GT&T Sets the Record Straight

The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) was concerned about the thinly veiled attempts by the CEO of U-Mobile (Cellular) Inc. (Digicel), Mr. Timothy Bahrani, as reported in his statements carried by the media on 22/23 May 2002, to capitalize on what has been an extremely unfortunate situation, the damage to the Americas 11 cable off the Coast of French Guiana and its subsequent effect on international telecommunication services in and out of Guyana.

While GT&T would understand the anxiety of any private company to maximize its profits, it strongly denounces any attempts to manipulate the process that governs a formal agreement between ATN/GT&T and the Government of Guyana.

We remain unconvinced that the demand by U-Mobile (Cellular) Inc. for an international licence is prompted more out of a concern for the Guyanese national interests than an impatience to expand profits.

We specifically reject the suggestion by the C.E.O. of U-Mobile (Cellular) Inc. that GT&T’s lifeline is on a thread (Americas 11) which keeps snapping. Mr. Bahrani should seek to inform himself of the significant investment which that “thread” represents

GT&T’s commitment to customers is reflected in the redundancy facilities we have invested in and the extent of services we continued to provide after the cable was damaged, allowing for almost the total amount of normal international voice and data traffic during the period of disruption.

It would be useful to provide a background to what GT&T has put in place over the years to protect its consumers.

Some years ago GT&T purchased, at great cost, rights in a number of international undersea cables, including the Americas 11 cable that connects North America, South America and the Dutch, French, Spanish and English-speaking Caribbean.

The 2002 investment in the Americas 11 cable was to strengthen Guyana’s ability to attract international data transfer business like Call Centres and has undeniably increased internet penetration in keeping with GT&T’s ongoing commitment to National ICT development.

Even before then, the number of earth stations for international traffic had been increased from one (Kingston) to two (Beterverwagting).

The objective has been to always have available, in the interest of the Guyanese consumers, alternative means of transmitting international traffic.

In normal circumstances, GT&T uses its licence to carry international traffic originating from its fixed service, its own Cellink and from Digicel customers. Of interest is the fact that, with its temporary authorization, Digicel customers continued to access and use GT&T’s network for International connections as is normal based on existing Interconnect Agreement.

This communication has attempted to illustrate the depth of arrangements made by GT&T to ensure GT&T’s ability to provide continued international service in the event of disruption and to respond to a crude attempt to make capital out of an unfortunate incident.