-Starr Computers GM
Cheaper, more widespread internet access can play a critical role in helping to stimulate the Guyana economy and to create jobs in the country during what is widely expected to be a period of economic recession according to the General Manager of one of the country’s leading Information Technology service providers.
“More widespread access to the internet can spur growth in several key sectors of the local economy and can also create new areas of entrepreneurship similar to those that have been created through the introduction of cellular technology in Guyana,” General Manager of Starr Computers Rehman Majeed told Stabroek Business in an interview earlier this week.
“I do not think that we are moving fast enough in the area of providing more ready and cheaper internet access. If you look at what has happened since the late 1990’s when ISP was introduced here, things have not really moved a great deal. The rates, for example, are pretty much the same. We have to open up. We have to have the internet accessible to everyone in Guyana,” Majeed said.
“We only need to look at the number of new businesses that have been created in Guyana including the number of shops that are offering cellular-related products and services. What is significant about the advent of competition in the cellular sector in Guyana, is that it has pushed cellular communication into the area of text messaging, which, in itself, is a simple but significant service that provides a cheap and easy form of communication for ordinary people both in terms of their social pursuits and in terms of the day to day operation of some small businesses. These developments have all occurred over a very short period of time, Majeed told Stabroek Business.
And according to Majeed cheaper, more widespread internet access can impact on the efficiency of communication in both the social and business sectors, “and, more significantly, create a whole new range of investments and employment opportunities” in Guyana. He said that while there has been a steady growth in access to and use of information technology at the levels of both private users and the local business sector, the optimization of the use of the technology is being hampered by the existing high cost of and limited access to the internet.
“The primary reason why people buy computers these days is because they want access to the internet. Computers can be and are being applied in other areas of business but, principally, people want to be able to communicate and to conduct research using the internet,” Majeed said.
According to Majeed one of the immediate benefits likely to accrue from greater and cheaper internet access is the creation of more local Call Centres. He said that while labour costs continue to serve as an incentive for overseas investment in Call Centres in Guyana, high internet costs continue to deter potential investors.
And according to Majeed cost and inaccessibility to the internet continue to inhibit Guyana’s ability to effectively tap several IT-related services including tele-marketing and on-line security monitoring. Additionally, Majeed told Stabroek Business that he believed that the various centres of learning in Guyana including the University of Guyana, tertiary institutions and primary and secondary schools and libraries ought, by now to have had ready and reliable internet access. “The only way this can happen is if the rates come down” Majeed said.
“Many of the major companies that are being created in the Silicon Valley in the United States have their origin in the access that young university graduates have to everything that the IT sector has to offer. It is then left to them to use that access to create companies, many of which grow very quickly and become highly successful. The difference here in Guyana lies mainly in the absence of infrastructure since I believe that we do have the creative minds necessary to fashion our own enterprises using that technology if they are provided with the access,” Majeed said.
Meanwhile, according to Majeed the local private sector has significantly stepped up its use of information technology particularly in its application to provide more efficient security for their businesses. “There is no doubt that the business sector has now embraced the concept of technology-driven security including security cameras and other equipment. In fact, if we look not too far back we see that there have been cases where users of the technology have been able to apprehend intruders and recover property. Those successes have actually helped to move the technology-driven security sector along at an improved pace.” However, according to Majeed, the ability of business owners to monitor their premises from remote locations continues to be inhibited by cost and bandwidth limitations.
Meanwhile, according to Majeed, cheaper access to IT hardware has allowed for significant expansion of its application in both public and private sector enterprises. “The trend has been that while there may be no reduction in the cost of the equipment itself, updated equipment with additional features that can significantly enhance its efficiency is being offered for the same price,” Majeed said.
Asked whether he was aware of any significant developments since the 2007 national IT forum organized by government Majeed said that it appeared to him that the industry was moving at its own pace, “It comes down to the issue of infrastructure, We have to have that gateway,” Majeed added.
