Latest update November 18th, 2024 1:00 AM
Latest News
- ExxonMobil eyeing 8th project despite Jagdeo says 7th ‘iffy’
- City Mayor slams govt. for favouring foreign companies over locals for tax concessions
- Pope Francis urges inquiry into Gaza genocide allegations
- New aircraft for GDF commissioned
- Importing truck drivers from Bangladesh, a disrespect to Guyanese – Norton
Govt. not interested in retailing telecommunication services – Alexei Ramotar
Government has no interest in becoming a retail provider of telecommunication services even though its US$32M investment in an e-governance project could facilitate large scale commercial operations.
Project Manager, Alexei Ramotar
This is according to the Project Manager of the E-governance Unit, Alexei Ramotar, yesterday. Though, the network will put Government in the position to become a telecommunication operator, it will require significant upgrades that will cost millions of dollars.
Ramotar said that Government did not purchase the charging system module necessary to become a telecommunication operator. In addition, there are only 54 sites that Government has selected to erect telecommunication towers.
According to the Project Manager, the long-term evolution “(LTE) sites require the placement of base stations within one kilometer of each other to accommodate high speed retail traffic. This would require a lot more base stations to be built.
As an example, Softbank Japan will be building 10,000 sites to accommodate Tokyo alone for high speed mobile. In contrast, our project is aimed at fixed locations and only a small number of mobile users, all of whom will be in the public service.”
Ramotar said that the network is designed to provide data services and not voice. “As a matter of fact voice module was not purchased either. Any telecommunication operator will tell you that voice is still the most important aspect of becoming a telecom operator.”
Ramotar said that the frequency that Government is using is 2.3GHz and technology TD-LTE is popular in some parts of Asia and not the United States of America.
“For LTE the US uses FDD-LTE and frequencies of 700MHz, 800MHz, 900MHz, 1700MHz and 2100MHz. If anyone wants to compete in the market in Guyana those are the frequencies they will go after”, he said.
In addition, bringing the handsets that would be required on the 2.3GHz frequency to Guyana would be an extremely expensive exercise, he said.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
Traditional media is still king
…Peeping Tom Kaieteur News-Election campaigns are a battle for attention, persuasion, and votes. In this digital age,... more
Rising Gun Crimes in the Caribbean: Urgent Action required by all
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News – There is an alarming surge in gun-related violence, particularly among younger... more
Weekend Cartoon
