GTT’s monopoly has crippled Guyana’s economic development – Digicel CEO

Feb 21, 2016 News

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It has been widely acknowledged that Guyana’s ICT sector holds great potential for becoming a strong

economic driver. But top players in the sector contend that in order for this to be realized, certain key things must be done.
Digicel’s CEO, Kevin Kelly, said that one of the most important things which must be done is the removal Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT)’s monopoly in the industry.
He said that the telephone company’s monopoly has literally crippled Guyana’s economic development.
The Digicel CEO said, “The GTT monopoly has crippled the economic development of Guyana for many years costing thousands of jobs. Due to the GTT monopoly, new companies are reluctant to invest in Guyana and existing companies are putting off future investments to expand their current businesses.”
He gave this response when asked to what extent he believes the GTT monopoly has hindered the growth of the country.
Kelly added, “This has impacted the quality of daily life for all Guyanese for many years. Besides Guyana, there is virtually no country left in the world with a telephone monopoly, maybe with the exception of North Korea and one or two others.”
The Digicel CEO said that the Guyanese public and businesses have been impacted by lack of availability of services (both landline and internet), poor service provision due to the utilisation of outdated technologies across all services and lack of value for money due to limited or no competition.
He opined, too, that the monopoly has even hampered a range of other services it would be happy to offer the Guyanese consumers.
The Digicel CEO asserted that the company would like to compete on long distances calls, improve the internet phone service by upgrading to 4G, land a second subsea fibre giving Guyana redundancy and competitively priced connectivity. It also would like to roll out residential internet and landline services.
Kelly said that Digicel is of the belief that these developments will give customers and businesses choice, access to latest technology, better customer experience and value for money.
He said that the negative impact of the GTT monopoly is not just on Digicel, but on all companies in Guyana and more importantly Guyanese citizens and ultimately the country.
Kelly opined that the impact of the introduction of new players into the market providing robust competition can be instantaneous and very beneficial to consumers.
To reinforce his point, he recalled Digicel’s introduction into the Guyanese market in 2007. This caused local mobile rates to halve and made handsets affordable to all Guyanese.
The Digicel CEO said that countries around the world have seen economic development when there is a global access to communications. He commented that the GTT monopoly has essentially “impacted the full potential of the country for growth.”
He was then asked if it is safe to say that once the liberalization of the sector does not take place, then ICT would be hindered from becoming the next strong driver of Guyana’s economy.
The Digicel CEO answered in the affirmative while reminding that the current Government gave a commitment to liberalize the Telecommunications sector.
“We believe they will honour this as we approach Guyana 50th anniversary,” added Kelly.
He said that the passing of the legislation will allow the ICT sector to become a major engine for growth in Guyana. The Digicel CEO stressed that it is critical especially given the concerns in the manufacturing, agriculture and mining sectors.
Minister of Public Telecommunications, Cathy Hughes, recently stated that the administration is indeed serious about developing the ICT sector.
She even spoke of a number of projects planned to take the industry forward. The liberalization of the sector is high on her to do list for 2016.
Hughes said that there can be no doubt that the development of the Information and Communications Technology sector can transform life in Guyana in so many ways.
The Parliamentarian said that regrettably, over the years in Guyana, the development of ICT as a contributing, productive sector has been slow.  She said that the high cost of supporting infrastructure, absence of enabling legislation, limited skill sets has been a significant contributor to this state of affairs.
She said that in general, the growth of ICT in Guyana has been a very mixed bag. Hughes said that it has meandered, it has had its fits and starts, it has had some individual achievements but by and large, 2016 still finds Guyana behind its Caribbean colleagues in terms of scope, function and overall contribution to national development.
“There has to be telecommunications liberalization. We will be unable to be competitive without it.  The rates in Guyana for enterprise level/high end connectivity continue to be among the highest in the Caribbean.
“That is impossible to work with. It is only competition that will address that state of affairs,” said the Minister.
Hughes noted that liberalization of the Telecommunications sector has been on the agenda for several years. She recalled that a revised Telecommunications bill was tabled in this National Assembly and has been subjected to scrutiny of a select committee in the House.
The Minister said that both government and opposition seemed united in the search for a model piece of legislation to bring an end to the monopoly in this sector.
She noted however that there are several consequential matters that remain to be settled, and for which further consultations with a major player, GTT are ongoing.
“It is hoped therefore that the process of liberalization would be completed during this year and that national spectrum will be opened to all strategic partners and we promise on an even playing field.”

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