Guyana, Suriname to launch new submarine cable at Curacao telecoms forum

The July 10-15 meeting of the Caribbean Association of National Telecommunications Network which is being held in Curacao will witness a special ceremony at which two senior officials of the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) and Suriname’s national telecommunications facility, TELESUR will formally launch their jointly owned Suriname/Guyana Submarine Cable System (SGSCS)

GT&T’S Chief Financial Officer Yog Mahadeo, who assumes duty as the company’s Chief Executive Officer on August 1 told Stabroek Business in an interview earlier this week that he and Russ Headley, a senior TELESUR adviser will be the officials involved in the launch ceremony.

On Thursday July 1 GT&T formally commissioned the local service provided by the new US$60 million cable in which the two telecommunications service providers share equal investments. Mahadeo told Stabroek Business that the Curacao launch was intended to signal to the rest of the region the joint efforts of Guyana and Suriname to strengthen their telecommunications infrastructure as a facet of social and economic development in their two countries. “That apart I believe that the Curacao ceremony will symbolize yet another facet of cooperation between two South American neighbours and two Caribbean Community countries. I believe that apart from the economic and developmental significance of the new cable, it also demonstrates how Guyana and Suriname can work together, through the development of telecommunications, for the good of both countries,” Mahadeo added.

Mahadeo, who said he will be delivering a paper at the forum on “an ICT vision for Guyana” revealed that his presentation will focus on, among other things, the strategic significance of Guyana’s telecommunications infrastructure to building regional and hemispheric bridges across the Caribbean and the continent.