After a meeting by company officials with President Donald Ramotar and Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, Digicel says it was yesterday assured that government will move expeditiously on legislation to liberalize the telecommunications sector.
According to a press release from the Government Information Agency, the meeting was held to discuss the company’s growing impatience for liberalization of the international telecommunications market, and the approval needed to offer competitive international rates.
“We certainly have the president’s assurance that they want to bring liberalization to the international market, they want to bring it quickly and that they will bring this bill to the select committee as soon as possible with the support of the opposition groupings” Director of Digicel Patrick James Mara was quoted as saying after the meeting.
The issue which has been in the making for many years is set to be addressed with the Telecommunications (Amendment) Bill and the Public Utilities Commission (Amendment) Bill 2012, piloted by the government in the National Assembly that will hopefully be passed within the next few months, GINA said. When passed those laws will end GT&T’s monopoly on international voice and data and may see lower rates being offered. There is also anticipation of greater regulation by the PUC.
Telecommunications service providers have been given copies of the bill to peruse and were recently informed of Government’s intention to put on hold the second reading of the bills pending negotiations with Digicel and the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GT&T) company, GINA said.
The move, according to Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon, was to heighten engagements on reform in the sector, the released stated.
