Telecommunications regulation in Guyana

The Telecommunications Act 2016 and commencement

The Telecommunications Act 2016 (Act No. 18 of 2016, Cap. 47:02 in the Laws of Guyana, L.R.O. 1/2022) was passed by the National Assembly on 18 July 2016 and published in the Official Gazette of 5 August 2016. It is the principal statute for the licensing and regulation of telecommunications networks and services, and it establishes the Telecommunications Agency. The official chapter also reprints the 2020 telecommunications regulations. The companion statute is the Public Utilities Commission Act 2016 (Act No. 19 of 2016, Cap. 57:01).

A first commencement instrument, the Telecommunications Act 2016 (Commencement) Order 2019 (Order No. 4 of 2019), was published in the Official Gazette (Extraordinary) of 18 March 2019, and was made by the Minister of Public Telecommunications under section 1 of the Act. It appointed a day in May 2019 on which section 92 of the Act should come into operation; the official OCR text of that Order is not clear as to the precise day in May. The Telecommunications Act 2016 (Commencement) Order 2020 (Order No. 80 of 2020) was then made on 5 October 2020 by the Prime Minister and published in the Official Gazette (Extraordinary) of the same day. The operative clause appoints “the 5th day of October, 2020 as the day on which the provisions of the Act not in force shall come into operation.” From that date, the remaining provisions were in operation.

The companion statute is the Public Utilities Commission Act 2016 (Act No. 19 of 2016), also published in the Official Gazette of 5 August 2016. The Public Utilities Commission Act 2016 (Commencement) Order 2020 (Order No. 81 of 2020), made on the same day as Order No. 80, appoints 5 October 2020 as the day on which that Act shall come into operation. The two 2016 Acts, and the two 2020 commencement orders, should be read together.

The Telecommunications Agency and the Public Utilities Commission

Section 3 of Cap. 47:02 establishes the Telecommunications Agency. Its functions are discharged by a Board of nine members appointed by the Minister, including three persons named by the Minister (one of whom is designated chair), two named by the Leader of the Opposition after consultation with the Opposition parties in the National Assembly, and the Director of Telecommunications, among other members provided for in that section. The detailed composition should be read in section 3.

The allocation of functions among the Minister, the Agency and the Commission is in Part III. By section 19, the Minister, after seeking the written advice of the Agency and the Commission, develops telecommunications- and spectrum-related policy; and, after receiving the Agency’s written analyses and recommendations, makes final determinations on the granting, denial, amendment, renewal, suspension and termination of licences, exemptions and frequency authorisations; on the classification of networks and services; on class licences and exemptions; on the use of a competitive selection process; and on universal access and the Universality Fund. The Minister makes the regulations, may give the Agency general and special policy directions which the Agency shall give effect to, and may, with specified exceptions, delegate functions to the Agency.

By section 20, the Agency advises the Minister on telecommunications- and spectrum-related policy and implements the Minister’s directions; receives, reviews and makes written recommendations on applications for licences, exemptions and frequency authorisations; monitors and enforces licences, exemptions and authorisations except for matters allocated to the Commission; plans, supervises and regulates the use of the spectrum and radiocommunication equipment; investigates and resolves harmful interference; establishes technical standards, with the Minister’s approval; regulates numbering and dialling parity; certifies terminal and radiocommunication equipment; collects fees payable to it; is responsible for international, regional and bilateral telecommunications and spectrum matters affecting Guyana, including domain names; prepares draft regulations and, with the Minister’s approval, the Telecommunications Code; and publishes an annual report.

By section 21, the Commission — in addition to its functions under the Public Utilities Commission Act (Cap. 57:01) — is responsible for the economic regulation of operators and service providers, including fair competition and pricing for telecommunications services, interconnection and access; advises the Minister on interconnection, access, prices, fair competition and consumer protection; monitors quality of service; investigates and resolves interconnection, access and other disputes, including in the manner provided in Part X of the Public Utilities Commission Act; regulates relations among operators, service providers and users; investigates complaints about prices, billings and quality of service; and regulates number portability and equal access. Section 22 allows the Minister to issue guidelines to clarify the allocation of functions between the Agency and the Commission. A proposed network or service will often engage both regimes; they should not be treated as substitutes for one another.

Liberalisation, licensing, spectrum and interconnection

By section 23 of Cap. 47:02, no person shall operate a public telecommunications network or provide a public telecommunications service without an individual licence granted by the Minister, subject to the exceptions in section 23(10) and in sections 24 and 37 (class licences and special licences). Applications are made to the Agency. The Minister grants or denies an individual licence on a non-discriminatory basis, after the Agency’s recommendation.

5 October 2020 is also the date from which the sector is treated, in official PUC materials, as liberalised. In a 2022 consultation document the Commission recorded that, on liberalisation, licences were issued to Guyana Telephone & Telegraph Company Limited (GTT), U Mobile (Cellular) Inc. (Digicel), and E-Networks Inc. This review has not independently verified later grants, surrenders or assignments of licences, and it does not name later market entrants from unofficial reports. The current licensees, and the conditions of each licence, should be confirmed from the Commission, the Agency and the Official Gazette.

The telecommunications regulations were published in the Official Gazette (Extraordinary) of 23 October 2020. They comprise the Telecommunications (Licensing and Frequency Authorisation) Regulations 2020 (Regulations No. 4 of 2020); the Telecommunications (Spectrum Management) Regulations 2020 (No. 5 of 2020); the Telecommunications (Universal Access and Universal Services) Regulations 2020 (No. 6 of 2020); the Telecommunications (Interconnection and Access) Regulations 2020 (No. 7 of 2020); the Telecommunications (Pricing) Regulations 2020 (No. 8 of 2020); the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection) Regulations 2020 (No. 9 of 2020); and the Telecommunications (Competition) Regulations 2020 (No. 10 of 2020).

Regulation 3 of the Licensing and Frequency Authorisation Regulations provides that those Regulations apply to the submission and determination of applications for, and the issuance of: individual licences; class licences; special licences; any exemption from the requirement to obtain a licence that the Minister may by order designate in accordance with section 23(10) of the Act; frequency authorisations, including the use of the spectrum and radiocommunication equipment related to aircraft, ships and other vessels, and amateur radios; dealer’s permits; certificates of competence (defined as a certification issued by the Agency, with the approval of the Minister, for the operation of radiocommunication equipment onboard ships and other water-borne vessels); and any other certification or permit required pursuant to section 30(12)(b) of the Act. Regulation 5 requires every person who intends to operate a public telecommunications network or to provide a public telecommunications service to apply to the Minister for a licence under section 23, 24 or 37 of the Act, or for an exemption under section 23(10); and every person who intends to use the spectrum, or to install or operate radiocommunication equipment, to apply for a frequency authorisation under section 30. A dealer’s permit is required, where the Minister so requires by order, before selling, supplying, transferring, programming or otherwise modifying radiocommunication equipment. Regulation 4 provides that the Minister, after seeking the advice of the Agency, may determine that a competitive selection process should be used for an individual licence or a frequency authorisation; the procedures, which are determined by the Agency with the Minister’s approval, may include requests for proposals, tenders, auctions, stated criteria or fixed prices, or a combination of those methods. Applications are reviewed by the Agency and the Minister. The detailed forms, conditions, fees and terms of validity are those of the Regulations and of the Act, including the Schedules, and should be read in their current form.

Interconnection and access are the subject of the Interconnection and Access Regulations (No. 7 of 2020). The duty to interconnect, the terms on which interconnection is to be offered, and the Commission’s role in a dispute, are those of that instrument and of the Act. Pricing, consumer protection and competition in the sector are likewise the subject of Regulations Nos. 8, 9 and 10. A person proposing to operate a network or to offer a service should take advice on the particular class of authorisation required, on spectrum, and on any interconnection, pricing or competition condition, before commencing operations or entering into a wholesale agreement.

Related statutes and recent developments

Two later statutes are commonly read with the telecommunications regime, though they are of general application.

The Cybercrime Act 2018 (Act No. 16 of 2018, Cap. 10:13 in the Laws of Guyana, L.R.O. 1/2022) was published in the Official Gazette (Extraordinary) of 13 August 2018. Section 1 is a short title only: “This Act may be cited as the Cybercrime Act.” There is no appointed-day clause. The official chapter records the date 13 August 2018. By section 15 of the Interpretation and General Clauses Act (Cap. 2:01), an Act comes into operation on the date of its publication in the Gazette unless the Act or another written law provides otherwise. On that basis, the Cybercrime Act came into operation on 13 August 2018. It creates offences including illegal access to a computer system, illegal interception, data and system interference, computer-related forgery and fraud, offences affecting critical infrastructure, and other offences set out in Part II, together with enforcement powers in Part III. The elements and penalties of each offence should be read in the Act.

The Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 2023 (Act No. 12 of 2023 — the corresponding Bill had been Bill No. 9 of 2023) was published in the Official Gazette (Extraordinary) of 16 August 2023. Section 1 is a short title only; the arrangement of sections describes it as “Short title,” and the body provides: “This Act may be cited as the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 2023.” There is no appointed-day clause. By section 15 of the Interpretation and General Clauses Act, an Act comes into operation on the date of its publication in the Gazette unless the Act or another written law provides otherwise. On that basis, the 2023 Act came into operation on 16 August 2023. It binds the State. Its arrangement includes legal recognition of electronic communications, transactions and records; electronic contracts (formation, automated message systems, attribution, dispatch and receipt); electronic signatures, including secure electronic signatures; and a certifying authority and electronic security-procedures providers. The conditions of those provisions, and any exclusions in the section on non-application, should be read in the Act. The Act is of general commercial importance, including for operators and users of telecommunications and electronic-commerce services.

As to later sector developments, this review has not identified, from the official sources consulted, a general amending Act to the Telecommunications Act 2016 in 2024, 2025 or 2026, and it has not independently verified market entrants after the 2020 licensees named by the Commission. Any subsequent licence, regulation, or amendment should be confirmed from the Official Gazette and from the Commission and the Agency. A person investing in or contracting with a telecommunications operator in Guyana should also consider, as separate regimes, competition and consumer-protection law, spectrum and interconnection conditions, the Cybercrime Act and the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, and, where personal data are processed, the Data Protection Act 2023, which, as explained in the firm’s [note on that Act](/insights/guyanas-data-protection-act-2023), had not been brought into operation as at the sources checked for these notes.