THE petition #LiberalisationNOW, which was launched by Digicel Guyana, has been receiving massive traction, as it has secured the signatures of over 4000 Guyanese, who declared themselves Fed Up with Poor Telecommunication services. This was disclosed by Digicel Guyana’s Communications Manager, Vidya Sanichara
The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph company (GTT) currently holds the monopoly on Guyana’s Telecommunications sector. In July 2016, the government passed the Telecommunication (Amendment) Bill to liberalise the Telecoms sector by ending the monopoly which GTT had enjoyed for over 25 years.

However, liberalisation has been delayed for some time to cater for the ironing out of GTT’s approximately US $44 million in taxes owed to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and for other discussions. The government and the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on March 06, 2019, signifying the beginning of the process of liberalization.

GTT’s Public Relations and Corporate Communications Manager, Jasmin Harris, in an email response to questions asked by the Guyana Chronicle, said, “We continue to engage in discussion with the government, using the MOU as a framework for a mutual agreement. We are committed and continue to welcome a telecommunications regime that will best serve our customers and all people in Guyana.”

The company declined to make any further statement as to the current progress of the liberalization of the sector and did not present a potential timeframe for completion.
The Guyana Chronicle attempted to contact the Minister of Public Telecommunications for a comment, but those efforts proved futile.

Gregory Dean, CEO of Digicel Guyana, in a press release, welcomed the petition, stating; “The response to the petition clearly shows that Guyanese are sick of being left behind and missing out on the opportunities that come with a digital economy. Guyanese are calling on all our leaders to take the necessary steps to eliminate the monopoly immediately and liberalise our telecommunications market so that other companies can roll out the services that Guyanese have waited far too long for. I encourage everyone to get on board with this movement by signing the petition before February 08 and show that the will of the people cannot be denied.”

He further said; “Guyanese deserve better. Efforts to end the monopoly have been ongoing for over 20 years. There is no time like the present to end the monopoly. We need liberalisation now.”

Digicel’s #LiberalisationNOW Change.org petition is racking up new signatures daily, the accompanying campaign video on YouTube has gained over 52,000 views and the campaign Facebook page has 2086 followers with campaign posts having a reach of 654,990 since the start of campaign. Likewise, there are 16,725 engagements on the Facebook page with people actively commenting and sharing posts to show their support for breaking the monopoly and liberalising the telecommunications industry.

Digicel is making the claim that Guyanese people have been exposed to Poor choice of services; Guyanese have been left with an extremely limited choice of services; Poor broadband coverage – a shameful 90 per cent of Guyanese still have no access to broadband services at home; Poor quality of services – even when they do have access to services, speeds are slow and unreliable; Poor response time – any issues are resolved at a snail’s pace.

According to the Media statement made by Digicel (Guyana) Communications Manager, Vidya Sanichara “the stakes couldn’t be higher. Bringing Guyana’s communications into the 21st century won’t just improve lives; it’s essential to developing the economy – especially now that oil production has begun with the first million barrels recently sold. As things stand, Guyana’s communication services are nowhere near ready to take full advantage of this development.

The country is a long way from achieving the universal landline coverage it was promised when the monopoly went into effect almost three decades ago. With a commitment to have telephone service in the home of every Guyanese, today less than120,000 subscribers have been provided with what is at best a mediocre service.”