The Public Utilities Commis-sion (PUC) last Thursday expressed its concern that the Guyana Telephone & Telegraph Co. Ltd had not yet finalized its business plan for the operation of a new multi-million dollar fibre optic cable but GT&T says that such concerns are misplaced.
GT&T in a press release from its Chief Financial Officer Yog Mahadeo stated that “the PUC’s concerns over the lack of a finalized plan are misplaced.”
According to GT&T, it is impractical for the telecommunications company to finalize a business plan for this cable project when “we cannot know what demand will exist for bandwidth, what services will be in demand, or other relevant factors that may be determined by the Government’s ongoing sector review and ICT programme planning.”
Therefore, GT&T added, it is “prudently holding off on finalizing a business plan for the new submarine cable system until sufficient information is available to do so.”
The PUC in its release had noted reports in the print media about GT&T working towards a deadline of the second quarter of 2010 for the operationalizing of a new multi-million dollar fibre optic cable which is part of the company’s ongoing commitment to provide telecommunications services that meet both the current and anticipated future demands of the Guyanese consumers.
Against that background, the PUC said that in discharge of its regulatory obligations under its statutory mandate it wrote to GT&T seeking further information on the new 1,200 kilometre cable system which is projected to be a joint venture between GT&T and TeleSur, Suriname.
According to the PUC, in the company’s response dated May 29, 2009, GT&T said it had “not yet finalized its business plan for the cable system as we await clarification of the Government’s plans for the telecoms sector reform and for developing the ICT sector in Guyana.”
That response from the company, according to the PUC, “sends mixed signals on GT&T’s intention with respect to the much-publicized cable system, including indications by GT&T that a Memorandum of Understand-ing has already been signed.” Moreover, the PUC expressed the view that “this is misleading to the Guyanese populace, to the business community, the State and the regulator.”
The PUC in expressing its concerns said, “We trust there is no hidden agenda, in that GT&T does not intend in a coup de maitre (a master stroke) to stall further developments in the sector by raising the spectre of a sealed deal, when this seems to be far removed from the truth.”
But according to the telecommunications company the PUC’s press release misconstrues the letter from GT&T in raising questions about whether the company was moving forward with the submarine cable project and it even insinuates, GT&T added, that “the company may have ulterior motives for this cable system.”
But GT&T asserted that it wanted to remove any possible doubt on the issue. It observed that the public already knows from the much-publicized signing ceremony in Suriname in December 2008 that the company had in cooperation with the leading carrier in Suriname, entered into a binding supply agreement to have the cable system built and brought into operation in 2010.
And the telecommunications company said further it had informed the PUC that the necessary initial activities to design and build the cable are ongoing.
“To be clear, we are building this cable to ensure that Guyana and its citizens have more reliable access to new high-capacity bandwidth at lower costs than satellite connections offer today,” GT&T said, adding that it was funding its portion of the cable system in excess of US$30 million at its own risk.
In the meantime, the PUC said that based on further information to be made available, it would further examine the matter and discharge its statutory obligations to the consumers and investors while expecting full disclosures of the true status of the project from GT&T.
GT&T in its release also expressed disappointment that the PUC had chosen to go public with what it termed “such an inflammatory press release” rather than clarify the issues by speaking directly with the company.
Finally, GT&T said, if the PUC’s concerns about available bandwidth to Guyana “are as serious as its press release would indicate, the PUC could work constructively with GT&T and the GRA to identify and combat unlawful international bypass operators, whose rogue operations congest available bandwidth while siphoning tax revenues from Government coffers.”
The company reiterated too “its longstanding offer” to work constructively with the PUC to fight unlawful bypass activities in Guyana.
