–    CEO Dean
DIGICEL Guyana Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Gregory Dean said, Monday, that the cellular phone company welcomes competition on the Blackberry service with Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T). Speaking at a media conference, he added that they also welcome rivalry in all areas, noting that, when they came into Guyana, they heightened awareness from a pricing point of view and widened the network.
Dean said: “I would say GT&T benefitted from that, in terms of the Blackberry service and, with the noise they have created, I think that it has heightened the public’s interest in Blackberry service and I suppose both cellular companies are benefitting from that.”
He said he thinks time will tell on that but, at the moment, Digicel is still quite happy with the service and the response it is getting from its provision.
According to him, the fundamental issue is that they are going to have, for quite some time, data slowness, because people use their Blackberry smart phones as their main or primary source of the Internet.
Dean said: “One of the reasons for that is the huge discrepancies between the price of the Blackberry service and Broadband service and I think, with the price on most other markets, that gap doesn’t exist, so that the phone is a secondary tool of access to the Internet. So it’s a constant battle in the game to provide enough bandwidth in terms of people using it as a primary source.”
He went on: “It is something we have been engaged in and we have had many expansion plans for the future as well it is something we live with. But, in terms of finding a solution post liberalisation, to have true competition in a broadband sense, then I think you would see that gap narrowing and see a different dynamic because people would be using their handsets as their primary source to the Internet. But that’s the situation in Guyana; everyone uses the Blackberry for Internet because the cost of Blackberry service is so low in Guyana.”
Dean reiterated that the highlight of the year 2011 is that they are still awaiting the end of the telecommunication monopoly and are quite hopeful, in terms of the new Parliament with all three political parties having, so far, publicly stated, either in their manifestos or otherwise, that they support an opening of the competitive telecommunication sector.

ANY REASONS
He said, so far, on paper Digicel does not see any reasons why there should be any further delays in telecommunication liberalisation since they have all agreed there are significant benefits there for Guyanese consumers.
Dean remarked that, from the looks of things, all the parties seem to be behind it and all the players seem to be saying, anyway, they are ready for liberalisation even though the competitors came out saying, for sometime they have been preparing for liberalisation.
He said, in the interest of Guyanese, Digicel is quite hopeful of getting it as soon as possible, because, in the past, they have had many failed attempts that they have contended with, as the United States (U.S.) owners of GT&T, ATN has been able to exert pressure in some areas to cause delays for Digicel.
Dean said Digicel does not see why the benefits of the Guyanese consumers are being played second fiddle to ATN (Atlantic Telenetwork).
He said, firstly, it was agreed in the interest of consumers but, for them, there is no reason “why we keep going around in circles in getting there because everyone, on paper, is saying that they want liberalisation…”
Dean said the Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon was clear, in his statement earlier his year, that representation has been made in response to the postponement of the delays.
Dean declared it is about lack of development in other areas with the liberalisation, not only would they have a more aggressive approach in international calls but their involvement in services from Internet, fixed line services and many other technologies coming on stream that they can get involved in on a level playing field and  rewarded for the significant investments here.
He lamented: “I don’t think it is a straightforward case, in terms of saying we are making a loss in this area only as there are so many areas we can get involved in.”
Meanwhile, as to wiretapping and the police, Dean said Digicel has not been asked to provide that service but has been collecting information on its customers. As it relates to records, they have cooperated with the police, in terms of providing information on customer’s purchase of handsets.
As for revenue, Digicel looks at various investments whether they are involved in other areas, once there is potential and it would be viable investment.
He said Digicel is still paying, in terms of charging customers no revenue because they have to pay a fee or rate when the call passes through GT&T network.
Dean admitted that they have not been performing to the fullest of their potential because they are operating on a monopoly situation and they are at the wrong end of it.