistically)cheaper, and if so how would you propose this was done?
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Competition is a double-edged sword. You benefit from it as a customer, but on the other hand it makes your life more difficult as an employee.
Conclusion is simple
Too much competition and you’re in the middle of a rat race. Not enough competition, you’re being ripped off everywhere.
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