— Sector being reformed for open competition
THE government is to table legislation and regulations aimed at ending the current monopoly by one company and making the telecommunications sector open and competitive, Cabinet Secretary  Dr. Roger Luncheon announced yesterday.

At his weekly post-Cabinet media briefing at the Office of the President complex in Georgetown, he said the “mantra” of the government has always been an open competitive telecommunications sector, adding that the virtue of this has not been questioned since it prevails in the rest of the region.

“…we in the administration here have made it clear – something like the Holy Grail – [that we would bring] to Guyana the obvious benefits of an open, competitive telecommunications sector,” he declared.

He explained that the regulations and bills would seek to convert the existing situation of monopoly regarding the interpretations of the licence Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company Limited (GT&T) secured almost 20 years ago.
The legislative changes would decide what would be the current technical and regulatory practices for landline and cellular services, spectrum management pricing and interconnection, he reported.
“This is comprehensive reform at the end of which we anticipate that the sector in Guyana, as with the other sectors in the rest of Caricom (Caribbean Community) and the world, will be enjoying [greater services]. The monopoly would be ended and all of the facets of an open competitive sector would be legislatively enshrined,” he said.
Contacted yesterday, acting CEO of GT&T, Mr. Yog Mahadeo said he did not wish to comment on Luncheon’s announcement.
Luncheon told reporters Cabinet has been addressing legislative and regulatory reform of the telecommunications sector and the process is coming to an end.
Drafting of the bills is almost complete, covering the regulations and licences that were the principal elements of the reform process.
He said the final phase being contemplated would include a week-long engagement with Cabinet to finalise the draft legislation which will be disseminated to stakeholders and posted on the government’s websites.
He said that by October, the legislation will be proceeding, according to plan, to public consultation for feedback and the completion of the consultation process will be followed by final drafting at the Attorney General’s Chambers.
“It is anticipated that the legislation would be tabled in Parliament before the end of this year,” said Luncheon.
When the deal was struck between the then Guyana Telecommunications Corporation and Atlantic Tele-Network in 1990, the latter bought 80 percent of the shares of the former company and it got a 20-year monopoly licence for landline communication and other services.
ATN/GT&T also benefited from a non-exclusive licence for a 20-year period for wireless communication. But the company and the government differed on whether the former has exclusive rights for international connections.
Since the turn of the decade, the government has been in talks with GT&T with a view to coming to an agreement with respect to breaking the monopoly. Back in 1999, the company reached agreement with the government on the way forward and the then Minister of Communication, Prime Minister Sam Hinds had reported that the government expected “tough but cordial negotiations” for the early resolution of a number of controversies and the transformation of Guyana’s telecoms sector.
The Prime Minister had said also that GT&T was negotiating in good faith and supported the administration’s steps to get technical and other help for an open competitive regime.
In August 2000, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) signed an agreement for a grant of US$1.1 million for freeing up the telecommunications sector.
Relations between the government and the company soured when ATN attempted to block a US$18 million loan from the IDB for the development of the ICT sector in Guyana. The government accused ATN of bad faith when this move was made.
ATN’s attempt to block the loan was on the grounds that a component of the project would infringe upon GT&T’s monopoly rights, stating that its monopoly gave it exclusive rights over voice and data transmission whether by landlines or over the internet.
But the government contended that the monopoly rights do not extend to the internet which at the time that ATN had concluded its licence with the Guyana Government had not been commercialised.