GUYANA’S Telecommunications Sector is expected to be fully liberalised by May, 2017,following the operationalisation of the country’s first Telecommunications Agency.

Minister of Public Telecommunications, Cathy Hughes,made this disclosure on Monday on the sidelines of GTT’s launch of its 4G LTE lightning fast Internet service on the Essequibo Coast. The establishment of the agency is in keeping with the Telecommunications Legislation, which was passed in the National Assembly last July,following extensive consultations with GTT, Digicel and other stakeholders, including the Private Sector Commission (PSC), the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), the University of Guyana (UG) and several non-governmental organisations.

Minister Hughes said currently her Ministry is assessing the concerns and recommendations made by stakeholders following their review of the seven regulations that will accompany the legislation. These regulations include licensing, spectrum allocation, pricing, interconnection and access to universal services, telecoms and consumer-related matters, among other things.

“We wrote to 25 stakeholders and private sector companies, the Citizen Advisory Bureau, both GTT and Digicel, and a range of companies so that they could give us their comments on the regulations,” Minister Hughes said, while noting that the very detailed regulations were placed on two websites just before Christmas for public scrutiny.

“We did not get the response that we had originally hoped,” she added. As such, in an effort to accommodate greater participation from the stakeholders, the deadline was extended to mid-February. “We are now going through those comments and we are looking to see if any of those comments are things that maybe will change part of the regulations,” the Telecommunication Minister explained.

Additionally, the Ministry is putting a number of logistical systems in place, with emphasis on acquiring a pool of personnel that will meet the demands of the Telecommunications. “We have been planning in terms of getting the job description for the new positions,” she told reporters, while noting that although the Ministry has already received a number of applications, vacancies will be made public for all to apply before a determination is made.

“We are also looking at how we will merge the National Frequency Management Unit (NFMU” into it (agency),” the Public Telecommunications Minister added.

Minister Hughes noted too that the Public Telecommunication Ministry is continuing negotiations with GTT and Atlantic Tele-Network (ATN) with the aim of ending GTT’s claim to a monopoly over international voice and data transmissions and domestic wireline service. “Just about three weeks ago we created a matrix of the different things that need to be done and we presented it to ATN and GTT, and they were very happy with the matrix.”

GTT and ATN have also been meeting with the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), according to the Minister. Based on the progress made thus far, Minister Hughes is optimistic that by mid-year, the telecommunication sector will be fully liberalized;opening windows of opportunities for investors and citizens alike.

“So we are moving very fast. I would hope that by April/May the structure would be there and after the structure is in place, then other telecommunication agencies or companies, local companies that want to get into providing any kind of service…they would then legally be able to register and be part,” she posited.

The Telecommunications Bill was first introduced in 2011.However, it was revised in 2013 before being sent to Parliamentary Special Select Committee in the 10th Parliament, and was near conclusion when that Parliament was prorogued in 2014 by the then President, Donald Ramotar. When it was taken before the National Assembly by the Government, the opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) had called for the bill to be sent to a Special Select Committee for further consideration, but Minister Hughes had argued that the bill had been long promised and was overdue. The sector, she emphasised, must be an opened one, so that the country can progress and not lag behind its sister Caricom countries and the rest of the world.

The legislation provides for the fostering of an opened, competitive telecoms sector in which investors will be attracted, and in which a fair, competitive environment for sector participants is created.