Dear Editor,
It was rather unfortunate that Internet services were not among the most recent zero- rated items approved by the government. According to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) website on facts about Guyana, in 2005 there were 160, 000 internet users. I am sure that number will begin to go down now, as many Guyanese will consider this most essential service a luxury.
Even before paying Value Added Tax (VAT) on internet services, Guyanese paid an exorbitant amount of money for using the internet. Fees such as $5,800, $6,000, $6,200 for dial-up, and nearly $10,000 for the so-called High Speed Internet provided by GT&T (although one does not get the true speed of High- Speed DSL) are some of the huge sums of money being charged for this service here in Guyana. Now, the situation is more grim after the implentation of VAT. I now pay $6,960 on my internet bill each month ($960 being the VAT).
I know one Internet Service Provider (Guyana Net), has dropped itsr prices, so the VAT would not impact much on its monthly fees. Why didn’t the other ISPs follow suit? One month of unlimited internet access with Guyana Net is now $6,400 (with VAT), when it should have been $6,728 (with VAT). I do not know if any other ISP has done what Guyana Net has done. Since I am with Solutions2000, I can say that it has not done so.
It’s really a shame. I doubt Guyanese families who want to expose their children to the internet would begin to do same now that prices have skyrocketed. Imagine com-puter parts and accessories are zero-rated, but not internet services. Imagine computer ink is zero- rated but not internet services. This makes no sense, because some places that sell computer accessories and parts have VAT certificates on their walls.
Along with huge sums of money on internet bills, comes the regular disruptions compliments of GT&T, the Americas II fibre- optic cables off the coast of Guyana, and the Internet Service Providers as well. I cannot believe that in a country like Guyana we pay so much money per month for Internet access; internet is a mere $12, $13, upwards in other countries, such as America and Canada.
I also have to pay VAT so that I can continue watching cable television.
Yours faithfully,
Leon Jameson Suseran
Editor’s Note: As of yesterday the provision of internet services is zero rated subject to the signing of an agreement between the government and the supplier of the service.
