ON Monday, the government issued Commencement Orders fully bringing into force the Telecommunications Act 2016 and the Public Utilities Commission Act 2016, which effectively ended the 30-year monopoly held by the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company.

Since 1990, GTT, which is 90 per cent owned by American company Atlantic Tele-Network (ATN), has had exclusive rights to a number of telecommunications services in Guyana including, landline, Internet, production of telephone directories, and provision of pay phones, among others.
This meant that even though other companies may have wanted to provide these services, or consumers may have wanted more options to choose from, GTT was the only company allowed to provide those services.
Over the years, that monopoly had left Guyanese weary, frustrated over Guyana lagging behind in the telecommunications arena, due to lack of competition.

However, with the market now officially open for investment by diverse telecom providers, what this means for consumers is more choices in who to choose from and with the increased competition in the market, cost to consumers is expected to reduced significantly.
Already, large companies and key industry players like E-Networks, Digicel and even GTT have made commitments to improving their service in light of the anticipated competition stemming from a liberalised sector.

The Guyana Chronicle caught up with some Guyanese to find out how they feel about the move and what it will mean for their life and their pockets.

MARVIN LEE, SCHOOL TEACHER
“Everybody knows that competition creates lower prices and a wider variety of products for the end user to choose from. Considering the current world climate, the demands being made of us, it is a really, really good thing, the only thing is how long will it take for the competition to yield benefits.
In teaching, when you look at process of teaching online it’s been difficult. You could have a quite clear connection and then within a few seconds the connection has delays, it’s a serious issue that depending on where you live. There’s also a problem when large numbers of people using the network at once, if we have other options less people on one network, would hopefully mean better connection. In the case of the cell phones there are so many people with 5G capable phones but most of the features can’t be used because the network can’t support those functions or features.”

Kim Rampersaud, vendor
“I prefer GTT because that’s we own, and I know what I getting with GTT but I don’t know what coming after with the rest. But if we get something better yes I would be good with something better. With the Internet, one and two time I may have ups and down with my Internet being on and off but I still prefer GTT. I have the Blaze and I don’t get much problem with the Blaze, but before when I had the other Internet it was ‘lil difficult, but now that I have the Blaze it works faster. We pay $12,000 a month for the Blaze. If the cell phone could go down [in price] yea I would glad for the cheapness because everybody like things cheap, as a business person I use a lot of money on cell phones.”

JOEL HUNTE, UNIVERSITY STUDENT
“It’s something that I feel most Guyanese were expecting to happen eventually. Having new companies enter the market would mean that the competition may prove beneficial to Guyanese who are unhappy with their current service. Given what has been going on, in not only Guyana but the entire world, I welcome any positive change once it’s managed well. Personally, I have been contented with the service I was already receiving from my provider, but if this new implementation means cheaper costs and faster speeds I’m on board.”

PRIYA PERSAUD, SUPERVISOR AT GRA
“It would mean more telephone companies can come into Guyana to do business, and that’s a good step. Especially since we are in high demand of Internet services with the virtual learning due to the COVID-19 which isn’t going anywhere for now. I had applied for landline service from GTT months if not years ago, and had to be calling all the time to follow up. They weren’t even finding the application, it was ridiculous. I had wanted the landline to get Internet, but I never get it even after following up. When they had finally processed the application, they told me I have to wait for an available line. I was forced to take Internet from one of the companies that use the antenna. With cellphones I had to be activating plans, but the data finishes so quickly and to do add on is ridiculous with the pricing.”

HARRINARINE, HEADTEACHER
“Trade liberalisation means removal of trade barriers so as to promote fair trade, so the liberalisation of telecommunications sector will mean a fair playing field for all businesses within the sector. The fair competition will lead to better and cheaper service to consumers, with better choices. It provides greater opportunities for the consumers. Digicel is already giving 50 per cent off their data plans. I am happy that the monopoly has been broken. Without liberalisation we’re facing high cost for land line services, poor Internet service.”