Guyana’s Public Utilities Commission expects mobile number portability to go live across the country this July.
Local outlet Demerara Waves reported Dela Britton, the chair of the multi-sector regulator, as saying that testing for MNP was almost complete, with the service slated to become available to the public in July. The PNC began the process of implementing MNP in July 2021, with PortingXS issued with a number portability and data processing licence in December 2022.
Britton noted that MNP would enable greater competition and “generally forces players … to improve their service offerings.” The market has been dominated since 2004 by the duopoly of US-backed GTT (Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company) and Digicel Guyana, with various disputes delayed reforms to the sector’s regulation.
Modernisation aimed at introducing more competition was finally implemented in late 2020, and CommsUpdate reports that two new players are expected to enter Guyana’s mobile market in the near-term. Internet service provider ENet – formerly E-Networks – is launching a VoLTE offering over its network to enter the mobile sector, while locally owned Green Gibraltar received a mobile licence in 2022 and launched a 5G offering in December that year.
