Dear Editor,
Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) celebrated 25 years as a company in Guyana, but the fact remains that customers have nothing to celebrate. Over two-and-a-half decades, nothing has changed for the better; instead the service is getting worse daily. Three months ago I called the complaints department at Anna Regina about my telephone and internet service not working properly, and that many times it’s down. The official took my name and telephone numbers and told me that she would take the complaint right away to the technicians.
No one found the time from GT&T to come and address the complaints although I am living a stone’s throw away from the exchange. On February 9, I made another complaint that my telephone was on and off and the internet was slow so I could not do my work, but no one came to look at the problem. On February 10, I received a telephone call from one of the technicians asking if my telephone was working; he did not find out if my internet was working although that was one of my complaints.
I was appointed in September 2015 by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, to do a weekly column in the Guyana Chronicle called ‘Essequibo Round Up’, to highlight what is happening in Essequibo and the Pomeroon. Since my appointment I cannot send my articles on time with pictures because the internet is extremely slow. It is also affecting my work a great deal. I cannot print letters and scan vouchers for payments; I cannot even call my Chief Executive Officer if there is an emergency, because most of the time the phone is down. In 2015, I was paying $10,000 for the broadband service which was very slow, and after writing letters in the press about it, GT&T reduced it to $5000.
Although we are paying $5000 for the service, the bandwith isn’t worth our money. This is totally unfair to customers. The government and the Public Utilities Commission should look into this matter urgently, because we are not getting our money’s worth. Government has a duty to protect its citizens from private investors when they come into this country to invest. Essequibians and business people are very angry about the kind of poor service meted out to them.
Many times you go to the banks and other institutions which are computerized, and you cannot check your accounts, only to hear from the staff that they cannot get into their systems because the internet is slow or not working. This is the age of technology; the schoolchildren who depend on the internet cannot do their research, because GT&T is facing a full range of unprecedented challenges. Once upon a time, a phone and computer were just a phone and computer. Now wireless technology has become an entire platform. Sure you can talk on your mobile phone if you have reliable internet connections. But even the youngest members of your household are texting, taking pictures, playing games doing research and checking on their friends.
Here’s our take on GT&T: The time for relying on antiquated excuses has long passed. International communication companies believe in the importance of working with their customers and government to produce faster, safer and more reliable broadband service.
Yours faithfully,
Mohamed Khan