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Cellular rivals in Guyana sign SMS interconnection agreement
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| Published on Monday, May 18, 2009 | Email To Friend Print Version
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GEORGETOWN, Guyana -- The rival cell phone carriers in Guyana have finally reached an agreement that allows their clients to exchange text messages, ending a yearlong dispute.
Digicel and the Guyana Telephone & Telegraph Co. said on Saturday that their clients can start text-messaging each other by June.
The companies said technical details were worked out a year ago but disagreements had remained over contract terms. The pact was reached the same day regulators were scheduled to begin hearings on the issue.
A joint release issued on Sunday said, “Digicel and GT&T are pleased to announce that they have come to an agreement to enable cross-network mobile texting in Guyana”
“Customers of each network will from June 1st, 2009, for the first time, be able to text customers of the other network,” the brief release added.
The issue has been contentious and one which Digicel had been plugging for a long time. GT&T had indicated its willingness to facilitate the move but reportedly had some concerns it wanted to iron out. A senior official within GT&T had said that the agreement was something that the company stood to benefit significantly from but stated that there were issues that had not been properly addressed.
In February, Digicel Chief Executive Officer Gregory Dean publicly said his company had found the process of negotiating an interconnection agreement with GT&T “frustrating” and accused GT&T of creating needless hurdles for providing what he called a “basic service”.
The agreement comes a week after Digicel filed a lawsuit to challenge GT&T’s monopoly on international traffic to and from Guyana.
The agreement can just one week after Jamaica-based Digicel filed a law suite challenging GT&T’s 18-year-old monopoly on international calls.
The Guyana Company is owned by Salem, Massachusetts-based Atlantic Tele-Network. | | | | Reads : 1135 | | | |
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