S to almost 200,000 in 2017
and LTE network which the government currently uses to provide internet access to schools, communities and governmental agencies on the coast.
Hughes stated, therefore, that it would be costly to bring in a new company and new technologies, and while she acknowledged the US’ concerns, she assured that the Government of Guyana is going into the contract with its “eyes wide open” and is “monitoring very, very closely.”
“We are aware of those concerns. We are also aware that Huawei even in the US today, has expanded into American markets. It’s a very large Chinese company. We have held all the information that’s available on the company; we’ve done our due diligence…and we haven’t been in possession of anything that is so negative that would at this point in time make us rethink putting in our loan to China Exim Bank and the use of Huawei,” the minister responded.
“At the end of the day, our infrastructure in terms of the fiber optic cable was set up by Huawei and the most affordable way for us to expand is to continue with that company,” she added.
Other plans announced include the presentation of the Intellectual Property Protection legislation, the ECommerce/E-Transaction legislation and a robust Cyber Security Policy, as well as the development of a National ICT Strategy.
It was stated that the ministry will also continue to collaborate with the IT technicians, web designers, programmers and app developers that emerged from the ministry’s Codesprint and Hackathon initiatives in 2016 and 2017. These include IntellectStorm, Version 75, InnoSys and WeOwnSpace.