MORE than two years of engagements to foster the creation and growth of the local telecommunications sector ended with a draft legal framework that was unveiled and discussed among stakeholders in the telecommunications arena yesterday. The discussion comes one day before bills will be tabled in the National Assembly for a new Telecommunications Act and accompanying amendments to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) Act to open, liberialise and make the telecommunications sector more competitive.
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, who will be tabling the bills today in the National Assembly, joined the stakeholders in discussion at yesterday’s forum at the Guyana International Conference Centre (GICC).
He explained that after the bills are tabled, a series of debates will follow before they are sent to a special select committee.
“I want to emphasise that the government’s aim here is to create an open telecoms sector so that it could be very lively,” Prime Minister Hinds said.
Optimism is high that the new telecommunications legal regime will attract new market entrants and investors, and offer Guyanese greater choice, cheaper prices and higher quality telecommunication services.
The new regime will consist of five sets of regulations that synchronise with the Telecommunications and Public Utilities Acts, and at the time of its enactment, new licences will be granted to the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GT&T) company, Digicel and some existing Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
Additionally, the Minister responsible for Telecommunications will hold regulatory responsibility over the sector, while a director will head a new agency that will incorporate the National Frequency Management Unit (NFMU).  
Janis Brennan and Peter Stern were the two consultants from Foley Hoag, the international law firm that partnered with the Guyana Government on the drafting of the framework. They acknowledged Guyana’s efforts to liberalise the local telecommunications sector.
“The underlying goal of this telecom law reform is Guyana’s full participation in an information society. That requires citizens to have easily accessible, affordable and ubiquitous consistent access to telecommunication services… this type of reform process that underlies achievements of the Government’s goals has been completed or is actively underway in almost every country of the world, including in the Caribbean,” Brennan said.
Brennan acknowledged early efforts by Guyana to reform the sector, beginning with the Telecommunications Act and the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) Act that were brought into law in 1990, simultaneously with the establishment of the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GT&T) company under an 80-20 shareholding with ATN.
The telephone company was at that time the exclusive franchise holder and inevitably held a monopoly on all other telecommunications network and services, including international telecommunications.
A time lapse on the company’s exclusivity for cellular service opened the door for competitiveness in mobile services which has been ongoing for some time now, according to Brennan.
She said Guyana has been involved in telecommunications on the international level, making reference to its commitments in 1994 to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreement on trade and services.
“Without liberalisation of the sector… it’s difficult for Guyana to make full fledged commitments under trade and services, but there have been some commitments made,” Brennan said.
The PUC Act was amended in 1999 to accommodate private sector operation, and subsequently, in 2002, Government launched an initiative for modernization of the telecommunications sector.   
Brennan also made reference to the first mobile licence to be offered, the ITC for development strategy, the coming into effect of Digicel, the CARICOM, European Union accord, committing Guyana to open telecommunication markets to Caribbean and European operators and service providers, and the first submarine fibre optic cable landing in 2010. (GINA)