GTA TeleGuam Responds to Guam Governor Call for Executive Terminations

TAMUNING, Guam--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

GTA TeleGuam Tuesday morning in Guam issued the following statement in response to the call by Guam Gov. Felix P. Camacho for termination of the company’s CEO Dan Moffat, and Daniel J. Tydingco, executive vice president of external affairs.

Gov. Camacho called for the termination of these GTA TeleGuam employees during a specially called press conference late Monday afternoon in Guam to declare that he had endorsed a broadband stimulus grant request by telecom carrier IT&E because IT&E asked him to do so, and not because his brother works for that company.

The controversy began after StimulatingBroadband.Com published a report that received widespread local media coverage, including reactions from GTA TeleGuam.

The following statement can be attributed to Moffat:

“GTA TeleGuam maintains that a broadband stimulus grant for Guam of the size and scope sought by IT&E is both unneeded and inappropriate. Guam has one of the most extensive communications networks in the United States and the broadband penetration rate on the island is among the highest in the country. There are at most a small handful of places on Guam that could possibly be considered ‘underserved’ under even the broadest of definitions.

“The broadband stimulus funding program is excellent for driving growth and broadband adoption in areas where it is needed, like the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Guam is not one of those areas.

“Clearly, the support letter that one of Gov. Camacho’s staff prepared for him fails to appreciate and capture the robust nature of the local communications networks already in place on Guam.

“GTA TeleGuam was surprised that website StimulatingBroadband.Com published a report exposing that the Governor’s brother is employed by IT&E, sparking local media interest. GTA TeleGuam responded to requests for a reaction from local media on Guam.

“There’s of course nothing inappropriate with individuals related to the Governor or others in his office seeking or holding employment with IT&E or any other company. But we think such relationships to the Governor’s office should have been disclosed in the spirit of government transparency.

“At no time did GTA TeleGuam level personal attacks or threats against the Governor or his brother. If Gov. Camacho interpreted our reaction as a personal attack, I personally apologize to him and his family.

“The bottom line is simple. Broadband stimulus funding for Guam is unneeded and inappropriate when one considers the state of the market and broadband networks already in place today. Such funding will not result in net new jobs – it will only subsidize overbuilding to the detriment of private investment, job creation, and the consumers who rely upon such services.

In the long term, Guam will suffer the consequences of more limited competition in the form of high consumer rates, slow innovation and poor service. Gov. Camacho led a move toward privatization of this sector precisely to address such concerns, and GTA looks forward to competing on equal footing with others in Guam.

“Broadband Stimulus Funding should rightly go to unserved and underserved areas. Guam is not one of these areas. GTA TeleGuam is confident that the NTIA will deny the Round 2, $89 million request from IT&E for use in Guam.”

About GTA TeleGuam

GTA TeleGuam provides complete communications services on Guam. These include local and long-distance telephone service, 3G wireless, DSL Internet access, and advanced digital television, or IPTV. The company also operates a data center on Guam for offering business data storage and managed wide area networking. Based in Tamuning, Guam, GTA TeleGuam is privately owned and locally managed. Shamrock Capital Advisors, a California-based private equity firm founded as the Roy E. Disney Family investment company, and GE provide financial backing to GTA TeleGuam. The company’s website is www.gta.net. Phone: 1-671-644-4482.