The Government of Guyana (GoG) and the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT) yesterday announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding the GoG’s planned liberalization of the telecommunications market.
A joint release from the government and GTT said that the MOU, while non-binding, represents a major step toward fully liberalizing Guyana’s telecommunications market. The parties have further agreed to continue talks on all outstanding issues with the objective of reaching a binding agreement.
Minister of Public Telecommunica-tions, Catherine Hughes was quoted in the press release as stating: “After many years of delays, this Government has brought the country one step closer to achieving a fully open telecommunications market. While more work needs to be done, the Government is committed to continuing discussions and completing the process of liberalization for the citizens of Guyana.”
“I am very pleased we have reached this milestone”, said Justin Nedd, CEO, GTT in the release. “GTT fully supports an open and transparent telecommunications market in Guyana and the opportunities it will provide for Guyana’s citizens and our customers. We look forward to further discussions with the Government to reach an agreement on the issues that remain outstanding”, the release quoted him as saying.
The MoU falls far short of expectations of the liberalizing of the sector. It is unclear whether the current political unease over the successful motion of no-confidence against the government has had any influence on the MoU.
The signing of the MoU comes in the 29th year after the then PNC government granted GTT’s parent company, Atlantic Tele Network a 20-year monopoly over telecommunications. The key aspect of the monopoly was control of the international gateway and this has been a major bone of contention between GTT and its mobile services competitor here, Digicel.
GTT’s control of the international gateway gives it a major advantage over its rivals.
Liberalisation of the telecoms sector or breaking the GTT monopoly has been on the agenda of recent governments for at least 15 years.
In October last year, Hughes had assured that she was 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 when asked if she was still on track to meet the deadline.
Hughes had explained that negotiations were ongoing with both Atlantic Tele-Network International and the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GTT) Company on the matter.
