Digicel last night insisted its new internet service provided by Transact was in no way affected by the current legal proceedings involving Digicel, Government and other telecoms providers.“The Court proceedings relate solely to the provision of International Long Distance services,” Digicel said in a statement. “The ISP offerings are not affected in any way.”Digicel said it wanted to express its “considerable gratitude to all of our loyal customers and supporters who have expressed such strong support to Digicel and Transact over the past days and weeks”.Digicel also slammed The Royal Gazette over what it termed a “grossly unbalanced article” yesterday in which the Government declared that the long distance service being provided by Transact was unlawful.Government has joined with CellOne and long distance provider TBI in objecting to the service while Digicel is battling CellOne for not providing interconnection. A trial is set down for next week.“The article was purportedly based on material filed on behalf of the Government in respect of a hearing pending before the Supreme Court of Bermuda on Wednesday next, 14th December ... The legality or otherwise of the long distance services which are the subject of the Court proceedings will be decided upon by the Chief Justice of Bermuda next week having heard evidence and submissions from the Parties to those proceedings.“This is now a matter for the Courts and Digicel would call upon all concerned to respect this basic principle and the rule of law.”The statement continued: “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.“It is not proper or appropriate at this juncture to comment publicly on the selectively presented extracts from materials which have been filed with the Supreme Court relating to these legal proceedings which appeared in the Gazette. Digicel shall provide a fulsome response to all matters at issue at the appropriate time and in the appropriate forum.”Digicel said many of its customers were confused by press statements and public relations activity, but: “The fact of the matter is that Digicel and Transact have become the target of a concerted campaign of malicious falsehoods and underhanded tactics since they sought to inject real competition into the market in International Long Distance Services.“The purpose of this concerted media campaign has been to deflect attention for what is the real issue here true vibrant competition. That is what this is all about ...“If Digicel and Transact are accused of lowering prices in Bermuda, then we are guilty as charged. Digicel has increased competition and brought down prices. It has done what is in Digicel’s DNA In so doing, Digicel has incurred the wrath of well-resourced and entrenched vested interests in Bermuda.”