–over 10,000 houses across Guyana to be outfitted with new ‘GTT fibre’

THE Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT) will be investing an additional $2 billion to upgrade and expand its fibre-optic capacity in an effort to boost the quality of internet services being offered locally.

This announcement was made on Thursday by the company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Damian Blackburn, who said this investment adds to the $17 billion already spent on service and data upgrades.

Blackburn, who assumed his position at GTT in May, said that the company’s new directive is to “pivot GTT to become a 21st century customer-centric organisation.”

To this end, he said that the company has already set up its WhatsApp and E-billing services, and will be working during the rest of the year to encourage continued use of the its “secure and eco-friendly innovations.”

“We increased by over 30 per cent, to over 400 MMG [mobile money] agents, where you can pay your GTT bills for free with more locations in the pipeline,” Blackburn said.
He also pointed to the installation of bill payment kiosks, and the relaunching of an enhanced “MyGTT” smart phone app to enable MMG and bankcard payments.

“We are laser-like focused on improving time to deliver. [We] have made great strides recently and I promise our plan will fix all issues here in 2021, having navigated some global supply chain problems,” Blackburn said.

More specifically, he said that the company is committed to delivering on at least three tangible promises that underpin its “Together We Rise” brand position.

“Together speaks to community, so our promise is to strengthen our community; ‘we’ speaks to our customers and we promise to reliably connect our customers and ‘rise’ speaks to the country… we promise to innovate for all in our country,” the GTT CEO related.

He said that the $2 billion investment is only the start of a series of new commitments the company will make to deliver on all its promises.

“I would like to thank our customers for their patience and reassure everybody our team is working to the maximum here to meet your needs. I promise we will communicate better with you if your service is disrupted,” Blackburn related.

As it is now, Blackburn said that the new GTT fibre service has replaced Blaze and customers have been upgraded automatically to significantly higher data speeds.

“Advances in information and technology gives us the power to overcome many of the challenges we face. What truly excites me is the national advancement opportunities that the power of GTT fibre now presents for the Guyanese people,” Blackburn said.

ALREADY UPGRADED
Meanwhile, Ishwar Thakurdin, GTT’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) of its Home and Fixed services, said that already, all of GTT’s existing Blaze customers have been upgraded, for free, to the less expensive and more powerful ‘GTT fibre’.

“Our new plans of Fibre50, Fibre100, and Fibre150 provide more than double the speed of the previous Blaze plans, and at a lower cost. So, those on the Ignite (10Mbps), Flaming (20 Mbps) and Inferno (50 Mbps) plans have been moved to the Fibre50, Fibre100 and Fibre150 plans priced at $8,999, $10,999, and $12,999, respectively,” Thakurdin said.

Additionally, to make the most of those major speed increases, Thakurdin said the company will be providing an optional service of the “Plume Home Pass Wi-Fi Mesh,” which ultimately boosts Wi-Fi capacity, and makes it consistent in every corner of a house.

“With just a few Plume pods you plug into electrical outlets around the home, you’re always connected with the highest speeds anywhere in your home. This Wi-Fi service also comes packed with other frills like parental control, so you can restrict what your children can access or limit their screen time,” Thakurdin added.

He said that another major improvement is the provision of battery back-up with the GTT fibre service.
“We know this was greatly missed by our customers and happy to bring it back to help them stay connected when they need it the most,” the COO noted.

He said that the new service also caters to the business community, via “BizFibre,” which offers increased speeds at no additional cost.

“The previous plans of Biz25, Biz75 and Biz300 have been upgraded to Biz50, Biz100, and Biz500, respectively… that’s half a gig, which means a speed increase of up to 200 per cent for the small and medium businesses and enterprises,” Thakurdin related.

He further said that by the end of this year, an additional 10,000 houses across Guyana would be outfitted with the new GTT fibre technology.
“This is in addition to over 75,000 homes who have access to GTT fibre today,” Thakurdin added.

DSL BOOST
He noted too that GTT’s DSL customers also stand to benefit from internet services that are at least double their current speeds.
“In the cases where we cannot upgrade the customer’s DSL speed, we will be reducing their cost,” Thakurdin said.

The company said that it has already upgraded one-third of its DSL customer base, with the remaining upgrades slated for year-end completion.
Thakurdin said that the upgrades are in keeping with GTT’s vision to “improve life experiences to every home and business by 2025.”

It was only last month that GTT’s CEO informed the Guyana Chronicle that it is also awaiting wider spectrum in order to upgrade the 4.5 LTE (Long Term Evolution) for its mobile network.
Blackburn said then that the company is “desperate to invest” in upgrading its mobile network, and is in discussion with the government to procure the necessary approvals to move forward with the upgrade.

The 4.5G LTE is the next-generation cellular standard that offers enhanced capabilities over the 4G LTE.

The 4G LTE is currently the highest broadband level being offered in Guyana by both of the country’s two mobile telecommunications providers. The 4.5G LTE is considered a stepping stone to 5G and will make it easier for an eventual upgrade to 5G.

GTT had last upgraded its mobile network to 4G in 2019, offering faster download and upload speeds on mobile devices for photos, videos, improved mobile application performance, higher definition of online gaming videos and reliable connectivity to maximise the potential on consumer mobile devices.

Now, in addition to its home and fixed services, the company wants to ensure that its mobile services are in keeping with the fast pace of the telecommunications sector.