Local consumers will soon be able to switch their telecommunications providers but retain their existing telephone or cellular numbers.
This was announced on Wednesday by Chairperson of Public Utilities Commission (PUC) Dela Britton during a webinar held in observance of World Telecommunications and Information Society Day.
She explained that the PUC has the statutory mandate to implement number portability in Guyana, a system which allows phone users to retain their phone numbers when changing from one network carrier to another.
“Number portability is game changing in the competition space as it allows consumers to retain their existing telephone or cellular numbers when switching providers. It generally forces players, when faced with competition, to improve their service offerings,” Britton said.
She explained that the process to ensure number portability is introduced locally began in July 2021 when a working group was established, comprising representatives of the PUC and service providers.
“PUC now eagerly awaits the completion of the testing processes, and we anticipate number portability will become a reality in Guyana in July of this year,” Britton said.
Currently, the phone service providers in Guyana are GTT, Digicel and E-Net. Another telecoms provider, Green Gibraltar, had received its licence in 2022. It is a 100 per cent Guyanese owned company established in 2019.
Reports indicate that Guyana has 745,689 mobile subscribers; 97,179 landline subscribers; and 123, 856 fixed internet subscribers.
The Peoples’ Progressive Party (PPP), after taking office on August 2, 2020, officially liberalised the telecommunications sector, with the commencement orders issued on October 5, 2020.
Liberalisation journey
In 1990, the Guyana Telephone & Telegraph Company Limited (GT&T) was granted a licence by the Government of Guyana, giving the company a monopoly on landline services and international outbound and inbound calls in Guyana. However, no provision was made in the licence for monopoly operations of mobile voice services. In 2007, U-Mobile (Guyana) Inc, trading as Digicel, entered the Guyana market and was granted a licence to operate mobile voice services, heralding competition in the mobile market.
On October 5th, 2020, when the Telecommunications Act No. 18 of 2016 became effective, creating an automatic termination of GT&T’s monopoly designation, the telecommunications sector entered into an era of new possibilities. The concept of liberalisation was finally realised. The Government of Guyana granted new licences to the Guyana Telephone & Telegraph Company Limited and U-Mobile (Cellular) Inc., and also issued a licence to a third operator, E-Networks Inc., all of which have expanded the Public Utilities Commission’s (PUC) regulatory reach.
On October 23rd 2020, by the requisite publication in the Official Gazette, seven accompanying telecommunications regulations became effective: Licensing and Frequency Authorisation; Spectrum Management; Universal Access and Universal Services; Interconnection and Access; Pricing; Consumer Protection, and Competition. As a consequence of this, competition was increased, and modern (4G and beyond) service is being extended to previously underserved areas.
Competition is driving innovation as companies move to improve service and keep/acquire customers. Operators are investing in networks to provide modern and up-to-date services to Guyanese in order to win and retain customers. The new submarine cable to be landed by U-Mobile (Cellular) Inc. is expected to lead to more competition for international data and international long-distance service, thus resulting in reduction of prices, especially for high-speed Internet.
The Telecommunications Act of 2016 was first laid by the Government in the 9th Parliament in August 2011, and laid again in the 10th Parliament in 2012, after extensive consultations with both the public and operators. During the life of both Parliaments, the Act enjoyed commendable bipartisan support. It spent considerable time before a select committee chaired by Carl Greenidge, which included Former Prime Minister Samuels Hinds and then Minister Mohamed Irfaan Ali.
The Act was finalised before the 2015 elections and was enacted by the coalition Government in 2016 by Minister Catherine Hughes, again with bipartisan support. It was passed with the stated intention of ending the monopoly which GTT has enjoyed.
Under the coalition Government, it was reported that the liberalisation of the sector was heavily dependent upon the settlement of a US$44 million tax claim against GTT by the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).
According to reports, the local telecommunication giant wanted the tax debt settled before moving ahead with liberalisation. As such, the former Government failed to bring into force the Act that they themselves passed.
