The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company is a fixed local exchange carrier (LEC) based in Guyana, South America. It is the largest provider of telecommunication services in Guyana with a subscriber base exceeding three hundred thousand in a country with a population of about seven hundred thousand.^[1] Its parent company is the Atlantic Tele-Network.

History

On June 18, 1990, the Government of Guyana (GOG) and Atlantic Tele-Network (ATN) signed an agreement that would create a new, private limited liability company, GTT. ATN purchased 80 percent of the issued share capital and the GOG retained 20 percent of the company. The GOG later sold these shares to Hong Kong Golden Telecoms Company Limited.

Consistent with this agreement, the previous telecommunications provider, government-owned Guyana Telecommunication Corporation (GTC) was dissolved, and, on January 28, 1991, the new private sector company, GTT, commenced operations under new management as a subsidiary of ATN.

GTT was granted licenses under the Post and Telegraph Act (Cap 47:01 of the Laws of Guyana) for:

1. The exclusive provision of public, radio and pay station telephone services and national and international voice and data transmission;
2. The exclusive sale of advertising in any directories of telephone subscribers;
3. The exclusive provision of switched and non-switched service supported by facilities constructed over public right-of-way; and
4. The non-exclusive provision of a) terminal and customer premises equipment, and b) telefax, telex and telegraph services, and cellular radio telephone service.

As a private sector utility provider, GTT's operations and conduct are regulated by the Telecoms Act of 1990, the Public Utilities Commission Act of 1990, and the GOG/ATN Agreement.^[2]

Services

Initially GTT’s focus was on the provision of local fixed line, long-distance and international voice calls. Notably, its primary source of revenue came from premium rate numbers dialled from the United States, of which estimates of between 35% and 90% were for phone sex lines.^[3] These services are used today, however not as extensively as before.^{[citation needed]}

GTT has expanded its residential portfolio services to include DSL, Blaze, fixed LTE, mobile services and roaming.

The company has an application through which customers can pay their bills, view payment history and top up their mobile accounts. smsbot and chatbot are mediums through which customers can interact with GTT representatives and MMG services.^{[citation needed]}

International voice traffic is carried for GTT by Verizon, EssexTel, Telesur, BDS (Lime), IDT, TATA, TSTT, Telco-214, AT&T while international collect calling is provided through agreements with Verizon, TSTT and AT&T. The Earth Station in Thomas Lands which previously received and relayed international voice and data traffic is now utilized for domestic traffic.

GTT constructed Guyana’s first submarine fibre optic cable which was launched under the brand name “emagine” in the early 2000s.

GTT publishes the Guyana Telephone Directory.

GTT has developed a smart phone mobile payment system.^[4]

Structure

Many of the main offices are located in Georgetown, Guyana. The corporate headquarters campus is divided into the Telephone House which houses the commercial headquarters of the company as well as customer service call centers and the operator service center. The Executive Suite, which has its own entrance, parking and security houses, the office space of key employees and executives. The Human Resources offices have a separate building. The Residential Service Unit, houses the residential and government services offices and the collections office. The Central Telegraph Office houses telegram and telegraph services, accounting and finance departments and the office of the Director of Customer Services. The Technical Headquarters in the Thomas Lands area also houses the International Earth Station.^{[citation needed]}

The East Coast Office is located in Beterverwagting, Demerara. In addition to the regional manager, is also houses the domestic satellite station. Other commercial offices are located in Retrieve, Linden and New Amsterdam, Berbice.

GTT also owns a web-enabled outsourcing call center to Latin America and the Caribbean, Atlantic Tele-Center, Inc., located just outside Georgetown, Guyana.

Senior management team

Founder/Principal Shareowner (Cornelius B Prior) Board of Directors (Justin Benincasa (Chairman), Barry Fougere, Xun Xi, John Audet) Chief Executive Officer (Damian Blackburn) Chief Technical Officer (Russell Davis) VP Finance and Corporate Controller (David Soo Ting)

Competitors

GTT's main competitor is Jamaican-based Digicel, headquartered in Kingston, Jamaica.^[5]