Telecom Wars in T&T

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The mobile wars in the Caribbean have heated up in recent years with the demonopolisation of the sector. In fact, recent studies have indicated that Caribbean countries enjoy among the best telecom calling rates in the world.

Irish-owned telecom company Digicel entered the Trinidad & Tobago market about three years ago, and since then has captured about 50% of the market share among retail mobile customers while helping cut mobile calling costs by about half in that country. The company is now taking aim at increasing its share of the corporate market.

The result, says Digicel T&T CEO Niall Dorrian, will be substantial savings for customers as the company sets up a new corporate services division called Digicel Business, which had a "soft launch" earlier this week. Interviewed by the Trinidad & Tobago Business Guardian last week, Dorrian promised "dedicated customer care, dedicated account management with after-sales service, customised solutions and technology which will allow savings of up to 40%".

According to the report, a major factor in the new mobile voice and data war that looms on the horizon for telecom providers is the auction by the Telecommunications Authority of T&T of WiMAX mobile spectrum bands, which allows providers to support data delivery via a number of different modes. While not necessarily faster in every instance, the technology provides increased reliability for end users.

Digicel has purchased eight 2.5 WiMAX spectrum bands, and hopes to launch in the T&T market before chief competitor, TSTT/bmobile, which has purchased 10. "It’s not a race," says Dorrian. "The interesting question is whether TSTT is coming to market with WiMAX and what will they do with the millions they have invested in landline fibre."

For more on the telecom sector in T&T see our sister magazine, the Trinidad & Tobago Business Guide. The last three issues (2007/8, 2009/9, and 2009/10) are all available for free download.