President Jagdeo flaks GT&T For inadequate phone service
By Wendell Davidson
Guyana Chronicle
November 28, 2003
THE Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) has again come in for some flak from President Bharrat Jagdeo over its inability to provide adequate telecommunication services to the Guyanese community, in accordance with their contract.
According to the Guyanese Head of State, the service being offered by GT&T is "totally unacceptable", in response to a query in relation to GT&T's refusal to interconnect Cel*Star which have begun work towards developing a network here.
Speaking at a news conference he hosted at the Office of the President to brief on his recent attendance at a Special CARICOM Summit and subsequent visit to Brasilia, Brazil, President Jagdeo said, it is clear that the wants to break the monopoly, since the telephone company has for several reasons, " not fulfilled its obligations under the original contract."
He made mention of package which GT&T received when the former company Guyana Telecommunications Corporation (GTC) was privatized, in a less than transparent way.
"It is unacceptable, totally unacceptable when they committed themselves in the original agreement to supply phones to everyone," the President remarked.
He said the which through its package has a monopoly, has for too long been offering excuses, adding that in a day and age where so many sectors depend on the quality of the telecommunication in their country, people even in Georgetown, not the remote parts of this country, are unable to have access to phones..
Noting that the key issue is quality of service, President Jagdeo alluded to GT&T's `Broadband' service which it offers as ISP provider, and which the President described as "its almost ridiculously slow".
In addition, cost of the Broadband interconnection services is "very high' and as such does not help to develop services-related businesses such as call centers easily.
President Jagdeo also made reference to the declaration of the Americas signed in Quebec, in which Heads of Governments including those of the United States and Canada have agreed that connectivity in the Americas should be improved and the digital divide be closed.
But remarked President Jagdeo, "How are we (Guyana) going to do that if we don't have a platform, and the platform for closing the digital divide is telecommunication," adding as a country, the state of communication here is affecting us tremendously.
But he assured that the Government will continue to persevere in its efforts to have GT&T fulfill its obligations.
Recently, there have been reports in the press about legal litigation filed against one of Cel*Star's operatives here in Guyana.
However, President Jagdeo told reporters he has asked Prime Minister Sam Hinds who has overall responsibility for telecommunication to ensure that the issues are sorted out, and that he wants to see a clear picture emerging after the legal issues have been clarified.
Cell*Star Guyana and its parent company Trans-World Telecom Caribbean (TWTC), are confident that the legal matters will be disposed of quickly.
They have also, re-affirmed their commitment to offer competitive mobile telecommunication service to the people of Guyana.