On behalf of the Government of Guyana, it is my pleasure to join the rest of the world in observance of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day under the theme “Accelerating Digital Transformation in Challenging Times”.

The COVID-19 pandemic now well into its second year has brought the reliance on Telecommunications and Information Technology to the fore of our everyday lives across the globe as we confront the need to limit in-person interaction to curtail transmission of the virus. Guyana has seen no exception. In this regard, the World Telecommunication Development Conference 2021’s thrust to Connect the unconnected to achieve sustainable development is also especially appropriate as we seek buildout of telecommunications networks and services to support economic activity such as trade and commerce as well as social development in the spheres of health, education and civic engagement.

Within sixty days of our coming to office, the government of Guyana issued commencement orders to fully bring into force the Telecommunications Act 2016 and the Public Utilities Commission Act 2016, effectively liberalizing the telecommunications sector. The liberalization of the sector provides in part, the environment within which the various digital divides may be bridged as we seek to connect our own ‘unconnected’. The commencement of these Acts is nothing less than historic, aligning Guyana’s telecommunications regime to the international standard. This decisive step is consistent with our Government’s vision of furthering national and regional social and economic development. The legislation specifically caters for the expansion of telecommunications networks and services into unserved and underserved areas through the institution of a new universal access/universal services programme.

As this People’s Progressive Party Civic government provides leadership to Guyana’s digital transformation by pursuing online delivery of public services, we continue to work in partnership with our regulators, operators and other stakeholders to enhance the environment for the overall digital transformation across all sectors as we collectively confront these challenging times posed by the pandemic.

In the near future, we shall be working on assignment of spectrum to operators to enable them to deploy modern services as well as expand service access to citizens and businesses in all regions of Guyana. We shall also be working on implementing other measures aimed at fostering the competition that we are confident will usher in an era of digital development that will help to drive our transformation to a safe, healthy, knowledgeable and prosperous society.