-says economic, social benefits to be derived

By Ravin Singh
THE successful passage of the Telecommunications Bill 2016 has paved the way for a competitive regime to be created in the sector, and the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GTT) company is in support of efforts to end its monopoly of the sector. “We’re heavily in favour of breaking the monopoly. We’re not asking for a monopoly to be put in place. We want the sector to be open,” Justin Nedd, GTT’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) said at a Wednesday morning press conference held at the company’s head office on Brickdam.
The Bill, which was passed in the House on Monday evening after a rigorous debate, seeks to create a competitive environment by providing for an open, liberalised and competitive sector that will be attractive to new market entrants and investors. At the same time, it supports preservation of the activities of the current participants – both GTT and Digicel Guyana.
The Bill, as was described by Public Telecommunications Minister Cathy Huges, will result in greater choice, better quality of service and lower prices, which will effectively benefit consumers. It also specifically addresses the expansion of telecommunication networks and services into unserved and under-served areas, through the institution of a new universal access/universal service programme, in an effort to further national, regional, social and economic development.
And despite holding the monopoly for over 20 years, GTT, through its CEO, has acknowledged that positive economic and social benefits will be derived from the liberalisation of this sector. But these aren’t the only benefits, Nedd said. He suggested that this will now allow for an accelerated rate of learning for all Guyanese, while providing clarity on the operation s of the sector.
“Right now there are many grey areas that we are trying to resolve and we’ve been operating in those grey areas for several years. So, we are optimistic that with liberalization, they will be clear. Businesses need predictability; we could focus on driving the business, providing good service to the customer and getting things done right,” the CEO said.
He said the company is currently in negotiations with the Government, which he said is critical for the country.
“Doing the negotiations and respecting the rule of law contract is something that is critical for the country…because if any country wants Foreign Direct Investment, it’s important for investors to understand that if they have a contract with the government, it will be honoured,” Nedd explained.
And although he refused to get into details of the negotiations, the CEO said that it is necessary to ensure that existing contacts which GTT has with other services providers are respected.
When asked about the company’s support for net neutrality, which is listed in the Bill, Nedd did not specifically say if GTT was in support of it. He offered rather that the company supports the Bill which seeks to develop Guyana’s telecommunications sector.
Nedd was also asked by this publication about reports of GTT censoring its competitor’s – Digicel’s – website by redirecting traffic (users), who were trying to access http://digicelgroup.com, to GTT’s website. He said he was unaware of this issue.
Regarding 4G service which was introduced recently, the CEO fended off criticisms regarding the slothfulness of the service, boasting that this project was introduced with two weeks’ notice, while it is known to take up to nine months.
He also added that the company is still working out deployment of more services and teething problems which will take time to resolve.
In closing, he congratulated the Government on this landmark achievement and lauded the efforts which contributed to the Bill’s passage.
“This is great for the people of Guyana and GTT remains ready to work quickly with the Government to complete the path to market liberalisation. Guyana will be very different with the development of the robust 4G broadband services that liberalisation will enable. GT&T intends to be a big part of that transformation,” he stated.