Public Telecommunications Minister Catherine Hughes has assured that she is working around the clock to ensure that the end-of-year deadline for the liberalisation of the telecoms sector is met.
“I am working as hard as possible. It’s taking all my time. It’s my biggest priority right now,” she said on Friday when asked if she is still on track to meet the deadline. Moments before speaking to reporters, Hughes witnessed the signing of a US$37.6M loan agreement between Guyana and China for the rollout of the National Broadband Project which will be completed by mid 2020.
It was while speaking to reporters at the commissioning of the roundabout at the Kitty seawall in June that Hughes announced the date she was working towards.
Liberalisation of the sector has been a topic of discussion for years and on numerous occasions dates were set. Hughes had addressed the issue last year.
“It is a process. The most important thing was passing the legislation that would allow other parties to come into the market and to increase competition and our hope is that with increased competition, rates would go down,” the minister had told reporters during a mid-year press conference last year.
Hughes had explained that negotiations were ongoing with both Atlantic Tele-Network International and the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GTT) Company on the matter, “…We are working towards a July timeframe. Even if we miss it, I am hoping that before we get into the final quarter [of the year] we would have created an environment where more players come into the market.”
The ministry is also working on creating a new regulatory body, the Telecommunications Agency that will manage the new environment, Hughes had stated.
In January this year ahead of the expected liberalisation, the commencement order establishing the Telecommunications Agency was signed.
Hughes had told a press briefing in the ministry’s boardroom that although a board has not yet been appointed for the agency, its establishment at this time is due to the volume of administrative work that is required for its functioning. She had added that they did not want to wait until the end of the liberalisation period to start the process of getting the agency up and running.
The new agency, it was explained will absorb the National Frequency Management Unit, which currently manages the local frequency spectrum. It is expected that it will function as an advisory body, reviewer of licence applications and regulator of the use of the spectrum.
She had noted that over the past six months, the ministry had received as many as 20 enquiries from companies, including about 10 foreign firms, which have either sent proposals, or enquired about applications for new licences.
“I have to acknowledge that the date for liberalisation has unfortunately been a moving target. I do not wish to give you another target that will move. Just to say that we are making good progress, examining the proposals and the measures for liberalisation from Atlantic Tele-Network International, which of course you know is the parent company of GTT,” Hughes had stated.
