Gov’t subsidy could further reduce retail price – Company President

One of the country’s leading equipment and service providers in the information technology sector has told Stabroek Business that it aims to assemble and market a computer at a price “below $40,000” before the end of 2011. “We are currently working with a number of international suppliers on issues of pricing and quality of parts in order to bring production costs down significantly,” Starr Computers President Michael Mohan told this newspaper in an exclusive interview earlier this week. The Miami-based businessman also told this newspaper that a subsidy input from government would reduce the retail price even further.

The disclosure by Mohan comes on the heels of his company’s rolling out of its new $69,000 X-Finity student edition personal computer to coincide with last week’s launch of the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph’s (GT&T) new submarine cable. He said that the X-Finity student edition is the first of a ‘family’ of three computers which the company will be placing on the local market. The remaining two, the X-Finity Business and the X-Finity Games are expected to be launched next week.

Mohan, a Pace University graduate with a Masters degree in Finance and a former Finance Controller at New York’s Citi Bank told Stabroek Business that Starr Computers has successfully completed an arrangement with Republic Bank under which its customers can secure access to financing to purchase its X-Finity Student Edition. “The fact that a computer, including internet service, can now be acquired for as little as $2,800 per month is a significant achievement that will immediately make a significant contribution to the local education system,” Mohan said.

Meanwhile, Mohan has also announced that Starr  Computers is “very interested” in the disclosure made by President Bharrat Jagdeo that government is setting aside US$30m to provide the poorest local households in Guyana with 90,000 computers. Mohan said that Starr currently has the capacity “to build 50 computers per day” and that the company was “ready and willing” to engage government in discussions on the President’s pronouncement. “We have not actually approached government on the issue but we have made our position known and we would welcome a response. We would like to take the lead in supplying those computers. We have the technology and the trained personnel at our disposal and we have the support of external businesses and technical experts. We are ready,” the Starr Computers President added.

Mohan, who was in Guyana last week for the launch of GT&T’s submarine cable told Stabroek Business that he believed that the resource  which the cable now places at the country’s disposal could significantly change the face of the country. “Apart from the fact that the local access to vast areas of knowledge will now be significantly enhanced there is also the creation of new business and employment opportunities jobs for Guyanese.  I also believe that this technological advancement will change the perception of Guyana in the Caribbean where in some cases, we are still seen as being behind some countries in the region.”

Meanwhile, Mohan told Stabroek Business that Starr Computers will be seeking to accelerate an already existing programme aimed at sensitizing Guyanese children to the importance of information technology. He said that Starr believed that the additional bandwidth access that has become available through the new submarine cable and the resulting readier access to computers will require a ‘stepping up” of training at the national level in the use of computers. “Apart from the support that we have traditionally provided for local Computer Schools, Starr Computers has also been directly hosting children from across the country in order to enhance their knowledge of the technology,” Mohan said. And as part of the company’s focus on the utilization of IT to support the local education system Mohan disclosed that Starr Computers will shortly conclude an agreement with another partner to provide on-line home tutorials in Mathematics and English. “That is why we pushed for the early completion of the X-Finity student version,” he said.

Starr’s Brickdam complex is currently in the process of creating additional conference room facilities which will be used to conduct training and sensitization seminars to support its business interests in both the IT and renewable energy sectors. “While we have been enhancing our capacity in the IT industry we have also been looking at the potential which the renewable energy sector holds for Guyana. At the appropriate time we plan to approach the government to discuss the resale of excess power from locally operated solar systems to the national grid. This is something that is acceptable all over the world,” Mohan said.

Himself an experienced computer engineer whose involvement in the IT sector began with assembling and selling computers from his home in the United States, Mohan told Stabroek Business that when his company made its initial investment in Guyana in 1990 it was considered by many to be an unwise business initiative. “At that time we had major power problems in Guyana and it was felt that affordability would be an issue on the local market. However, I saw the need for the technology. When I first saw the price at $800,000 I set myself the goal of bringing computers down to $100,000. I knew it was possible. Within a year I saw computer prices drop by 25 per cent.” The former Albouystown resident told this newspaper that beyond the commercial benefits to be derived from the IT industry he also saw the sector as a means by which access to knowledge could be advanced and related enterprises established in Guyana. “Starr has created many employment opportunities outside its own operations. Apart from our support for Computer Schools we have offered free seminars on computers as well as renewable energy. We believe that we have already created a legacy in computers and we plan to create a similar legacy in renewable energy,” Mohan said. Starr’s Brickdam operations secure 40% of its power from the sun and Mohan said that the company is now seeking to shift more of its attention to renewable energy in homes and workplaces and to helping to supporting  the power needs of the local IT industry,

Meanwhile, Starr Computers General Manager Rehman Majeed told Stabroek Business that the announcement by President Jagdeo that government will be investing US$30m in computers for home use is “a positive move.” He said that the placing of 90,000 computers into local homes will open a significant new market for various other services including technical support, and distribution of the machines.” Asked whether he felt that there was sufficient local capacity to address maintenance needs Majeed said that he believed that the capacity could be created. “In the same way that we have developed a capacity to provide those types of services to the cellular phone industry.”
Both Mohan and Majeed say that they are pleased with the outcome of Starr’s collaborative initiatives with GT&T. Mohan said that the launch of the new X-Finity series has been made possible as a result of the availability of cheaper bandwidth. And according to Majeed the launch of the new range of GT&T’s e-magine services has seen a significant increase in demand particularly among students who have evinced a significant interest in the e-magine light 256 megabit service which is currently available at $4,999 “We believe that once consumers have telephone lines this is quite an affordable service,” Majeed added.