The Guyanese unit of regional mobile operator Digicel has criticised the failure of the Guyana government to pass new legislation to liberalise the country’s telecoms sector.
Digicel’s complaints came after it emerged that the Guyanese government…
The Guyanese unit of regional mobile operator Digicel has criticised the failure of the Guyana government to pass new legislation to liberalise the country’s telecoms sector.
Digicel’s complaints came after it emerged that the Guyanese government had deferred a new Telecommunications Bill, as well as some related amendments to the Public Utilities Bill.
Digicel Guyana said the government’s decision “crushes” its hope for lower international calling rates within the near future.
Digicel Guyana’s CEO, Gregory Dean, said: “This was Guyana’s opportunity to be propelled into a new era of a modern, liberalised telecommunications sector where consumers are the real winners. Once again, all the talk has come to nothing.”
The company added that the decision would further impact its ability to invest in accordance with its plans in Guyana.
According to a report by the local Demerara Waves newspaper, the new Telecommunications Bill had been expected to pass yesterday.
But this bill and the Public Utilities Commission bill, in which several amendments had been proposed, will now be deferred to the country’s next parliament.
The proposed new Telecommunications and Public Utilities Commission bills would reportedly have created a new telecoms regulator to oversee the sector.
The new parliament will take power after regional and general elections in late December.
The government’s acting chief whip, Gail Teixeira, reportedly said that the deferral came as a result of late submissions, and that these were significant enough to require further consideration. Neither these submissions nor their origin were revealed.
Digicel Guyana said it will request that details of the late submissions are made available to all stakeholders.
A spokesman for the Guyana Information Agency, a government body, confirmed that the government had deferred the passage of the bill but could not comment further on the causes.
