GT& T losing some Gy$ 7.5M a month on landline services

TIMES INT'L

The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company Limited (GT&T) has disclosed that it is losing some Gy$7.5 million monthly on its landline services. This disclosure is a further hint that expansion plans in regard to landline services could be taken off the company’s agenda.

Speaking at a press conference at the company’s headquarters last Friday, February 4th, Yog Mahadeo, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GT&T, disclosed that the company could actually be losing more, since the losses are in the vicinity of Gy$50 to Gy$80 per landline per month, and GT&T has some 150,000 landline customers.

According to Mahadeo, one of the reasons for these losses is the loss of international revenue, which could be attributed to the increase in Internet communication.

Asked if the landline phones could soon become obsolete in Guyana, Mahadeo said that in some countries that is already happening.

However, he noted that GT&T sees the landline service as a ‘lifeline service’. “We have always seen this as an emergency service, because wireless services could be affected by wireless interference, whilst the landline service has more been affected by vandalism, although I believe this to be sabotage at times.” Meanwhile, GT&T disclosed that it hopes to offer Blackberry services this year.

So far, only the cellular phone company Digicel has rights to offer the Blackberry services in Guyana, but GT&T is also looking to penetrate that lucrative market.

Mahadeo disclosed that the company could roll out that service before midyear.

He further said that, while the company could not control outside ‘forces’, it is bringing Blackberry to Guyana for certain.

BlackBerry functions as a personal digital assistant with address book, calendar, memopad and task list capabilities. It also functions as a portable media player with support for music and video playback, and camera and video capabilities.

Related posts