Utility regulator OfReg has issued a legal directive preventing Flow from shutting down its legacy candw.ky email service due to a lack of transition planning.
(CNS): The utility regulator has issued a legal direction to Cable and Wireless, trading in Cayman as Flow, stating that it must not shut down the candw.ky email address, believed to still be used by many people here.. OfReg said that last month it asked Flow’s management for written details of the timing, customer notification and migration arrangements for the cut-off planned this quarter.. However, those details have not been provided to OfReg.. As a
result, it is temporarily stopping the planned end to the service.. In a press release, OfReg said the candw.ky email service has formed part of Cayman’s communications landscape for several decades and is used by residents and businesses for banking, healthcare, dealings with government and personal correspondence.. The full extent of current usage is one of the matters that OfReg has formally required Flow to disclose.. OfReg said it had acted before receiving that information
because it could not wait for it.. Subscribers must not be exposed to the risk of an abrupt cessation simply because the regulator has not yet been told who, or how many, would be affected, the release stated.. The direction prevents Flow from discontinuing, suspending or impairing the service without OfReg’s prior written consent.. The company was given 14 days to submit the written information addressing the matters set out and requested in the direction,
including any alternative proposal Flow wishes OfReg to consider; and to ensure that any cessation that is ultimately approved is preceded by an adequate notice period to subscribers, with reminders at regular intervals throughout that period and dedicated complaints and assistance channels in place.. The direction also states that a notice period of at least one year as a starting point is required if the firm is to be eventually granted permission to shut down
the email.. OfReg said it may be open to a shorter period if Flow demonstrates robust, well-resourced migration support that genuinely protects subscribers.. In the meantime, users are advised to take their own steps irrespective of what Flow ultimately decides.. OfReg pointed to the wide range of modern email services, both free and paid for, now available that offer greater “functionality, stronger security features, larger storage and better protection against fraud and phishing”.. Subscribers who
have used a candw.ky address for many years should not feel locked in, OfReg stated, adding that choosing a new email provider and updating banking, healthcare, government and other key accounts to that new address is a sensible step regardless of the future of candw.ky.. OfReg Interim CEO Sonji Myles said many people here have used a candw.ky email address for years.. “Our job is to make sure no one is left without proper notice,
proper support, and a real opportunity to move on their own terms.. We are not telling Flow to keep the ageing candw.ky platform open forever.. We are saying that any change has to be done the right way.. And we encourage subscribers, whatever Flow ultimately decides, to take their own sensible steps now: there are good, modern email services available, and there is no reason to wait,” Myles said.. The direction is to protect customers
and maintain the service until any long-term change follows the appropriate regulatory process under the licence and applicable legislation, he added.
OfReg, Flow, candw.ky, Cayman Islands, telecommunications, email service, digital migration