In a statement, the Office of the Prime Minister said the Government is seeking an amicable settlement of all the issues regarding the claim by Atlantic Tele-Network (ATN) to monopoly rights, "for the purpose of concluding an orderly transition to a liberalised, competitive telecommunications sector in the interest of our country."

The statement outlined developments in the issue leading up to the current impasse between ATN, the parent company of the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) and the Government.

It recalled that in March 2000, the Government and the IDB hosted a public seminar to discuss the urgent and vital need to reform Guyana's telecommunication sector to bring it into the 21st century as a development priority of the Government.

"Government had long recognised that Guyana's national telecommunication infrastructure constrained by the ATN/GT&T monopoly over virtually all the telecommunications services, had become an anachronism", it said.

"The opportunity for Guyana to take advantage of the accelerated growth of Information and Communications Technology (ITC) to provide the modern foundation urgently needed for economic and social development was rapidly placing our country at considerable competitive disadvantage with our international trading partners", it added.

The statement noted that on August 18, 2000, Guyana entered into an agreement with the IDB for the reform of the telecommunications sector.

"ATN/GT&T were made fully aware that the time was long overdue for terminating a monopoly agreement which had seen its time and was out of step with the worldwide growth of Information and Communications Technology", it said.

The statement continued:

"In September 2001 the Guyana Government gave public notice of its intention to reform the telecommunications sector and conducted nationwide consultations on the issues involved, including the termination of the ATN/GT&T monopoly.

"The public consultation established a nationwide consensus in support of terminating the monopoly and support for the introduction of a modern, open and competitive telecommunications system for our country including the introduction of ICT.

"On 23rd November 2001, Government invited ATN/GT&T to urgently commence negotiations to terminate their telecommunications monopoly and open Guyana's telecommunications sector to market competition.

"ATN/GT&T, displaying a consistently stubborn refusal to concede that their monopoly had no relevance for a modern, national communications system, responded on 24th December by refusing to begin negotiations, setting as a condition that the PUC (Public Utilities Commission) must first grant their application for a rate increase.

"It was not until 28th February, 2002 that ATN/GT&T finally came to the table and only after being advised by letter on 17th January, from the Prime Minister, that the Government considered it `unreasonable and unacceptable' for ATN/GT&T to continue their refusal to commence negotiations. It is, therefore, nonsense for the Chairman of ATN/GT&T, Mr. Cornelius Prior, to protest his company's readiness to negotiate.

"It is unfortunate that the ATN/GT&T Chairman persists, as he has done at his press conference on 24th June, in making plausible but obviously misleading statements with regards to the progress of these negotiations and his company's declared intention to prevent the IDB concluding the ICT project for Guyana.

"At the conclusion at the negotiations held in April in Trinidad & Tobago between the Government and ATN/GT&T, as a joint press release confirmed, it was agreed that the Government would prepare a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) reflecting the matters discussed and that both sides would consult with their principals prior to the resumption of negotiations. This was further confirmed by a letter of 15th May from Attorney General to General Manager & CEO of GT&T, Ms Sonita Jagan.

"Contrary to the claims made by both Mr. Prior and Ms. Jagan at their press conference, there was no timetable set for the presentation of the MOU. The Attorney General's letter states that `as soon as Cabinet has given consideration to the document and gives a mandate to the team, I will contact you with a view of fixing a time for continuation of negotiations'.

"Informally, the GT&T management had, in the meantime, indicated to the Government negotiations that they would not be available to resume negotiations until June and after June, not until September.

"Mr. Prior's claim that the negotiations had `stopped dead in their tracks', offered as an excuse for importuning the U.S. Director at the IDB to oppose the granting of the ICT project loan while the negotiations are still in progress is entirely specious and less than honourable and further evidence of bad faith on the part of ATN/GT&T.

"ATN/GT&T have never introduced for discussion or negotiations a condition that `consensual termination' of their monopoly must precede implementation of the ICT project. For the Government of Guyana to agree to any such conditionality would be to negotiate under duress and would be totally unacceptable.

"The Government's position with regard to negotiating the termination of ATN/GT&T's monopoly and concluding the ICT project with the IDB is consistent with the best international practices in accordance with the principles established by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and with the declared policy of the Government of the USA in support of the competition in the global and domestic telecommunications market.