by Jason Salas, KUAM News Wednesday, August 16, 2006 Subscribe to Jason's newsfeed   E-mail this article Printable version KUAM Toolbar Web Widgets Get RSS headlines

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It would seem that the troubles experienced by the Government of Guam in paying its vendors their rightful dues extends far beyond just the Guam Memorial Hospital and Guam Public School System. An e-mail message acquired by KUAM News indicates that Internet connectivity to what appears to be a significant portion of the Government of Guam Wide Area Network (GGWAN) will soon be shut off due to non-payment of at least one past due bill.

An electronic message from GovGuam chief information officer Jim Lacson with the Bureau of Information Technology to cabinet members alerted agency heads that such an interruption in service would mean no web browsing, no e-mail, no instant messaging...and more critically, no access to the AS/400 system running much financial management and procurement for the public sector. Lacson told KUAM News that the stoppage of service arose from a six-year-old unpaid telecommunications bill for the Superior Court for an OC-3 line to the tune of $300,000 (which the agency continues to dispute to this day).

Court director of policy and planning Dan Tydingco confirmed his awareness of this bill and that such is a longstanding issue with GTA, originating at the time when the company was still run by the local government. He also did indicate logistical and paperwork problems with the service itself, saying his agency has repeatedly asked for work orders or other documentation about the line, which GTA has to date been unable to produce.

Lacson, who verbally found out about the disconnection Tuesday, strongly indicated in his e-mail that GTA would be "Disconnecting GGWAN access for most GovGuam agencies effective Thursday, August 17. Exempted from the disconnection notice are agencies with health- and public safety-related functions." He added that GTA had not furnished the government with a roster of those agencies to be turned off. Lacson's correspondence additionally indicated that to the best of his knowledge GTA would immediately begin enforcing a policy wherein if one agency failed to settle its account, the entire government would be penalized and possibly face additional downtime.

Pragmatically he says he's got no problem with the way the telecomm powerhouse is going about cracking down on its receivables, but is frustrated with the curious timing of the issue. Such speculation was rebuked by GTA CEO Bob Taylor, who told KUAM News the deadline was neither arbitrarily or deliberately selected, falling completely inline with his company's normal cutoff date for past-due bills. "From time to time, we've shut off the Government of Guam for non-payment, much like we've done with all customers who don't pay," Taylor stated.

Nevertheless - and not looking past the severely tardy nature of the Superior Court bill - Lacson hopes for peaceful resolve, given the fact GovGuam is among GTA's biggest clients. But he's bothered by the rapid and informal nature of the disconnection announcement. "There was really no attempt to work with us amicably," he grumbled. Going forward, GovGuam's top IT guy says he's got somewhat of a contingency plan in place to try and salvage productivity, should those agencies relying on online services come into work and be knocked offline. In theory, Lacson said, such might include the possibility of each individual agency connecting to the Internet independently.

But Tydingco's concerns about Internet downtime are more severe, saying a lack of online access at the courts constitutes a genuine threat to the community's wellbeing, with his agency serving as steward of the Criminal Justice Information System that links local and federal agencies through a shared database. Quite simply, he can't afford a service disruption. "If GTA wants to put that kind of handicap on public safety," Tydingco said, "they're going to have to be accountable for it."

Lacson also noted that while the disconnection took effect at the close of business Wednesday, GTA has graciously granted an extension until Friday, with the parties set to meet before then to hopefully iron out what looks to be a very contentious situation.