Following the Government’s decision to issue the commencement orders for the Telecoms Act and liberalise the sector, Digicel and GTT, two long-time rivals, had contrasting responses.
Prime Minister Mark Phillips
Digicel Guyana on Tuesday praised President Dr Irfaan Ali and his Government for ending the 30-year GTT monopoly, which it said resulted in Guyanese being left with no choice but to put up with that company’s service.
According to Digicel, studies have shown that increased access to broadband technology can boost a country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by up to 1.4 per cent. The company noted that with Guyana’s economy poised to grow with its oil revenues, it is important for the people to have access to world-class telecommunication services.
Digicel Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Gregory Dean was quoted by the release as saying “To say that this day has been a long time coming is an understatement. For 16 long years, we have asked, requested, pushed, lobbied, and pressured.
“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.”
Digicel CEO Gregory Dean
Moreover, Dean also promised that his company would make the transformational benefits of high-speed Internet a reality for Guyanese. He added that Digicel was looking forward to a short administrative process in order to be granted the necessary permissions to expand and upgrade its services.
“On behalf of my Digicel colleagues, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to His Excellency, Mohammed Irfaan Ali and his Administration for delivering on their promise to expeditiously liberalise the sector,” Dean said.
Permit
When it comes to the administrative process that must be followed to grant the necessary permits, Prime Minister, Retired Brigadier Mark Phillips assured that this was being worked on right now.
In an interview with Guyana Times, Phillips, who announced the liberalisation of the sector on Monday evening, noted that liberalisation was likely to attract other service providers to Guyana’s shores.
“The next course of action is to issue the licence, which we’re working on right now. It should be done sometime today (Tuesday) … we have Digicel and we have GTT. We have to issue licences to them. Under this new (arrangement), we have to issue licences. We have liberalised the telecommunications sector. And we have to issue licences to all those who are operating,” the Prime Minister said.
GTT
GTT CEO Justin Nedd
The decision will see GTT losing its treasured 30-year monopoly, forcing it to face competition from other service providers. In its statement in response to the Government’s move, GTT CEO Justin Nedd promised that the company would up its game.
“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,” Nedd said in the 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,” he added.
According to the GTT executive, the company actually looks forward to partnering with the Government so that Guyanese can benefit from a transparent and competitive telecommunications sector.
Prime Minister Phillips, who is the Minister with responsibility for telecommunications, on Monday evening announced that Government has issued Commencement Orders, fully bringing into force the Telecommunications Act 2016 and the Public Utilities Commission Act 2016.
In a statement issued late Monday evening, Phillips said that the commencement of these Acts was “nothing less than historic”, aligning Guyana’s telecommunications regime to those found in other countries in the world, including most Caribbean countries, ending a 30-year-old anti-competitive telecommunications monopoly “that has left Guyanese weary, frustrated, and lagging behind in the telecommunications arena”.
“It is anticipated that Guyanese will feel an immediate positive impact from the implementation of these legislation, which create a modern and competitive environment for telecommunications, and which will immediately result in greater choices, better quality of service, and lower prices for consumers, while at the same time ensuring that all operators continue to enjoy all benefits conferred under the old legislative regime,” Phillips also said in his statement.
In July 2016, the former A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government passed the Telecommunications (Amendment) Bill to liberalise the telecoms sector by ending the monopoly which GTT enjoyed.
Under the coalition Government, it was reported that the liberalisation of the sector was heavily dependent upon the settlement of a US$44 million tax claim against GTT by the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA). According to reports, the local telecommunications giant wanted the tax debt settled before moving ahead with liberalisation.
