Cable & Wireless is keen on acquiring the Guyana Telephone & Telegraph Company Limited (GT&T) although its initial offer of US$85M for the firm was spurned by parent company, Atlantic TeleNetwork (ATN).

The British telecommunication firm is revising its offer for GT&T and is working on a financing model for its investment in Guyana. However, it wants to have clear cut the environment in which it will be investing in before it makes a revised offer to ATN.

Brassington is overseas and could not be contacted and neither could Prime Minister Sam Hinds be reached for an update on the issue.

Cable & Wireless is due in April to start talks with the government on the regulatory environment, rate re-balancing and the phasing-in of competition in a bid to secure the operations of GT&T. ATN has previously said it is not willing to sell as a first choice but would still consider a favourable offer.

Cable & Wireless in January 2003 approached the government with its interest to enter the local telecommunications sector and eventually made an offer of US$85M to ATN for its 80% interest in GT&T. However, ATN Chairman, Cornelius Prior described this offer as "ridiculous".

Undeterred, Cable & Wireless wants to know what regulatory environment it would be expected to operate within before it considered upping its offer for ATN shares. It also wants to know the government's positions on tariff re-balancing and phasing in of competition.

Officials from Cable & Wireless were here in November to further the company's interest with Prime Minister Sam Hinds. They are expected to return with a revised offer for ATN and to develop a financial model for the investment.

The company is winding up its operations in the US and wants to consolidate its efforts in the Caribbean.

However, while the enabling environment for the investment would be crucial to the investment, the price to buy out ATN would be the deciding factor on the investment.

It remains to be seen whether the government is wasting its time in entertaining talks with Cable and Wireless.

Prior had indicated that his first preference would have been to work out his differences with the government and continue his investment in Guyana. However, he says that he would be willing to consider a serious offer for GT&T.

The government owns 20% of GT&T and ATN had wanted this as compensation for giving up its monopoly rights.

The government has shifted focus in its telecommunications reform programme with the telecommunications policy still before the Cabinet for approval.

The regulatory environment is therefore in abeyance and attention is now directed to having a new investor and negotiating the environment for that investor.

The original format was to create a new telecommunications policy, have new regulations in place and simultaneously seek to introduce competition in the sector by negotiating away GT&T's monopoly rights.

Talks with GT&T/ATN broke down after an ultimately unsuccessful legal challenge was mounted by ATN to an Inter American Develop-ment Bank (IDB) loan for an information technology project which the company deemed harmful to its monopoly. Talks are not back on track despite ATN's stated desire to pursue this.