GPL defends decision to not lease bandwidth from GT&T

Feb 03, 2012 News

…says it will provide unmatched security for its fiber optic cable

The Guyana Power and Light’s (GPL) Chief Executive Officer Bharrat Dindyal has said that the security provisions that will be attached to the fiber optic cable that it is installing will be far greater than that of the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T).
Dindyal in a recent interview with this publication said that the way in which the cable will be installed would make it far more secure than that of GT&T’s.

GPL’s CEO Bharrat Dindyal

He explained that in the first place, the cables will be installed above the current transmission cables used for electricity, “so it is really inaccessible to people unless you are trying to get killed.”
Dindyal also told this publication that the number of pairs of cables that will be installed assumes that over time there will be breakage and the power company will have the capacity to switch between the strands of fiber being used. “We have a kind of redundancy that would allow us operation for a very long time,” Dindyal said.
He said too that the cable itself will not require any significant amount of maintenance save for a case where it is damaged and will require specialized skills to re-splice/repair it.
The network, he explained, will have a lifespan of some 50 years and he pointed out that the “only issue we have is if a structure comes tumbling down.”
The power company’s boss stressed that the cables are very strong and that they are embedded in galvanized steel. “It’s kind of armoured on the outside.”
When asked why not opt for leasing bandwidth from GT&T given GPL’s financial constraints Dindyal firstly pointed to the security considerations saying that “GT&T can’t match it…they don’t have a transmission line to secure a cable above it…We have it and nobody else has it.”
He further stressed that, “the level of security that we could bring to that cable is unmatched.”
Dindyal also added that GPL will, if the need arises, be able to possibly share bandwidth with other government agencies.
He however warned that this is not a route that they are advocating because, “we are looking at this as a backbone for other developments in the company.”
Dindyal opined that one of the more pertinent aspects of the cable is the importance of electricity and the need to have it secured. “We have a wonderful opportunity to put in a system that is absolutely almost secure.”
He denied though that the power company has been silent on the cable saying that there have been pronouncements on the matter. “We said that with this sophisticated system that we are rolling out it can’t be managed manually; it’s got to be done automatically.”
Dindyal could not at the time give a breakdown of how the US$42M loan will be expended, saying that the cable is but an element of an overhead lightening shield. “It’s built into the lightening shield…it’s not a separate cost per say.”
The GPL CEO also sought to point out that it is an “incremental cost” adding that it is not a case where someone would have to install an ADSS (All-Dielectric Self-Supporting) cable separately.
The project is being undertaken by the China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMC).
The fiber optic cable will provide a range of services for the Power Company in the modernization effort and will range from data collection to the installation of CCTV systems.
The fibre optic cable will be linking the sub-stations, and a sophisticated SCADA (Supervisory, Control and Data Acquisition) system to facilitate the monitoring, control and protection of the entire system, will be integrated.
Government, last August, unveiled the US$42M ($8.4B) project that will see the replacement of 110km of faulty electrical transmission lines between Berbice and Demerara and the building of several sub-stations and a state-of-the-art control room linking them.
However it failed to mention the installation of the Fiber Optic Cable.
The project also prepares GPL’s transmission and distribution system for the introduction of hydropower, and will also reduce the technical losses currently plaguing the state-owned company.