Consumers’ body rebuffs GTT’s move to charge for landline blocking features

The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT) has applied to the utility regulator for the introduction of a rate for the Subscriber Activated Call Blocking Feature.

However, the Guyana Consumers Association (GCA), an advocacy body, has raised several issues. The public hearing was held at the Conference Room of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), New Garden Street, Queenstown, Georgetown.

GTT’s Director of Legal and Regulatory Affairs, Mark Reynolds, made the application on September 6, 2018 to the PUC.

GTT wanted the implementation of the rate to take effect on October 1, 2018. The call blocking feature allows for customers to be able to prevent calls from being made from landlines to other numbers.

The application explained that the features provide a variety of options to the customer.

“GTT offers several levels of protection which subscriber chooses upon subscription for the service.

The options include for all calls; toll calls; international calls; cellular calls and 900 calls.

GTT proposed that there be a charge of $310 per month for the usage of the feature for each customer.

Gathered at the hearing were officials of GTT, including Reynolds; members of the PUC, including Chairwoman, Dela Britton; and Commissioners Maurice Solomon and Rajendra Bissessar.

For the GCA side, present were Patrick Dial and advisor, Yog Mahadeo. Mahadeo was a former Chief Executive Officer of GTT. GTT submitted that as it relates to the cost for the service, it is provided by an infrastructure that provides an array of features that complements the wireline fixed services is a one-time cost of US$ 190,000 or $39.9M. “This cost does not take into consideration the cost for repairs and upkeep of the service which are incidental to the operations of the infrastructure,” GTT said.

GTT said as of October 1, 2018, there are 36,368 subscribers that are currently using the service. However, according to GCA, in its written submissions, it has five objections/considerations.

Dial said that GTT’s new rates are subscription-based and not use-based.

“This implies that the consumer/customer must pay GTT a rate for which he may not be enjoying the service at all. For example, the telephone service could be disrupted for numerous reasons – GTT’s failure to effectuate repairs; force majeure; an accident to the transmission pole and so on. To avoid the consumer being exploited, charges whatever they may be, must be use-based.”

The consumers’ body also said that GTT has not indicated that it has made any new investment for this feature nor have they given any indication how they arrived at a rate of $310 per month. “Indeed, if they had a notional figure of 10,000 subscribers, they would be harvesting $37 million per annum from the consumers without any investment. “

On the other hand, GCA argued, if GTT claims that they had made any investment, they should itemize such alleged investment with the year in which it was made.

“Thereafter, the rate should be arrived at by calculating on a pro-rata basis.”

The GCA said that it feels that if such a service must be provided, it should be done without charge to the GTT customer.

(Kaieteur News)