Talks to end GT&T international monopoly restart

Negotiations between the government of Guyana and the Guyana Telephone & Telegraph Company (GT&T) aimed at ending the company’s monopoly on international telecoms have recommenced after a two week break. GT&T’s current operating licence gave it a 20-year monopoly on a range of telecoms services including national and international voice and data. The company has argued that when the government moved to privatise the then state-run Guyana Telecommunications Corporation (GTC) in 1990 it was necessary to grant Atlantic Tele Network (ATN), GT&T’s parent company, a monopoly, given the run down state of the country’s telecoms sector, the country’s small population and low per capita income levels. The company is, however, on record as saying that it accepts the reality of liberalisation, stating that ‘negotiation is the only way out of a negotiated agreement.’