Consumers Association and Advisory Bureau call for end to GT&T monopoly
By Mark ramotar
Guyana Chronicle
May 14, 2007
THE Guyana Consumers Association (GCA) and Consumers Advisory Bureau (CAB) Saturday called on the Government to review the monopoly situation enjoyed by the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T), claiming the monopoly has become non-functional and only creates hardship for the people of Guyana.
In a statement, the GCA and CAB recalled complaining for a long time now about the “frequent breakdowns in the telecommunication system resulting in no telecommunication contact with some foreign countries and including the non availability of the internet”.
Noting that such breakdowns have been occurring regularly, the two consumer groups said this “isolates Guyana from the rest of the world and could affect the safety of the nation”.
They argued that the interruptions have caused “business people to lose business and large sums of money, e-mail communication and air travel are disrupted, students are unable to access the internet, urgent medical help from overseas is unavailable, and communication by telephone to some countries is unavailable causing distress to many whose families are living abroad”.
“There is widespread distress caused by the interruptions,” GCA and CAB declared.
According to them, GT&T was given a monopoly of telecommunication with foreign countries on the agreement and understanding that the monopoly-holder would provide a first class and reasonably-priced service.
“GT&T has not been providing such a service and this failure to provide a good and reliable service negates the monopoly. In other words, the GT&T monopoly has come to an end owing to its failure to provide a reliable service.”
In this regard, the GCA and CAB said they welcome the decision last week by Prime Minister Sam Hinds “to bring relief to the people of Guyana by having another company, DIGICEL, fill the breach”.
“We urge the government to review the monopoly since it has become non-functional (and) it has created and is creating much hardship for the people of Guyana,” the two consumer groups are urging.
Meanwhile, GT&T has challenged the decision taken by the Prime Minister last Wednesday to grant the temporary permission to Digicel to operate in routing international calls in and out of Guyana.
The company, in a statement last Thursday, said it was “never contacted, consulted, or given a hearing” before the directive from the Prime Minister was issued.
GT&T said it was also not provided with “neither notice nor an opportunity to be heard”, and as such is rejecting as invalid the Prime Minister’s attempt to invoke national security concerns to justify his unprecedented action.
The company also claimed that it was served with court proceedings by Digicel and declared that it intends to be represented in those proceedings. The company said it will also be filing proceedings challenging the Prime Minister’s “unilateral decision”.
Pointing to a communications crisis and the likelihood of security concerns arising with the damage to the Americas 11 cable, the government on Wednesday last granted temporary permission to Digicel to operate to route international calls in and out of Guyana.
The Prime Minster said that while GT&T has put in place adequate satellite redundancy to ensure no disruption of international communications, there continues to be significant disruption of such services and there is uncertainty concerning the timing of the resumption of services through the cable.
GT&T said it received a letter from Prime Minister Hinds last Wednesday indicating that U-Mobile Cellular Inc (U-MCI) had been directed by the Office of the Prime Minister to utilise its Kingston Earth Station to originate and terminate international traffic on its network.
“The directive, the Prime Minister claims, is informed by national security considerations consequent upon the cable damage,” GT&T said, adding that it has since written to the Prime Minister “to express our disagreement with this course of action and our belief that the directive constitutes an abuse of the laws of Guyana and our legal rights”.
“As the Guyana people are aware, communications with the outside world continued to be possible after the cable was damaged. This has always been the case when the cable is down, although there always is the possibility that customers may have to dial the number repeatedly.”
Since this matter is engaging the attention of the court, GT&T said it “considers it appropriate to make no further comment at this stage”.
Internet, international data and voice services were affected when the Americas II cable developed a fault at 05:45h two Sundays ago in the ocean off French Guiana.
“Since the gravity of the fault became known, the government has been seriously concerned about the potential grave negative consequences on Guyana’s economy and on the lives of the citizenry, while recognising that there may be the likelihood of national security concerns arising,” Mr. Hinds had stated in his letter to GT&T.
Digicel has been granted interim permission to utilise the Earth Station for the purpose of providing international traffic until such time as the international communications capacity via the Americas 11 cable is fully restored.
“Government expects that this effort will provide some relief to the current communications crisis facing Guyana”, the Prime Minister stated.
Digicel has since welcomed the move by the government, saying “the government’s speedy response means that Digicel can assist in alleviating the current crisis to communications services by temporarily routing international traffic originating and terminating on the Digicel network.“
Digicel said since the Americas II cable was damaged two Sundays ago, the people of Guyana have been experiencing difficulties making and receiving international calls.
“As GT&T has the sole international licence, Digicel has been forced to route all international traffic through GT&T,” Digicel noted.
Digicel Chief Executive Officer Tim Bahrani said “Digicel welcomes the government’s move in granting Digicel a temporary international licence to help alleviate the disruption customers are experiencing in making international calls.”
“Digicel can now help to resolve this disruption by routing international calls over the Digicel network to ensure that the people of Guyana continue to have access to a world-class, reliable mobile service. We are happy to assist the country in this time of need,” Bahrani added.
GT&T on Monday last said it was making a significant investment to bring some relief to customers affected by the disruption from Sunday of the Americas 11 cable, which affected Internet, international data and voice services.
The company, in a statement, said it is acquiring, at a cost, additional redundant satellite facilities from Intelsat and had begun installing equipment at Beterverwagting, East Coast Demerara, to prepare the physical network to accommodate these facilities.
This is the third time in four years that damage off Cayenne has affected Guyanese customers, GT&T said, adding that customers in Suriname have been similarly affected.
Meanwhile, in a statement over the weekend, GT&T said the Cable Ship with engineers and equipment aboard is scheduled to arrive today at the location 15 kilometres off the eastern shore of French Guiana where the submarine cable was damage.
GT&T said repair works on the damaged cable – which it said have been slashed and the power supply in it disrupted - are anticipated to take about five days.