With approval from government already granted, a locally created telecommunications company has partnered with United States investors to plug a large sum into 5G services which will add to Guyana’s growing telecommunications pool.
Sources close to the process told the Stabroek News that the company, Green Gibraltar, is the firm alluded to when Prime Minister Mark Phillips earlier this month disclosed that government was close to awarding another telecoms licence for a 5G carrier.
“Government is currently in the advanced stages of awarding another telecommunications licence for a 5G carrier,” Phillips had said in a statement to commemorate the 1st anniversary of the liberalisation of the telecommunications sector.
Jai Narine Singh Jr, better known as Don Singh, is the Company Secretary.
When this newspaper contacted him, he would only say that he is the Company Secretary and that he prefers to speak after negotiations are complete.
Sources close to the deal told this newspaper that government has approved the company’s investment plan and is expected to gazette the licence award this weekend.
The move to bring in another carrier, sources say, was to open the market for competition and offer Guyanese, who for decades have suffered from access to basic and reliable telecommunications services, the “benefits of a liberalized sector”.
Details of what the company offers is mostly unclear at this time, but sources say that Green Gibraltar promises, reliable 5G services to even remote areas of Guyana. And depending on the spectrum availability, the company had committed to start up between 16 to 20 months of being granted the licence.
Green Gibraltar’s planned licence granting is part of government’s plans to advance the sector, as the Prime Minister had also stated that a new submarine cable to be landed by U-Mobile (Cellular) Inc. trading as Digicel, is expected to lead to more competition for international data and international long distance service and lower prices, especially for high-speed internet.
In his one-year anniversary presentation, the Prime Minister, who has responsibility for the telecoms sector, traced developments since the October 5, 2020 liberalisation and asserted that benefits had accrued to the public.
He pointed out that the government granted new licences to the Guyana Telephone & Telegraph Company Limited (GTT), and U-Mobile (Cellular) Inc, and also issued a licence to a third operator, E-Networks Inc.
Further, on October 23, 2020, seven accompanying telecommunications regulations became effective: Licensing and Frequency Authorisation; Spectrum Management; Universal Access and Universal Ser-vices; Interconnection and Access; Pricing; Consumer Protection; and Competi-tion.
As a consequence, the PM said that competition has increased and modern (4G and beyond) service is being extended to previously underserved areas, like the Essequibo coast.
He posited that competition is driving innovation as companies move to improve their services and retain and acquire customers, with operators investing in networks to provide modern and up-to-date services to Guyanese in order to win and retain customers.
He noted that all operators are moving to roll out 4G, 4.5G and 5G networks.
Discontinued
But while government praised Digicel’s services provision and improvements over the past year, four days after the Prime Minister’s presentation, it sued Digicel for what it says is its unauthorised use of the spectrum in breach of the Telecommunications Act.
Phillips has also since filed criminal charges against Gregory Dean, Chief Executive Officer of Digicel, over its alleged unauthorised use of the spectrum.
Dean has been summoned to appear in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court today to answer to more than a dozen charges relating to spectrum management.
The government’s lawsuit had followed similar court action taken by Digicel against it on spectrum use. However, Digi-cel’s representatives yesterday told Stabroek News that the company’s case against government “has been discontinued.”
