(de Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO — The government has ordered Telesur to make more internet capacity available to society as of 1 July without a hike in tariffs. This order will force Telesur to invest over US$ 30 million in new infrastructure, a project that will take at least three years. Telesur director Dirk Currie tells de Ware Tijd that this issue was explicitly discussed during the shareholders meeting last Monday.
The government is serious about developing the ICT sector. Currie emphasizes that Telesur still has to determine how much bandwidth will be added to the existing capacity. He admits that it is an enormous project, including replacing the land based infrastructure. ‘The current infrastructure is 30 years old; replacing it will cost between US$ 30 and 50 million, including expansions and modernization, which will be phased in the next two to three years,’ Currie says. The state has made the first move by adding its share to the investment. As sole shareholder in Telesur the state accepted only 50 percent of the US$ 13.6 in returns over 2011. Last year Telesur deposited 80 percent of its returns to the treasury. Lately, Telesur has been criticized by the Telecommunication Authority Suriname for stalling the ICT development. The company fails to supply more bandwidth despite increased available capacity. The company also maintains high tariffs. After five years of plummeting returns since the introduction of other telecom providers, Telesur has managed to increase its turnover and returns with 32.4 and 9.7 percent respectively in 2011. The revenues for 2011 were at SRD 385 million up SRD 91 million over 2010. The net returns amounted to SRD 24 million. The state earned over SRD 27 million in taxes.