GUYANA Telephone and Telegraph Company Limited (GT&T) officials last Friday began addressing the contentious issue of the proposed price for Wi-Fi service to be provided at the University of Guyana’s Turkeyen and Tain campuses, after consistent complaints from UG students.

Last month, GT&T’s acting Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Ms. Sonita Jagan announced that the company would be providing high speed Internet connection on the two UG campuses at a rate of $100 per hour; but students immediately took to social networking sites, such as Facebook, to express their disapproval of this price, which they deemed too high.
In an interview with the media, President of the University of Guyana Student Society (UGSS), Ganesh Mahipaul, said the UG administration had gone into discussion with the GT&T and had negotiated a deal without informing the UGSS.
He deemed that development unfortunate, as the UGSS is the largest stakeholder representing the student body, and should naturally have had input in the agreement.
According to him, the UGSS requested to have the GT&T officials meet with the student body, and the company willingly complied.
On behalf of the UGSS, he lauded the company’s cooperation in meeting with the student body to explain their reason(s) for proposing the price they had in mind; and noted that if the UGSS were to challenge the agreement made between GT&T and the UG administration, it would have to take up the matter with the telephone company.
He disclosed that, in this regard, he had already written to UG Registrar, Mr. Vincent Alexander, who has indicated his willingness to look into the matter.
“As it is right now, I’m awaiting confirmation from him that we’re going to go back to the negotiating table and see how best we can fix (the price),” Mahipaul said.
Mahipaul said he wanted to exhaust all options at his disposal before deciding on any further moves. He also informed that the UGSS has put together a team of five persons to do a complete analysis of the matter, in order to determine whether the price is feasible; and if it is not, to propose a recommended charge.
According to him, the five persons come from various faculties on the campus, and they would also be speaking to several lecturers who have signalled their intention to assist them in completing their task.