Government to begin talks on ending GT&T monopoly in Guyana

Negotiations regarding the end of the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company's (GT&T) monopoly on international voice and data transfers are slated to begin next month and conclude by the end of the year, said Lance Hinds, adviser to the minister of public telecommunications.

Hinds ruled out the possibility of compensating the telco for the remaining nine years of its license, which was granted to its parent company the AtlanticTele-Network in 1990, and renewed for 15 years in 2010.

That discussion will not happen because it is difficult to put a value on such a license based on future projected earnings, local news website Demerara Waves reported Hinds as saying. Doing so would only lead to a dispute, he added.

The negotiations are expected to focus on whether GT&T has any liabilities and what both sides would like to see in a new license for the benefits of the company, the government and the public, Hinds said.

In order to fully activate the liberalization process, Hinds said the regulations should be in place by the end of November to help new players provide their services in one year.

Likewise, the planned telecommunications agency would have to be in place before the minister of public telecommunications enacts the legislation, noted Hinds.

The new regulatory agency needs to prepare to process the licenses, analyze whether companies meet the criteria for the service they intend to offer, and assign frequencies, Hinds said. The new agency will oversee the sector alongside existing regulator, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC).

Hinds warned that telcos are likely to disapprove of infrastructure sharing and net neutrality. For instance, operators want to charge extra for voice over internet protocol applications such as WhatsApp because they have been losing revenue from regular voice calls.

Once new telecom providers come on stream, the provision of some internet-based services supplied by other companies will require e-transaction and data protection laws, said Hinds.