The Guyana Telephone & Telegraph Company said it was taken aback by recent reports accusing it of holding back Guyana’s economy through its monopoly rights.
Because it takes its national obligations seriously, GT&T said in a press release, it was difficult to accept such criticisms. It added that it was among “few Guyanese entities that, on an annual basis, continue to make substantial investments in a modern infrastructure”.
GT&T said it was proud of its role in the development of Guyana and that such accusations revealed “a disconnect with factual and economic reality”.
As an example of its investment in modern infrastructure, GT&T noted that it was “now building the first-ever submarine fibre optic cable to be landed in Guyana. This cable system will enable GT&T to provide more reliable services, and deliver substantially more bandwidth at lower prices.”
The release said GT&T was doing so at its own risk and at a cost of US$30 million.
“We are therefore disappointed, on behalf of our 650 employees, at such accusations when we have invested billions of dollars in Guyana and are proud to be one of the largest contributors to the national economy,” the release said.
GT&T said its rates are the lowest in Guyana and are on par with or better than those in other countries in the Caribbean. The release pointed to a study by the International Telecommu-nications Union which showed that Guyana’s landline telephone rates are the 4th lowest among 28 Latin American countries.
“Few countries in the world deliver a quality-to-price ratio for landline service that is better than Guyana and in many liberalised economies consumers pay 5-10 times more for an inferior service,” it added.
Competition
The telephone company declared that it has a great vision for its continued role in Guyana’s development, and acknowledged “that competition, if implemented correctly, can bring benefits.”
And to that end, it noted that GT&T has “offered for years to relinquish voluntarily its monopoly rights as early as 2010 so long as the government agrees to establish a permanent framework that promotes and protects infrastructure investment while resolving various remaining legacy issues.”
GT&T said further that it is widely known that the company has been in negotiations with the government and it remains optimistic that these can be successfully concluded.
The company also express-ed its optimism that whatever new laws and regulations emerge would result in positive growth for Guyana as well as for continued telecommunication investment in the country.
It also noted the need to develop a robust ICT sector but acknowledged that “this is a challenging task for Guyana because ICT growth requires, among other things, heavy long-term capital investment, a population with significant disposable personal income and reliable and reasonably priced electricity supply.”
However, GT&T has provided modernised landline and mobile telecoms infrastructure and has indicated its willingness to assist in other ways, the release said, adding that the company’s new submarine cable project is a clear indication of its continuing commitment to Guyana’s development.