The parent company of GT&T, Atlantic Tele Network (ATN) has hired a US consultancy firm to determine the amount of compensation it should seek in negotiating a break of its monopoly with the Guyana government.
The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company Ltd's (GT&T) monopoly licence is not set to expire for another 29 years and in return for breaking this, the company has already indicated that it wants a more stable regulatory environment and some sort of security on the Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) - the technology that allows phone calls via the internet.
A news item on Business News Americas recently, quoted ATN's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Cornelius Prior, as saying that the proposal on compensation should be submitted to the Government of Guyana some time this month.
Negotiators for the government and AT&T met recently in Trinidad in the first round of intense discussions on introducing market reforms in the telecommunications sector in Guyana and a memorandum of understanding on the way forward is expected to be inked soon.
Stabroek News understands that GT&T is pressing for a more predictable regulatory framework consistent with market reforms and restrictions on VOIP for a brief duration. However, the government's position is that the internet is liberalised and GT&T has no monopoly over this; a position adopted by Internet service provider, I-net, in a legal challenge mounted against GT&T.
The talks between the government and GT&T have been described as "going well" to date but negotiators from both sides had to report to their shareholders for clearance on issues discussed to date.
Meanwhile, ATN has reported reduced earnings of US$2 million for the first quarter of this year, primarily as a result of the impact of the reduced international settlement rate for calls into Guyana.
Business News Americas quoted from an ATN statement which disclosed that revenue from regular inbound international traffic decreased by 53% for GT&T to US$6.2 million from US$11.7 million for the same period last year. However, this was offset by a 74% increase in local exchange revenue and mobile service.
Mobile subscribers, the report said, increased from 9,800 subscribers in the first quarter of last year to 51,244 at the end of the last quarter. Fixed line subscribers only increased by 11% to 81,386.
The report said that the increases in local rates in February contributed to US$200,000 in additional revenue for GT&T in March.
However, Prior lamented that the annualised rate of return for the first quarter was only eight per cent as against the 15% guaranteed by its contract.