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Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (generally known as TSTT) is an incumbent
telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...
and
Internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides a myriad of services related to accessing, using, managing, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, no ...
in
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...
. The company, which is jointly owned by the
Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
of Trinidad and Tobago and
Cable & Wireless Communications Cable & Wireless Communications Ltd operating as C&W Communications is a telecommunications company which has operations in the Caribbean and Central America. It is owned by Liberty Latin America and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, US. ...
, was formed out of a merger of Telco (Trinidad and Tobago Telephone Company Limited) and Textel (Trinidad and Tobago External Telecommunications Company Limited). TSTT no longer holds a
monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce ...
in
fixed-line A landline is a physical telephone connection that uses metal wires or optical fiber from the subscriber's premises to the network, allowing multiple phones to operate simultaneously on the same phone number. It is also referred to as plain old ...
telephone services due to FLOW introducing a
fixed-line A landline is a physical telephone connection that uses metal wires or optical fiber from the subscriber's premises to the network, allowing multiple phones to operate simultaneously on the same phone number. It is also referred to as plain old ...
service of their own, and their cellular monopoly was broken in June 2005 when licenses were granted to
Digicel Digicel is a Jamaican-based Caribbean mobile phone network and home entertainment provider operating in 25 markets worldwide. Digicel has operated in several countries, including Guyana, Fiji, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Samoa, St. Lucia, Surinam ...
and
Laqtel LaqTel Ltd. ("LaqTel Communications") was a privately held up-start mobile phone and wireless service provider, of Trinidad and Tobago. A division of Telcom Holdings Ltd. (TH), LaqTel was first founded in 2002 by Joseph Laquis, the current CEO of L ...
.


History - TELCO

The first telephone was introduced in Trinidad and Tobago in 1883 and the first
telephone exchange A telephone exchange, telephone switch, or central office is a central component of a telecommunications system in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or in large enterprises. It facilitates the establishment of communication circuits ...
was located adjacent to the Town Hall (now City Hall) on Frederick Street. By 1898, the telephone system had developed sufficiently to justify enactment of the Telephone Communication Ordinance. Around 1890, the telephone service extended westward out of
Port of Spain Port of Spain ( ; Trinidadian and Tobagonian English, Trinidadian English: ''Port ah Spain'' ) is the capital and chief port of Trinidad and Tobago. With a municipal population of 49,867 (2017), an urban population of 81,142 and a transient dail ...
to Carenage and then onwards to one customer in Chaguaramas. In the early 1900s, the government operated telephone lines in rural areas, namely from
Arima Arima, officially The Royal Chartered Borough of Arima is the easternmost and second largest in area of the three boroughs of Trinidad and Tobago. It is geographically adjacent to Sangre Grande and Arouca at the south central foothills of the ...
to Manzanilla and from
San Fernando San Fernando may refer to: People *Ferdinand III of Castile (c. 1200–1252), called ''San Fernando'' (Spanish) or ''Saint Ferdinand'', King of Castile, León, and Galicia Places Argentina *San Fernando de la Buena Vista, city of Greater Buenos ...
to Cedros. History records show that a Mr. Bell of Bacolet started the service in
Tobago Tobago, officially the Ward of Tobago, is an List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, island and Regions and municipalities of Trinidad and Tobago, ward within the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located northeast of the larger islan ...
. The early system consisted of local battery operated telephones connected to a
magneto A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce periodic pulses of alternating current. Unlike a dynamo, a magneto does not contain a commutator to produce direct current. It is categorized as a form of alternator, ...
switchboard, a far cry from the sophisticated electronic system which is in operation today. Special cables called enamel cables were developed for use in this country, and it is reported that their use became worldwide because of their durability. The British-owned Trinidad Consolidated Telephones Limited was responsible for the early developmental growth of the telephone network in
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...
from the mid-1930s until 1960. Approximately 6,300 lines were in service when the country got its first 1000-line step-by-step exchange in 1936. In 1947, Consolidated purchased the government-operated system in Tobago and the first
teleprinter A teleprinter (teletypewriter, teletype or TTY) is an electromechanical device that can be used to send and receive typed messages through various communications channels, in both point-to-point (telecommunications), point-to-point and point- ...
(TELEX) link was established in 1949. After a prolonged strike in 1960, which existed for 1,124 days, the government of the day purchased the company, and on November 30, Trinidad Consolidated Telephones Limited became the state owned Trinidad and Tobago Telephone Service. In 1968, the Government entered into a partnership with
Continental Telephone ConTel Corporation (Continental Telephone) was the third largest independent phone company in the United States prior to it being acquired by GTE in 1991. History Contel was founded in 1961 by Charles Wohlstetter, Philip J. Lucier, and one oth ...
of the United States, to whom it sold fifty percent of the holdings. This was later dissolved in 1973 and the company returned to full ownership by the Government. Over the years, automatic step-by-step exchanges were gradually extended to suburban and urban areas as the company sought to keep pace with the development of the country. Development programmes were implemented in 1935, 1943, 1952 and 1964. A loan agreement was signed in 1974 with the
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
for 18 million dollars to carry out a massive development programme. This resulted in the introduction of modern, electronic stored programme equipment at the exchanges. In 1979, the government contracted
Nippon Electric is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered at the NEC Supertower in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It provides IT and network solutions, including cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), Inter ...
of Japan for the supply and installation of 48,000 additional lines and associated equipment. In March 1981, some 8,000 subscribers were transferred to the new electronic exchange at Nelson. Similar ND 20 exchanges were commissioned at Thompson in
San Fernando San Fernando may refer to: People *Ferdinand III of Castile (c. 1200–1252), called ''San Fernando'' (Spanish) or ''Saint Ferdinand'', King of Castile, León, and Galicia Places Argentina *San Fernando de la Buena Vista, city of Greater Buenos ...
,
Chaguanas The Borough of Chaguanas is the largest municipality (83,489 at the 2011 census) and fastest-growing
– Afr ...
,
Couva Couva is a town in west-central Trinidad, south of Port of Spain and Chaguanas and north of San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago, San Fernando and Point Fortin. It is the capital and main urban centre of Couva–Tabaquite–Talparo, and the Greate ...
,
Piarco Piarco is a town in Trinidad and Tobago. It is situated in the north of the island of Trinidad and is the site of the country's main airport, Piarco International Airport. Geography Piarco is the site of one of the few natural savannas in Trinida ...
,
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...
,
Diego Martin Diego Martin () is a town and is the urban commercial center and capital of the Diego Martin region in Trinidad and Tobago. Its location in the region is just on the south eastern border, west of the capital city of Port of Spain and east of the ...
, Maraval, Arouca and
St Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman province), Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced th ...
. The major thrust of the company's development programme took place during the period 1982 to 1987. Between 1983 and 1989,
DMS-100 The DMS-100 is a member of the Digital Multiplex System (DMS) product line of telephone exchange switches manufactured by Northern Telecom. Designed during the 1970s and released in 1979, it can control 100,000 telephone lines. The purpose of ...
digital switches were installed throughout the country and, as a result of this new technology, training of employees became a significant factor. The new technology saw the introduction of new services such as international direct distance dialing and vertical services (call waiting, call forwarding and conference calling). The company's operations were divided into the following divisions - Technical Operations, Marketing, Human Resources and Finance. The company's employee headcount was 2,300 (including contractors). There were approximately 160,000 customers in four major operating districts.


TEXTEL

The Trinidad and Tobago External Telecommunications Company Limited (TEXTEL), was incorporated as a
limited liability company A limited liability company (LLC) is the United States-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of ...
in December 1969 a joint venture participation, with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago holding 51% of the share capital and Cable and Wireless (West Indies) Limited, the other 49%. The company acquired the assets of Cable and Wireless in Trinidad and Tobago and assumed responsibility for external telecommunications, commencing 1 January 1970. As the legally constituted body charged with the responsibility for telecommunication links between the country and the rest of the world, TEXTEL provided the transmission, switching and signalling facilities to interconnect with the international facilities of all other countries.


Enterprise services


Mobile services

TSTT has re-branded its mobile division to
bmobile bmobile is a Mobile Phone, Home Security provider, and fixed wireless provider of Trinidad and Tobago, operating as a division of TSTT. History TSTT has re-branded its mobile division to bmobile along with other Cable & Wireless Communications ...
along with other Cable and Wireless companies in the region. TSTT's mobile service currently uses the
GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a family of standards to describe the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks, as used by mobile devices such as mobile phones and Mobile broadband modem, mobile broadba ...
network for data and voice. In 2007 they began launching data services on a
CDMA Code-division multiple access (CDMA) is a channel access method used by various radio communication technologies. CDMA is an example of multiple access, where several transmitters can send information simultaneously over a single communicatio ...
network. Their previous TDMA network was discontinued on August 31, 2006. As of 2006 competition has been introduced into its mobile market in Trinidad and Tobago.
Digicel Digicel is a Jamaican-based Caribbean mobile phone network and home entertainment provider operating in 25 markets worldwide. Digicel has operated in several countries, including Guyana, Fiji, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Samoa, St. Lucia, Surinam ...
, which also serves other countries in the Caribbean, began operations on their GSM network in early 2006. Digicel and TSTT have since had legal battles over an inter-connection agreement to allow communication between their two networks.
LAQTEL LaqTel Ltd. ("LaqTel Communications") was a privately held up-start mobile phone and wireless service provider, of Trinidad and Tobago. A division of Telcom Holdings Ltd. (TH), LaqTel was first founded in 2002 by Joseph Laquis, the current CEO of L ...
, a Trinidadian owned company, was also awarded a
CDMA Code-division multiple access (CDMA) is a channel access method used by various radio communication technologies. CDMA is an example of multiple access, where several transmitters can send information simultaneously over a single communicatio ...
license but on March 14, 2008, had its license revoked.


Internet services

TSTT Internet Services include dial up service, wireless broadband service based on
EVDO Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO, EVDO, etc.) is a telecommunications standard for the wireless transmission of data through radio signals, typically for broadband Internet access. EV-DO is an evolution of the CDMA2000 ( IS-2000) standard which ...
technology, and
ADSL Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) is a type of digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over Copper wire, copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem ...
-based Broadband service. It's also the most expensive per Mbp/s in the country. TSTT also offers a variety of data solutions for the corporate sector including leased circuits,
virtual private networks Virtual private network (VPN) is a network architecture for virtually extending a private network (i.e. any computer network which is not the public Internet) across one or multiple other networks which are either untrusted (as they are not c ...
, frame relay services, and
metro Ethernet A metropolitan-area Ethernet, Ethernet MAN, carrier Ethernet or metro Ethernet network is a metropolitan area network (MAN) that is based on Ethernet standards. It is commonly used to connect subscribers to a larger service network or for intern ...
service with speeds up to 1 GB. In October 2007, TSTT introduced its
ADSL2+ G.992.5 (also referred to as ADSL2+, G.dmt.bis+, and G.adslplus) is an ITU-T standard for asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) broadband Internet access. The standard has a maximum theoretical downstream sync speed of 24 megabits per secon ...
broadband internet service branded "Blink Broadband" with speeds up to 10 Mbit/s. However lagging behind their competitor, Columbus Communications, they still have a large portion of the market secured due to their previous copper network. Yet, to outdated technology and packages on their copper and fiber networks many people have flocked to the competitor. If these errors are not corrected, they are sure to fail. They have since sought refuge in the ever-expanding technology of LTE. Yet, they are making the same mistakes as before, throttling download and upload speeds next to nothing Mbit/s. This has gained them the upper hand in accessing markets blocked by topographical features. Many rural settlements have since been the main targets to obtain revenue. The service in question, has not lived up to expectations, which is mainly due poor performance attributed to the over-saturation of users and lack of available bandwidth. The new packages include up to a maximum of 40Mbp/s download and 4Mbp/s upload only on their fiber network limited to certain areas. Their LTE network supports up to 5Mbp/s download and 1Mbp/s upload. After launching a co-branded service in 200

it was announced in the media in 2015 that TSTT was discontinuing its ''tstt.net.tt'' email addresses due to a termination of service with G-mai

https://www.ttcs.tt/2015/05/30/tstt-shuts-down-email-hosting-under-tstt-net-tt-users-tstt-net-tt-have-until-june-30-2015-to-migrate-and-backup-their-data

https://www.guardian.co.tt/article-6.2.365121.a2e1f891bb]


IP Address Block Allocation

The following IPv4 and IPv6 address blocks has been assigned to TSTT by the
Latin America and Caribbean Network Information Centre Latin America and Caribbean Network Information Centre (LACNIC) (, ) is the regional Internet registry for the Latin American and Caribbean regions. LACNIC provides number resource allocation and registration services that support the global ope ...
:


Television services

TSTT has rolled out its new TV service also branded as "bmobile" which is based on the
IPTV Internet Protocol television (IPTV), also called TV over broadband, is the service delivery of television over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. Usually sold and run by a Telephone company, telecom provider, it consists of broadcast live telev ...
technology. The company has rolled out a wireless version of this service based on GSM technology although they are no longer offering this product and is offering customers the option to sign up for Amplia TV instead.


Security services

TSTT has entered the electronic surveillance market as well by launching their "Blink Vigilance" (now bsecure) service with an optional armed response add-on.


Affiliation & membership(s)

* Caribbean Association of National Telecommunications Organizations (CANTO) – ''affiliate'' * Caribbean Network Operators Group (CaribNOG) * Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) ''Private Sector/Non-State Members'' - bMobile * Communications Worker's Union (CWU) ''Employees'' *
Global System for Mobile Communications The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a family of standards to describe the protocols for second-generation ( 2G) digital cellular networks, as used by mobile devices such as mobile phones and mobile broadband modems. GSM is also ...
(GSMA) * Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce – Member


See also

*
Communications in Trinidad and Tobago Telecommunications in Trinidad and Tobago include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet. Radio and television * ITU call sign prefix: ** National: 9Y and 9Z ** Amateur radio: 9Y4 and 9Z4 ** Broadcast: 9Y3 ** Commerci ...
*
Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago The Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago is the organisation that regulates telecommunications and broadcasting services in Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the south ...
*
List of mobile network operators of the Americas This is a list of mobile network operators of the Americas. Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda The country has a 127% penetration rate. Argentina The country has a 147% penetration rate = 61.2m mobile subscribers (February 2014) Aruba The country ...
*
List of largest companies by revenue This list comprises the world's largest companies by Consolidation (business), consolidated revenue, according to the annually ranked Fortune Global 500, ''Fortune'' Global 500 published by ''Fortune'' magazine, as well as other sources. Out of 5 ...
*
List of public corporations by market capitalization The following is a list of publicly traded companies having the greatest market capitalization, sometimes described as their "market value": Market capitalization is calculated by multiplying the share price on a selected day and the number of ...
*
List of telecommunications regulatory bodies Legal regulatory bodies that govern telecommunications systems in different countries are as follows. This list contains bodies ensuring effective regulatory role in a territory which is not necessarily a state, but is listed as "territory" or " ...
*
List of telephone operating companies This list identifies the largest telecommunications companies by total revenue. For a more thorough list, see the By region section. By total revenue ''Note: Numbers of total revenues of most telephone operating companies are sourced from Fo ...


Further reading

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


References


External website

* {{authority control Government-owned companies of Trinidad and Tobago Mobile phone companies of Trinidad and Tobago Government-owned telecommunications companies Trinidadian companies established in 1991 Telecommunications companies established in 1991