Minister of Telecommunications Cathy Hughes has taken note of the unsatisfactory telephone services being offered by the country’s two service providers and is engaging them to get improvements.
GTT has already given a commitment that by year end its service will be improved, Hughes said on Friday.
Hughes, during a press conference held at her Camp Street office, said that only on the previous day she had spoken with the company and that she is scheduled to meet with Digicel today.
She said that she has ongoing discussions with them both. She said that she sees herself as a customer and, therefore, also has to deal with the challenges of dropped calls and systems going down quite often.
“In fairness to them, they are aware. I have reminded them of that and in fairness to the telephone companies we really gave them a very short space of time to put out 4G,” Hughes added.
Weeks before Guyana’s 50th independence anniversary was observed on May 26, both companies launched their 4G (fourth generation mobile telecoms technology) services.
Hughes told reporters that with the expected influx of thousands of visitors to Guyana, she asked the companies to see what could be done. “So, now they are having to really build out that network. It means importing specific pieces of equipment, it means retraining, it means importing equipment, clearing it,” she said, while adding that she is confident that with her constant interface with them, this will be a period of transition.
Asked if GTT has given that assurance, she said that she met with company officials on Thursday and she has received those assurances.
Over the last few weeks, customers of both companies have been experiencing problems with both their mobile and land line services. Neither has publicly stated to their customers that they are working to improve the services currently being provided.
