Rich in natural resources, the Co‑operative Republic of Guyana has been experiencing an economic boom in recent years, whilst also trying to ensure more equitable access to telecoms services, particularly to its citizens who live in its hinterland. Dela Britton, Chairperson of the Public Utilities Commission (Guyana) discusses, among other things: Guyana’s telecoms sector; how Guyana can narrow the digital divide; and how she would like to see the Commission and Guyana’s telecoms sector evolve.

 

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Across the Caribbean region, we have taken the state of our telecoms sectors for granted. In most of our major markets, particularly mobile/cellular and internet service, there is competition, which arguably has kept prices lower than they would be otherwise, whilst also giving us a sense of choice in service providers. However, although many Caribbean countries have had nearly two decades of competition, there is one that only recently embarked upon that journey: Guyana.

Having said this, the telecoms sector of 20 years ago bears virtually no resemblance to today’s sector. Technology has evolved rapidly, with policy and regulation trying not just to keep up but also to remain pertinent to the current and emerging circumstances.

It is through this lens that we are examining Guyana’s telecoms sector. It is a large country for which telecoms regulation needs to balance a broad range of issues: the country’s booming energy sector, continuing to improve the delivery of services, trying to narrow the widening digital divide, particularly to communities in the hinterland and interior of the country, grappling with the impact of advanced technologies on the sector and on regulation, to name just a few.

So three years into liberalisation, we have sat down with the Public Utilities Commission, which has much of the regulatory responsibility for Guyana’s telecoms sector, to learn more about their – and that of Guyana – so far.

 

Introducing our guest

Dela A Britton

Dela A. Britton is the Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission (Guyana) having served previously as a Commissioner from December 2015 to June 2017. Ms. Britton is a University of the West Indies alumnus, with over 27 years’ experience as a Practicing Attorney at Law.

Ms. Britton’s work experience includes serving with distinction in several capacities including Mediator, Consultant and Attorney both in Guyana and in New York, and she is the Managing Partner of Britton, Hamilton & Adams, one of the oldest and long-established law firms in Guyana.

She is a member of the Guyana Bar Association and the New York State Bar Association. She is currently the Chair of the Organization of Caribbean Utility Regulators. (OOCUR)

 

Insight into our conversation

Without a doubt, most Caribbean people have difficulty conceptualising the size of Guyana. It is slightly smaller than the United Kingdom (214,969 square kilometres – Guyana, versus 243,610 square kilometres – United Kingdom), but nearly 90% of that area is dense rainforest. Further, although most of the population lives near the coastline, there are communities in the hinterland and interior of the country that also need to be considered and served. Hence, thanks to the sheer scale of Guyana, infrastructure deployment and access to services are often more challenging than initially envisaged.

With the recent liberalisation of Guyana’s telecoms sector, there is now the opportunity to accelerate that market, to ensure that it meets the needs and expectations of consumers, whilst also positioning the country to consider and determine how best to leverage the technologies that have been emerging. The conversation with the PUC Chairman provided some unique insight into the state of Guyana’s telecoms sector, and how it hoped to broach this new frontier.

Below are a few of the questions posed to Ms Britton during our conversation.

  1. Let’s start by setting some context. What is the state of telecoms in Guyana: the major players; the penetration of telecoms services; etc?
  2. As a multi-utility regulator, how does the PUC balance the oversight it is to provide for the electricity, water and telecoms sectors?
  3. One of the challenges that many Caribbean countries have been grappling with is the widening of the digital divide. What is the situation in Guyana? And how might Guyana be able to narrow that divide?
  4. It has been reported that by July 2023, number portability will be introduced in Guyana. What impact do you expect number portability to have?
  5. With your term as Chairman of the PUC may end soon, how would you like to see the PUC evolve and Guyana’s telecoms sector?

 

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Select links

Below are links to some of the organisations and resources that either were mentioned during the episode or otherwise, might be useful:

 

 

Images credit:  PUC; Dinesh Chandrapal (Unsplash); Wikimedia Commons; Project Trust (flickr); Wikimedia Commons

Music credit: The Last Word (Oui Ma Chérie), by Andy Narrell

Podcast editing support:  Mayra Bonilla Lopez