The costly legal dispute over Digicel long distance is heating up again.The parties were back in Supreme Court this week after long distance company TBI launched fresh legal action, this time against Government.Despite Government claims in affidavits that the Digicel-branded long distance service offered through sister company Transact was not lawful and that Transact does not have a licence to do business in Bermuda, Digicel offers the service.The latest chapter in the saga saw Chief Justice Richard Ground reprimand TBI yesterday for seeking costs for the legal proceedings he stayed back on December 15.Mr Justice Ground called TBI’s bid “wasteful and hopeless”, and instead, ordered TBI to pay costs for Digicel’s day in court yesterday.Separately, TBI launched judicial review proceedings against the Minister of Business Development and Tourism and the Registrar of Companies and a directions hearing on that is scheduled for today. Digicel said it would be seeking at today’s hearing to be joined with Government as a respondent to the latest proceedings.In court yesterday, Mr Justice Ground said he stood by the decision last month to leave the matter to the Telecoms Commission, although he agreed until the Commission’s membership is formally Gazetted on January 7: “There is no Commission.”TBI lawyer Mark Diel had charged Digicel of deliberately avoiding the regulatory procedure by failing to go to the Commission and questioned why, after the December 21 announcement that the Commission was to settle the matter, Digicel could continue to provide its disputed long-distance service.“It is two weeks on and the process has not been instigated by Government, although Digicel are offering a service which, according to the Minister, is unlawful,” Mr. Diel told the Court. “The Minister has informed us that the Telecoms Commission does not exist because it has not been Gazetted for this year.”CellOne’s lawyer Shade Subair was also in court, telling Mr Justice Ground that the company supported TBI’s application for costs.In a statement yesterday, Digicel CEO Wayne Caines welcomed the decision: “We agree with the comments by the Chief Justice that TBI’s actions were wasteful and hopeless.”On the issue of going to the Commission, Digicel explained: “We have been informed that the Commission has not been appointed by the Minister at this time. We must await until those appointments are Gazetted and properly formalised before we can engage with the Commission in any substantive way.”In a statement last month Government had said: “Following Digicel/Transact’s announcement that, effective immediately, it has resumed offering, selling, and marketing its International Long Distance (ILD) via Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) service, the Government would like to state that it intends to refer the matter of whether this service is in compliance with the terms of the licences provided to Telecommunication (Bermuda and West Indies) Ltd (TBWL) and Transact Ltd to the Telecommunications Commission, pursuant to Section 16 of the Telecommunications Act 1986.”Digicel originally went to court to get CellOne to provide interconnection for its long distance service.Following last month’s court ruling, Digicel has not made a complaint to the Commission over CellOne not providing interconnection.Digicel has insisted its long distance service was lawful, saying previously: “Digicel and Transact are confident that the stance that they have adopted in these proceedings in relation to the Long Distance offerings will ultimately be vindicated by the legal process.”