‘This project is very important for the future of our country…it will make a big difference in the lives of our people’ – President Jagdeo
THE Guyana-Suriname submarine fibre optic cable was commissioned yesterday with President Bharrat Jagdeo pledging the government’s support to build local demand for the services in an effort to better the lives of Guyanese and assist the telecommunications company to faster realising returns on its investment.
“This project is very important for the future of our country…it will make a big difference in the lives of our people,” he said.
He was speaking at the Guyana International Conference Centre, Liliendaal, to a gathering of officials from government, Guyana Telephone and Telegraphy (GT&T) Company and representatives from its parent company, Atlantic Tele-Network (ATN), and other stakeholders.
The development of the fibre optic cable is a joint project between GT&T and Surinamese telecommunications company, TELSUR. It is a US$61M investment and GT&T’s contribution is US$30M. The Guyana shore-end of the submarine fibre optic cable was landed in January 9, this year.
The cable became operational at the beginning of July after a process of testing and configuration.
The full advantages of the services were experienced first by users in and around Georgetown and all current customers, who are Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) users, received free upgrades.
GT&T said new customers will be provided with a standard one megabytes per second package at the same cost others are paying, $9,980 a month. In the next quarter, the company expects to advance the service to other parts of the country. This is to be done in phases and will target systematically Berbice, Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne), Timehri, Region 10 (Upper Demerara/Upper Berbice) and other parts of the country.
The shore-end of the cable is expected to provide unlimited and inexpensive bandwidth that underpins a revolution in communication and the robust redundant superhighway on which modern services run.
“Telecommunication has the ability to transform almost every aspect of life, an increase in productivity and competitiveness in almost every area,” President Jagdeo said.
He added that this development is part of the partnership being forged between Guyana, Suriname and Brazil.
“Hopefully, the telecommunication structure will allow us to deliver the services, we wish, faster to our people,” he said.
Alluding to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set by the United Nations, the Head of State pointed out that there is a gap between the developing and developed world, hence the need to work progressively in different areas to bridge that gap.
The President said this is not a feat that will be accomplished all in one day and pointed out that currently the financing available for projects to meet the MDG targets is decreasing because of the global recession.
“Most of the goals are declarative and they are not financed…any movement along this pathway will have to be financed and paid for by the countries themselves and the consumers in those countries,” he explained.
In this context, he lauded the effort by GT&T to make the investment and described the move as a “bold” one.
President Jagdeo said for companies that are willing to think large, to think boldly, the rewards will be great.
“There is the risk that the large capacity they have, we heard a thousand times more, may not be paid for because there is no demand for it at this point in time,” Jagdeo said.
However, he observed that the demand to utilise the capacity of the cable can be created since there is a “latent” demand in Guyana.
Undertaking this, the President said, requires stakeholders to be creative and work harder and he urged GT&T to set aside resources to develop more content.
“I want to offer a partnership with GT&T to create that demand and create that content that will allow people to improve their lives and at the same time get the cable paid for and have GT&T make a return on the money they have invested,” he said.
The President noted that since the cable went operational there have been improvements as promised by the telecommunications company.
In light of this, he invited GT&T to work in partnership to develop another cable that is being brought in by the government.
At the shore-end landing of the submarine fibre-optic cable in January, President Jagdeo announced that the government has already made a down payment on another fibre optic cable which will be routed through Brazil.
The other cable will specifically address e-governance, through which the government will use Information Communication Technology (ICT) with the aim of improving information and service delivery, encouraging citizen participation in the decision-making process and making government more accountable, transparent and effective.
“We want to make sure that this project works in parallel and is supportive of the GT&T project. We don’t want to build networks that are redundant. We want to maximise every cent we spend,” the President said.
He indicated that the vision is for the best, most effective and cost effective fibre optic network that delivers the relevant services to people.
“Whether we can afford this or not is another issue, but telecommunications services can have a big impact on the economy and on people’s lives…even when the effective demand is not there and the state has to support it, we are prepared to do that because we recognize that the payoff will be big in the future,” the President declared.
He also made pointed to the government’s US$30M project aimed at providing 90,000 families in Guyana with access to a laptop.
“The only reason we have not started that ‘One laptop for family’ project is because we were not sure about the ability to access the internet…that situation has changed now that we have this cable,” he said.
Mr. Jagdeo said over the next three years, the focus will be on the poorest households.
“In the initial stages, it will be highly unlikely that those poor families will be able to pay for access, but they may be able to pay for some form of access and they may even be supported by the state,” he said.
The President said access, via the computer, is quintessential since it is important for them not to be left behind those who can afford access.
“This is huge for us. It is a big investment, but it will also generate the demand GT&T needs to sell some of its bandwidth…we will also partner with GT&T on this project,” he said.
Mr. Jagdeo also urged the telecommunications company to take its innovation a ste
p further.
GT&T outgoing Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Major General Rtd. Joseph Singh said the impact of the investment into the fibre optic cable has been seen through the entire developmental process.
In particular, he said, the cable is a catalyst for the ICT vision in Guyana and pointed out that Guyana will now be connected to the world on a wider basis.
Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and CEO designate, Mr. Yog Mahadeo, gave credit to President Jagdeo for advancing the ICT vision for Guyana and thanked the project’s partners, as well as the 700 GT&T staffers.
“We now have thousands of satisfied customers,” he said.
He added that GT&T is looking toward strategic business partnership to enhance what the cable makes possible.
“Imagination is now a reality. This is what we bring to the people,” Mahadeo said.
His contention is that GT&T is a futuristic company that will transform the landscape of Guyana.
“The future is here,” he posited.
The CFO said the ‘e-magine’ concept to promote the new and improved service conveys the message of sheer connectivity.
CEO of TELSUR, Mr. Dirk Currie, said the investment into the cable was a response to a need.
He added that in partnership many a thing can be achieved and lauded the support of GT&T, which, he said, takes telecommunication to a new level.
Currie said this development will allow Guyana and Suriname to be more active participants on the global scene.
Deputy General Manager of GT&T, Mr. Terry Holder, said the last 20 years have spoken to tele-progress in Guyana and the new cable paves the way for more to come.