Liberalization talks have gone on for long enough!

The absence of liberalization in the Guyana telecommunications sector continues to stifle economic growth and put national security at risk according to outgoing Digicel (Guyana) Chief Executive Officer Mark Linehan.

Mark Linehan

In what is probably Digicel most robust public statement yet on the GT&T monopoly on external telecommunications services, Linehan said he believed that “one side is more serious than the other” about the current talks to end the monopoly.  “We want to give the parties space and time to resolve their differences. But that time has run out now. The bottom line is that these talks should have been completed by now,” Linehan told Stabroek Business.

“If they (GT&T) were to take off their individual hats and put on their nationalistic hats they would know that the lack of liberalization is stifling economic growth and putting national security at risk. It is blocking the progress of the nation and that can’t be good.” Linehan said.

Talks between the government and GT&T aimed at bringing an end to the monopoly started in February this year following a series of official outbursts against the lack of liberalization in the telecommunications sector led by President Bharrat Jagdeo. GT&T officials have since remained tight-lipped about the progress and status of the talks though this newspaper has learnt that there has been no meeting between the two sides for several weeks.

Linehan told Stabroek Business that what worried him most about the continued GT&T monopoly was its impact on Guyana’s ability to communicate with the international community. ‘The fact that the market is not liberalized is a serious problem. If Digicel did have a licence and we could turn on our system – and we can do so in an hour – you would see the difference. The country felt the difference in  May 2007 when the Americas 11 Cable went down and our system was put in place. The difference in the quality of the service was phenomenal,” Linehan added.

“I suppose that there is a slight frustration over the fact that the monopoly has not yet ended but we do understand the delicacy of the discussions between the government and GT&T. We do understand there are agreements in place and that they have to find a way forward to introduce a competitive arena which is fair to the people. I  believe that both parties have to step back from the liberalization talks and look at the benefits of international liberalization for the people of Guyana. The fact is that the cost of international calls is beyond the reach of the man in the street. Competition is the way to bring prices down and improve quality.”

GT&T has said in the past that it is not in control of the pace of its discussions with government and yesterday the Company’s Director of Rate Making Gene Evelyn agreed to address the monopoly talks issue providing Stabroek Business make a formal request for such a comment through Allison Parker, the Company’s Public Relations Officer.

While the outgoing head of Digicel’s operations in Guyana conceded a measure of “frustration” over the fact that the monopoly had not been broken during his tenure, he told Stabroek Business, nonetheless, that   the company was in Guyana for the long haul.

Linehan, whose official tour of duty began on August 1 last year and comes to an end today, leaves Georgetown to assume duty as Chief Executive Officer of Digicel’s Jamaica operations. He said that while he anticipated that the 10th Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA X) would be a success it could be a much bigger success “if people could call in and out of Guyana without any hassle.”

Asked to comment on the quality of the telecommunications system currently available in Guyana Linehan said that the quality of communication that is available in some countries and between countries does not exist in Guyana. “We do not have a world class international communication system here in Guyana at this time and that will never happen until we have a system here that is driven by competition,” Linehan said.
Linehan told Stabroek Business that given the limitations of Digicel’s licence he felt that the company had made significant “inroads and progress” in its operations here. “When you compare the local telecommunications environment today to that which existed when there was a monopoly here it’s entirely different. Handset prices have come down, rates are now more affordable, systems improved, coverage improved and capacity improved.

According to the Irish-born Linehan Digicel became market leader in less than a year. “We now have more cellular subscribers than GT&T. We have well over 200,000 subscribers and that base keeps growing from day to day. That’s a sign that people are enjoying the innovation, the products and the services that we are offering, at the moment we have over 30 per cent more sites than our competitor,” Linehan said.