The disruption in data services for Digicel subscribers over the past few days has been caused by a reported shutdown of what the Surinamese government has deemed an illegal microwave link that supplied data from Digicel (Suriname) to Digicel (Guyana).

This was reported in a Demerara Waves article published earlier on Friday. Previously, the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT) had called for an investigation into Digicel’s alleged “illegal, unlicensed trans-border link between Guyana and Suriname.”

The company alleged that illegal bypass operation has been active for more than five years, which has led to the loss of approximately US$30M in revenues to Guyana. The telephone giant had also demanded that Digicel make public its records detailing tax payments on the revenue generated by this perceived illegal bypass operation in the interest of transparency.

In light of the current situation, GTT’s claims has been brought to the fore once more.

Nevertheless, GTT said in a release: “We stand ready to work with Digicel to restore their connectivity as soon as possible.”

The release further related, “We have made commercial offers to Digicel over an extended period to provide capacity that would resolve, or have avoided, their current network failure,” but also highlighted, “We have not taken any legal action against any Digicel Suriname or the Surinamese Government.”

When contacted by this newspaper for a comment on the issue, Public Relations Officer of Digicel Guyana Vidya Sanichara related that the company was working on an official statement which will be disseminated later Friday.