GT&T yesterday launched its 2009/2010 directory dubbed an “extremely wealthy storehouse of information”, which not only sees the inclusion of some 15,000 new landline customers but also an increase in the number of businesses advertising.
Some 110,000 copies of the directory, which domestic customers will begin to receive from next Monday, were printed by the company in collaboration with Guy-enterprise. Business customers have to write official letters to the company and a directory for every telephone number, exclusive of intercoms, will be issued.
New to the table and announced by Guyenterprise’s Project Director Lisa Insanally, is the soon to be established yellow page website.
Insanally said that with this 16th edition, GT&T has kept its commitment of producing a directory that remains the most widely available resource book on Guyana with pages on the country’s facts, history, tourism, the Low Carbon Development Strategy and how citizens can help to combat climate change.
The front cover highlights GT&T’s submarine optic cable project, which was brought to Guyana recently and is expected to improve the services it provides.
The directory includes 50 pages about GT&T, the blue pages that provide information on government services, 450 white pages listing customers and about 190 yellow pages.
According to GT&T Deputy General Manager Public Communication Terry Holder while the release of the directory is a bit delayed, the company has been working on ways of improving it and seeking for it to generate revenue.
He said the company needs to produce a directory every year because its services expand yearly and it cannot leave out the new customers.
GT&T Chief Executive Officer Major General (rtd) Joe Singh remarked that the directory, which also has all the emergency numbers listed at the front, could be used as a reference tool by students.
According to Singh, GT&T has a vision of integration of infrastructure as a cross-cutting theme in development and he hopes to see a collaboration among stakeholders in transforming the country “from what has been primarily an agricultural manufacturing exploitation of our natural resources into a viable IT sector… with the kind of technologies which are advancing and promoting Guyana on the world stage.”
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh said the fact that 20 years ago the country only had 13,000 landlines must be taken into consideration.
Now there are over 100,000 landline subscribers and the minister said it is not an achievement that should be trivialised.
Twenty years ago, there were no cellular phones here, but now the country has 560,000 cellular subscribers and the finance minister noted that “if one were to do the numbers, 560,000 cellular subscribers would represent a penetration rate of approximately 75%, which was an achievement.
“Now today technology has no physical or geographical boundaries and this is a reality … that will not await us, as operators in the case of GT&T or as government…” He mentioned the number of applications being made by prospective businesses dealing with e-commerce.
The minister disclosed that government was working on legislation to address the issue of electronic transactions and electronic commerce.
He said the legislation would also address things like electronic contract, digital signatures, data protection and electronic payments.
The launching yesterday coincided with the company’s 19th anniversary.
