Ending the telecommunications monopoly was one of the David Granger-led Administration’s earliest promises when the APNU/AFC Government took office. However, five years later, the monopoly has not budged and Digicel is putting pressure on the Government to do so.
A petition has been started calling on the Government to end the monopoly, which grants the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T), a virtual monopoly on services.
“Not only is the #LiberalisationNOW Change.org petition 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,” a statement from Digicel’s communications Manager Vidya Sanichara states.
“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 telecom industry.
Calling this change “long overdue”, Sanichara noted that after three decades, Guyanese suffer from limited choices, poor broadband coverage, poor quality of service and poor response time.
She also noted that despite the legislation that was supposed to pave the way for ending the telephone monopoly being passed in Parliament since July 2016 and assented to by the President, there is still no progress.
“This requires the issuance of a commencement order by the Minister. With Guyana stuck in the telecoms dark ages, liberalisation must happen immediately to give Guyana the internet it deserves.”
“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.”
A quote from CEO of Digicel Guyana, Gregory Dean was also included. In the statement, Dean welcomed the petition and commented that “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 8th and show that the will of the people cannot be denied.”
In January of 2018, it was reported that negotiations with GTT and the Ministry to address the lifting of the monopoly were effective. These negotiations began in 2016, where the intention of ending the 26-year-old monopoly on the fixed-line market was discussed. The liberalisation, once in place, would ensure there is fair competition and regulation among all enterprises in the business sector.
The liberalisation of the sector is heavily dependent on the settlement of a US$44 million tax claim against GTT. Atlantic Tele Network, GTT’s parent company, makes mention of this in its quarterly filings to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission -including a sum of US$5 million for an adverse decision against the telecoms giant.
“GT&T is also involved in several legal claims regarding its tax filings with the Guyana Revenue Authority dating back to 1991 regarding the deductibility of intercompany advisory fees as well as other tax assessments,” the report states.
“The company maintains that any liability GTT might be found to have with respect to the disputed tax assessments, totalling $44.1 million, would be offset in part by the amounts necessary to ensure that GTT’s return on investment was no less than 15 per cent per annum for the relevant periods. The company believes that some adverse outcome is probable and has accordingly accrued $5.0 million as of June 30, 2018, for these matters.”
Efforts to contact Public Telecommunications Minister Cathy Hughes for an explanation for the delay and silence from the Government was futile.
