The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company Limited (GT&T) is resisting discussions with the government on breaking its monopoly as it wants urgent attention to be paid to the impact of reduced settlement rates from US carriers on its operations.

Prime Minister Sam Hinds last week indicated that the company is very concerned about its financial position given the US Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) ruling that US carriers should settle at US$0.23 per minute with GT&T from the start of this year as against the US$0.85 it enjoyed previously.

"The company is saying that that issue should be addressed as it is its number one priority as that ruling puts it in a difficult financial position," Hinds told Stabroek News.

However, he noted that the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has independently scheduled a hearing with respect to the FCC ruling and its impact on GT&T's operations. Hinds said that the government understands the concern of the phone company but argues that it is a separate issue which has to be dealt with by the PUC as is covered by the current regulatory regime.

The Prime Minister said that the government's position is that the two sides should sit at the table to negotiate a change in the current telecommunications industry which will result in a new regulatory regime which could very well be a more comfortable one for the company to operate under. Asked whether this has been communicated to GT&T, Hinds said that the two sides have been talking for some time now.

Hinds last year wrote to the company inviting its officials to a preliminary meeting to set the stage for the negotiations which would see a break in GT&T's monopoly on land line telephone services in Guyana. However, the response from the company cited its number one priority as its financial condition given the ruling by the FCC.

"I can recognise their anxiety but I am also of the view that a better way to resolve that issue is the PUC. Our commitment is to transform the industry to a new competitive regime and open the door to a new arrangement that GT&T will be comfortable with. I am saying let us speed up that new arrangement," Hinds asserted.

Chief Executive Officer of the company, Sonita Jagan was reportedly preparing a position statement on the issue and could not be contacted for comment. Hinds is hoping that the government and GT&T can soon get together to negotiate the new arrangement and significant discussions are expected towards ending the monopoly of the company.

The PUC is expected to listen to GT&T's arguments this week for a rebalancing of local rates after it denied the company increases in rates based on an application made in 1997.