GTT’s “Free Basic 4G Services” to help stimulate demand for mobile data

Last Updated on Wednesday, 1 June 2016, 18:04 by Denis Chabrol

Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Telecommunications, Derrick Cummings (left) and GTT’s Commercial Officer, Gert Post at the launch of the company’s “Free Basic 4G Services” 

In a move aimed at triggering increased demand for data services and compensating for an expected decline in revenues from regular telephone calls, the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT) on Wednesday launched free 4G access to more than 20 information-based websites.

The phone company also offers unmetered Facebook and WhatsApp usage.

GTT’s Chief Commercial Officer, Gert Post expects that the “Free Basic 4G Services” will help stimulate interest in the benefits of high-speed mobile data. “Data services will replace voice services. You see all over the world that data services cannibalize voices services so that means that our voice revenue ultimately will drop and our data revenues have to grow.

“That’s what you see in all the markets with all the operators so the end product of this initiative is that people are getting used to use more data and replace their expenditure on voice with expenditure on data services- that’s the ultimate goal,” he said.

The phone company said several  websites could be accessed free of cost on Smart phones with data capability  that are on GTT’s network even if they do not have an active data plan.  “As 4G is now available in Guyana, GTT wants to ensure that everyone can freely benefit from this new technology by being able to use the web for education, information, check the weather and to access the information of the Government of Guyana. That’s part of our commitment of doing more for developing Guyana”, said Post.

Demerara Waves Online News (www.demwaves.com) is among  Guyana’s news websites that GTT subscribers can access on their Smart Phones without a data plan.

Speaking on behalf of the Minister of Public Telecommunications, Cathy Hughes, Permanent Secretary Mr. Derrick Cummings said “The free websites offered by GTT helps Guyanese who are not yet connected to the Internet to discover the value of connectivity and expand their access to knowledge and growth. This is part of our commitment to bridging the digital divide and the reason why the Government of Guyana supports it wholeheartedly”.

In addition to Free Basic 4G services, GTT also announced that as of today the use of social media (WhatsApp and Facebook) is free and unmetered with all its data plans. This means that the use of the most popular social media apps in Guyana is free. Even when the data balance is depleted GTT says its customers can continue to use WhatsApp and Facebook until their data plan expires.

To make everybody aware of the benefits of using social media on the go and in order to be on top of what’s going on in your social network, GTT will give 48 hours of free Facebook access to all its customers who top up $500 or more as it continues to Do More for its customers.