Digicel seeks to land submarine cable

Feb 06, 2020 News

With mere weeks to go before general and regional elections, the continuous delay of opening the telecoms sector is likely to become a hot topic.

Digicel’s CEO, Gregory Dean

Digicel Guyana has repeated commitments to land its own sub-sea fiber optic cable to bring faster and cheaper internet, but there is no green-light yet.
Speaking on Tuesday as guest of the “Legal Mind” on Kaieteur Radio 99.1 and 99.5FM, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Gregory Dean, was emphatic that the landing of such a cable would bring positive impacts to the quality of service to mobile phones.
The Irish-owned company is now forced to buy bandwidth from its competitor, the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT). This has limited its capacity to compete fairly, Digicel has complained.
This is despite new telecoms laws passed in 2016 allowing new companies to enter the market…the necessary permission has not been granted by Government.
Government and GTT, a US-controlled company, are locked in last minute negotiations with no immediate solutions in sight.
GTT wants concessions for breaking the monopoly–its agreement allows control of landline and international calls.
On the other hand, Government says that GTT owes over US$40M in back taxes.
Digicel says it is losing significant opportunities that exist.
According to Dean, the 1990 agreement between GTT and the Government of Guyana did not contemplate the internet, which according to legal minds, allows new operators to theoretically land a sub-sea cable.
However, no investor would want to take the chance without clarity. That clarity has not been forthcoming from the Ministry of Public Telecommunications.
In the meantime, the CEO said, one player (GTT) is being allowed to steam forward expanding its services unhindered.
Recently, it was announced that E-networks, a cable television company, landed its own cable.
E-networks has made it clear that the cable is to boost its services.
The Digicel chief on Tuesday pointed out that there are options for the government, including liberalising the sector and continuing the negotiations.
He said that the sector is being held at ransom while work could have been allowed.
More capacity, he stressed, would mean more development in the social media, education, health and of course, faster telecommunication.
Dean said that it is a fact that internet is being viewed as a basic service, similar to electricity.
According to the official, it is a fact that no country has regretted opening the telecoms sectors.
Digicel, here for more than dozen years, has boasted of introducing Blackberry services in Guyana back in 2007.
With no official figures, Digicel believes that it has more customers than GTT, which it competes with in the mobile market.
To bring pressure, Digicel is backing a petition which more than 4,000 signatures have been gathered calling for the liberalisation of the sector.
There are reportedly a number of companies, which have applied to enter the telecoms market.
GTT has been rapped by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), the regulator for not doing enough to introduce enough landlines.
It has been ordered to correct the situation.
In the meantime, its rollout and quality of service from Blaze, its high-speed internet, has been criticised for not moving fast enough.