“This is the first step we are keen on liberalization…This is just one aspect…with this 4G we are hoping that liberalization passing through the parliament at the end of May that in itself will bring in a lot of new services,” said Kelly. “We were waiting for the spectrum to be allocated and this government has done that…If liberalization happens we’d have to convert every single tower to 4G – that would probably cost over US$30M-US$40M.”
Customers who would like to utilize the service would have to activate the 4G plans which are different from the plans currently being offered by the Company.
“You will have a choice – you can choose to go on the 4G or you can also choose to stay on the present plans…it depends on your usage and what you use. Basically we are trying to do a package for everybody,” said Kelly.
Competition is an essential element in the efficient working of markets. It brings important benefits to the consumer by encouraging innovation, efficiency and a widening of choice. It also enables consumers to buy the goods and services they want at the best possible price. It is with this understanding in mind that Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Digicel, Kevin Kelly emphasized that the monopoly the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GTT) has on the local telecommunications sector has held the nation back for over 20 years.
Kelly added, “This has impacted the quality of daily life for all Guyanese for many years. Besides Guyana, there is virtually no country left in the world with a telephone monopoly, maybe with the exception of North Korea and one or two others.”
The Digicel CEO said that the Guyanese public and businesses have been impacted by lack of availability of services (both landline 
and internet), poor service provision due to the utilisation of outdated technologies across all services and lack of value for money due to limited or no competition.
He opined, too, that the monopoly has even hampered a range of other services it would be happy to offer the Guyanese consumers.
The Digicel CEO asserted that the company would like to compete on long distances calls, improve the internet phone service by upgrading to 4G, land a second subsea fibre, giving Guyana redundancy and competitively priced connectivity. It would also like to roll out residential internet and landline services.
Kelly said that Digicel is of the belief that these developments will give customers and businesses choice, access to latest technology, better customer experience and value for money.
He said that the negative impact of the GTT monopoly is not just on Digicel, but on all companies in Guyana and more importantly Guyanese citizens and ultimately the country.
Kelly opined that the impact of the introduction of new players into the market providing robust competition can be instantaneous and very beneficial to consumers.
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