Following the ending of the telecommunications monopoly, three licensed service providers yesterday signalled expansion plans, including bringing 5G services here, even as Attorney General Anil Nandlall reminded that the new operating regime will ensure “true fees, charges and taxes” are paid to the state.
Prime Minister Mark Phillips, who on Monday night announced the end of GTT’s 30-year monopoly while saying it would create competition and ultimately better services, yesterday handed over licences to GTT, Digicel and E-Networks at a ceremony at his Camp Street office.
“With a fibre internet network investment that can go from Guyana to the USA and back, GTT is positioned to provide 5G and other next generation services to Guyana. We expect that with our planned service enhancements, our customers will not be able to discern a difference in service whether they are in New York or Guyana,” GTT’s CEO, Justin Nedd, said in a statement.
“GTT has been serving Guyana and supporting the evolution of the country for near 30 years. As always, we stand ready to provide reliable connectivity, new services and technologies that allow consumers and businesses to thrive and support the growing Guyanese economy,” Nedd added.
GTT, according to Nedd, looks forward to partnering with the government so that all Guyanese have the benefit of a transparent and competitive telecommunications sector.
Digicel, which had been lobbying for liberalization for 16 years, said in a statement that it plans to swiftly “bring a new era of connectivity and opportunity to the people of Guyana” after saying they have endured poor quality, poor coverage and poor service for years.
The company believes that it will complement developments as this country prepares for a GDP boost from its newfound oil wealth. “Guyana is on the brink of a new dawn. With a McKinsey study showing that 10% higher broadband penetration delivers a GDP boost to a country of up to 1.4%, and Guyana poised to become the fastest growing economy in the world on foot of the biggest oil discovery in years, access to world class telecommunications services – and all the attendant benefits and opportunities they bring – will mean that everyday people will also feel the benefits,” the company said in the statement.
According to Digicel’s CEO Gregory Dean, “To say that this day has been a long time coming is an understatement”. “Today, finally, that day is here. At Digicel, we firmly believe that access to broadband is a basic human right. Now, the people of Guyana can look forward to a brighter future with affordable access to world-class connectivity solutions that can catapult them to the forefront of the knowledge and digital economy,” he added.
Dean said that the company was stepping into its future with confidence and is getting ready to “make the transformational benefits of high-speed connectivity a powerful reality for Guyanese”.
“We look forward to a short administrative process to grant us the necessary permissions to make the desired expansions and upgrades of our services,” the company said.
E-Networks, which currently provides cable TV and internet services and had been granted permission to land a subsea cable here last year under conditions that remain unclear, also spoke of strategies for tapping into other telecommunications areas.
The company’s Chief Executive Officer Vishok Persaud collected its operational licence and documents and according to government’s Department of Public Information (DPI), he expressed elation and thanked the government for delivering liberalization swiftly. “I think its going to be good for the consumer and there is going to be a lot of benefits in terms of access to new technology, speed, cloud initiatives…,” he was quoted as saying at the handover.
E-Networks also released a statement in which it said that it was a 100% Guyanese owned and managed company, and is proud to have invested in providing information and communications technology and internet-based services over the past 17 years.
“E-Networks operates Guyana’s fastest internet network, with recently introduced 5G services. The company’s fiber optic network also offers gigabit connectivity to businesses, which is 20 times faster than the competitors’ services, and was made possible by the launch of our new subsea international cable. We welcome this liberalization as a further catalyst to introduce new services on our current platforms, including voice, which has been stunted due to the monopoly,” it said.
Social inclusion
“It is well known worldwide that telecommunications liberalisation delivers substantial socioeconomic benefits to a nation, including lower costs, increased GDP, and more widespread social inclusion and cohesion. This long overdue development will bring Guyana out of a primitive era of monopoly, plagued by narrow choice and predatory pricing. This move will undoubtedly enable our country to unlock the transformational power of the digital economy, as we embark on our new journey as an oil producing nation,” it added.
While commending the Prime Minister, his team, and all involved parties, for their concerted efforts in expeditiously delivering on the promise in such a short timeframe, E-Networks also said it was renewing its commitment to Guyana in continuing to deliver first-world services at affordable prices, and added that it looks forward to increasing its coverage and range of services under the new telecoms regime.
Following the ceremony, Nandlall told Stabroek News that government wants the sector to be progressive and will facilitate development but noted that all companies must also remember their fiduciary requirements.
“A monopoly in today’s globalized and liberalized world is a relic of a bygone era. Its removal has created a level playing field that will inspire competition and bring with it all its benefits, including better quality service at a lower price. With the addition of just one new player in the cellular arena a few years ago we witnessed the transformation which took place in that arena,” he said.
“The legislative infrastructure which is now in place also brings greater regularity in the sector, in terms of spectrum usage by the various operators. This new legislative framework will ensure for the first time operators pay true fees, charges and taxes to the state,” he added.
Significantly, according to Nandall, all obligations, liabilities, debts and taxes due to the government by GTT remain in arrears and efforts will continue to ensure that these sums are recovered by the state. The Public Utilities Commission (PUC), he said, will now have a new and greater role and along with the Telecommunication Agency will be the significant regulator and the police of the sector.
He said that great care was exercised in ensuring as far as possible that existing operators are not disadvantaged. “They continue to offer the same services under the new legislative framework,” Nandlall said.
In announcing the end of the monopoly, Phillips had said the step was consistent with the government’s vision of furthering national and regional social and economic development. “The legislation specifically addresses the expansion of telecommunications networks and services into unserved and underserved areas through the institution of a new universal access/universal services programme,” he said on Monday.
Meanwhile, the Rupununi Chamber of Commerce and Industry supported the decision and steps taken by the Government to liberalise the telecommunications sector in Guyana.
Lethem and the wider Rupununi Region have been severely disadvantaged by the extremely poor and costly service given to the Region by telecommunication and internet service providers, the Rupununi Chamber said.
It added that “Despite using the mechanisms available for complaints, we have been largely ignored and sidelined for more lucrative developments across Guyana”.
