To make the Learning Channel accessible to the entire country, former Education Minister Shaik Baksh was mandated by Bharrat Jagdeo’s Cabinet to redesign the project to ensure equitable distribution, taking into consideration connectivity and accessibility in the far-flung communities.Redoing the design meant that contents of the Learning Channel would be broadcasted terrestrially (on the ground) and via satellite. The terrestrial aspect is done by the state-owned National Communications Network (NCN) on the coast, and TVG (owned by Jagdeo’s best friend Dr Ranjisinghi ‘Bobby’ Ramroop) is being contracted to put it on air via satellite,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, to benefit those far-flung communities.This disclosure was made by Cabinet Secretary Dr. Roger Luncheon during his post-Cabinet press briefing yesterday at the Office of the President. He was at the time responding to queries about revelations in the National Assembly that Ramroop is being paid $3.6M monthly to air the Guyana Learning Channel, that came into being in April 2011.Luncheon claimed to not be precisely familiar with the contractual arrangement and as to why TVG was chosen above other entities.“What I do know is that we needed the satellite to get signals into those communities, where it was not possible to be done elsewhere. Why the decision was made not to go to other entities as opposed to TVG is something we have to be advised about,” he said.According to Dr. Luncheon, when the issue of the Learning Channel was presented to Cabinet by Baksh certain considerations were raised, including whether Government would continue to provide for the maintenance of this divide; making the benefits of the Learning Channel accessible; and movement of information and broadcast.“And, he (Baksh) was sent back to do a design that ensured that there was equitable distribution And, this is the basis for the satellite uplink,Wholesale Hockey Jerseys 2018, because those signals to get into hinterland regions, to get into the far-flung regions,Jerseys NFL Wholesale, terrestrially, couldn’t be done. We don’t have the facilities on the ground.”“And so terrestrial plus satellite linkages have indeed answered the question that was put to Minister Baksh,Cheap NFL Shop, to ensure that the Learning Channel didn’t foster inequalities in the distribution of the public good”, Dr. Luncheon said.Ramroop’s arrangement with the Jagdeo regime was revealed in the National Assembly by current Education Minister, Priya Manickchand, who was responding to a question posed by A Partnership for National Unity Member of Parliament Jaipaul Sharma.“The Guyana Learning Channel has the use of a teleport that was created at the time of its set-up since there was no other teleport capable of uplinking video signals in existence in Guyana, before or since,” Manickchand said.She said that for the channel to send its signal to the satellite, it would have had to put commensurate service that would have required an initial capital outlay of US$150,Wholesale NFL Jerseys,000 plus monthly recurring costs of over $4M in bandwidth rental and associated services.The Minister added that because the Learning Channel’s bandwidth is bundled with the bandwidth of TVG, they are able to negotiate better rates from the satellite operators.Dr. Luncheon, when asked why Government did not invest in the relevant technology for NCN to provide the service instead of contracting TVG,Authentic NFL Jerseys Cheap, said “…we would need to go find from the records why NCN wasn’t given, like say, the whole hog…Why didn’t you have the satellite component also?”