GT&T wants review of rates hike
Guyana Chronicle
February 27, 2002
THE Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) says the increased local rates granted by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), though insufficient, are a step in the right direction.

In a press statement last week, it said the hike was needed to move the telecommunications sector in Guyana into the economic realities of the 21st century.

GT&T said it is also extremely disappointed that the PUC Order did not address the question of local charges to be applied to the local users of the Internet, as is the industry norm internationally.

The telephone company has received an order from the watchdog commission adjusting its local rates in light of the recent reduction in inter-carrier settlement rates for the U.S. from US85 cents to US23 cents per minute.

The PUC Order increases GT&T rates for local service by $517M per year. This is about a 30% increase in GT&T rates for local service, which the company said is the lowest in the western hemisphere and considerably less than the increase it sought.

The order also reduces GT&T's rates for calls to the U.S. by about 30% which is more than the reduction proposed by the phone company in light of the reduction in international settlement rates.

The commission plans to hold further hearings and to make more adjustments in GT&T's rates in June this year.

The reduction in the Guyana/U.S. settlement rates became effective January 1 this year and has presently not resulted in any reduction in the prices paid by customers for calls between the U.S. and Guyana, GT&T said. It said accordingly, the volume of traffic between the two countries has remained about the same as last year.

GT&T said the reduction in the international settlement rate for Guyana/U.S. traffic is costing the company very substantial sums in reduced operating profits.

"We believe that there are a number of aspects in the PUC's reasoning which require re-examination and contribute to the need for further rebalancing of local rates and we intend to pursue this with the PUC", it stated.

The company argued that in its 11 years of operation, it has significantly expanded and modernised telecommunications in Guyana.

It said it has stressed its commitment to further development but has maintained that this could be achieved only when customers are made to pay the real cost of having service provided to them.