Minister Cathy Hughes and Head of the National Data Management Authority, Floyd Levi, visited the town of Lethem on Friday, August 16 to test and ensure that the three rehabilitated LTE Towers are delivering the required strength of connectivity to the town and surrounding villages.
Residents and institutions had been receiving less than optimal service from a private Internet Service Provider for several years.
Mr Levi explained that the eGovernment Unit (now NDMA) had found the tower site completely abandoned in 2016. It had never been used since it was constructed by the previous government for the Fibre Optic Project which was itself abandoned in 2014. The towers were unfinished and the equipment had been left on-site to rot.
After a detailed examination of the facilities three years ago, the eGovernment Unit proceeded to clear the fenced area, refurbish the tower structures, replace all equipment and batteries at the top and around the towers, and then the technicians installed solar panels to power the towers. Today, the Lethem Hospital is fully connected to the Internet and doctors are already consulting with their counterparts online in Georgetown.
The St Ignatius School, the regional offices, and other para-statal agency buildings are also equipped with Wi-Fi equipment and connected to the network. In addition, a project is also being designed to lengthen the range of the signals to reach villages on the edges of the Rupununi and the Kanuku mountain valleys.
