GTT repackages Blaze service; launches it as a new product

Sep 13, 2021 News

– Claims of “delivering another first for Guyana” false

Kaieteur News – On September 2nd, foreign-owned company GTT(Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company) hosted media and special invitees at the Pegasus Hotel to launch what it described as “delivering another first for Guyana”, its new GTT Fibre Product. The event purported to launch the latest cutting-edge technology in Fibre replacing its Blaze product which was already a Fibre Network using GPON Fibre Technology.

GTT CEO, Damian Blackburn

A Quick Fact check would reveal however that Guyana has had Fibre services using GPON Technology since August, 2013, with GTT themselves being the second company to launch Fibre to the homes of Guyanese called “Blaze”. Blaze was the brainchild and the most significant project of former Guyanese GTT, CEO Justin Nedd.
It was since July 16, 2017 that Nedd launched the new internet service under the name “Blaze”. The new service was offered in three packages, ‘Ignite’, ‘Flaming’ and ‘Inferno’, with each having its own cost and advantages. This is the very Fibre Network that is being used for the new “GTT Fibre” product, which is essentially blaze configured for higher speeds; speeds Guyanese could have enjoyed since 2017.
The Blaze service was launched at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, and speaking then with the media, GTT’s Chief Executive Officer, Justin Nedd, had said that the new initiative is an investment in Guyana with the cost for the new Fibre Network within the vicinity of US$20M to US$25M. “Many times I hear people talk about one million and two million US dollars; this is real money. This is GTT investing in Guyana” were his comments.
GTT’s renaming of Blaze is seen as the company accepting that the blaze product has been a disappointment since over the years, customers have experienced many technical and billing issues with the Fibre optic internet service. In what was seen as a positive move, the new CEO Damian

Justin Nedd, Vice President of ATN’s Strategic Programmes

Blackburn had publicly recognized that the services were plagued with issues, and he was in the process of listening to customers and formalizing a plan. Mr. Blackburn over recent months has constantly used the term “I promise”. But the famous promise turned out to be the repacking of Mr. Nedd’s Blaze under the new banner “GTT Fibre”.
Local company E-Networks had also on August, 13th, 2013 launched its E-Networks On Fiber product at an event commemorating its 10th anniversary. A quick check on google would show that this was in fact the first Fibre Network offered to homes using GPON Technology. E-Networks with the recent liberalization of the sector, has been seen as pushing the industry to increase their capacity and services offered to the Market. The company currently claims to offer the fastest internet in Guyana. A quick comparison taken from both companies’ websites will show that where GTT now offers 150Mbs to homes, E-Networks offers 250Mbs, and where GTT now offers 500Mbs to Businesses, E-Networks offers 675Mbs. This indicates that even with the claimed upgrades, GTT has not stepped up to match the speeds of its main competitor. This begs the question: what exactly does GTT mean by “First in Fibre”?

With the newfound oil fortunes in Guyana, many foreign companies have been rushing to these shores with grand promises of investments, and the modernization of the country. Against this backdrop Guyanese need to remain ever vigilant as like GTT, many of these companies with their savvy marketing create an impression of grand investments where there are little benefits to Guyanese or the country as a whole.
Furthermore, GTT over the years has been known to have significantly stalled the development of the country through its predatory pricing and limited development in a sector in which it held a monopoly.
The liberalization by the PPP Government in October, 2020, has shown that in less than a year, GTT has been able to use the same Blaze Network to improve its speeds and reduced its pricing with the introduction of competition in the marketplace, something they could have done many years ago.

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