The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Co Ltd (GTT), on Thursday, launched its latest cutting-edge technology, GTT Fibre, which now replaces GTT Blaze and provides customers with an automatic update to significantly higher data speeds. GTT Fibre was unveiled at the Pegasus Hotel.
“All new and existing customers will benefit from major speed enhancements at lower costs. All of our existing Blaze customers have already been upgraded to GTT Fibre for free. Our new plans of Fibre50, Fibre100, and Fibre150 provide more than double the speed of the previous Blaze plans, and at a lower cost,” GTT’s Chief Operating Officer, Eshwar Thakurdin explained.
Thus far, the Company has invested GY $17 billion in Fibre while an additional $2 billion was dedicated at the launch to upgrading the Fibre services and rolling out to new areas. By the end of the year, it is expected that another 10,000 homes will have access to GTT Fibre which adds to the already existing 75,000 homes which have access to GTT Fibre today. The goal is to ensure that over 50 percent of Guyana’s homes are connected to GTT Fibre.
GREATER SPEED FOR ALL CUSTOMERS
Thakurdin said that customers on the Ignite (10Mbps), Flaming (20 Mbps) and Inferno (50 Mbps) plans have been moved to the Fibre50, Fibre100 and Fibre150 plans priced at $8,999, $10,999, and $12,999 respectively.
The previous plans of Biz25, Biz75 and Biz300 have been upgraded to Biz50, Biz100, and Biz500 respectively meaning a speed increase of up to 200 percent for small and medium businesses and enterprises.
As the new service is rolled out, new on-premises equipment (modems) will be provided. These will provide improved wifi range and reliability. There will also be the optional service of the Plume Home Pass Wi-Fi mesh which will make Wi-Fi consistent in every part of the home utilizing Plume Pods.
With GTT Fibre, the Company will also be bringing again the attery backup which helps customers stay connected despite power outages. Business customers on BizFibre will also have new plans which offer increased speeds at no additional cost. For DSL customers, most will receive a free speed upgrade and/or reduced monthly costs. Customers will be communicated with directly when this is done.
Thakurdin said: “We introduce GTT Fibre at a time when it has become even more critical to stay connected. There is no denying the increasingly important role that fast and reliable internet service plays in the lives of our people. From education to gaming and entertainment, working from home, or just keeping up with friends and loved ones the world over… the need for broadband power and speed is vital.”
PROMISE FOR IMPROVEMENT
In his keynote address, GTT’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Damian Blackburn said, since his arrival in May, he has learned that while GTT has not always provided the best possible service, it has a committed and passionate team that is prepared to do what is necessary to improve telecommunications in Guyana.
With the aim of pivoting GTT to becoming a 21st-century customer-centric organisation, he assured that the Company has heard the concerns and recommendations of customers and will undoubtedly address them.
“We will acknowledge where we need to do better, take immediate action to improve customer experience and show through our actions and not our words that we will bring our mission and promises to life at speed,” Blackburn said.
He spoke to the Company’s Customer Experience Enhancement Plan through Customer Care. In this regard, the company has recruited and trained 40 new team members for swifter customer response via phone.
Meanwhile, What’s App and E-mail billing have been made available; there has been an increase to over 400 MMG agents where persons can pay their GTT bills for free; modern bill payment kiosks have been installed in stores reducing queue times; the MyGTT SMART phone app has been relaunched to enable MMG and bank card payments and more.
“I would like to thank our customers for their patience and reassure everybody our team are working to the maximum here to meet your needs. I promise we will communicate better with you if your service is disrupted,” Blackburn said.
He added that Guyana is further ahead in its Fibre rollout with GTT than most Caribbean countries. This is one of several firsts for GTT with the Company bringing the first voice calls, the first international fibre link, the first internet connectivity and the first fibre to the premises technology with Blaze product.
