TSTT Forum: mario2001 - Viewing Profile

Its been awhile since i have been here on this forum, since i haven't been having much telecommunication problems since Digicel came on the scene.

Lately i have been plagued by internet access woes,
both operators have 2.5G GSM services in the 800mhz & 1900MHZ bands ( EDGE) which is not reliable
B mobile has Wimax which works really except that the network coverage is really poor since their WIMAX network operates in the 2.5GHZ band indoor coverage is really bad.
It is my belief that TSTT WIMAX is another bad choice to add to the huge long list of tstt bad choices ( first it was AMPS, then their GSM 1800mhz then CDMA EVDO ( that quickly died ) now its WIMAX)


World wide wimax hasn't gained much support mainly because not much handsets use this technology
Wouldn't it be nice to have WIMAX on you mobile phone instead of having to walk around with that stupid My HOTSPOT ? what is the point of it ?

For some time i was wondering where is Digicel, i mean their main competitor ( Bmobile) just lunched the Iphone 4 and they are still quiet?

Then came the silent network upgrades you could see on a daily basis Crews at digicel Cell sites installing new equipment and antennae, along side their old equipment then on some sites they would completely remove the old equipment and use only the new cabinets, to top that off i noticed behind the new antennas they were also installing amplifiers ( one might ask what that means )
As a Telecoms student the only time a carrier usually uses amplifiers is when they are using a high frequency ie over 1.9GHZ, this is because the higher the frequency the grater the cable loss.

Now that i knew they were doing upgrades and that they were using a high frequency i thought it was WIMAX ( i thought how stupid another bad choice digicel let me down)

then i remembered that on some sites they were actually replacing the old hardware this would mean that what ever they were upgrading to would still have to be directly compatible with the GSM standard.

One such Technology catches my attention UTMS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System since i don't have the time to go into the long explanation of the benefits of this technology over STANDARD GSM i will just post the link which will take you to Wikipedia

here it is....... http://en.wikipedia.... ications_System

The only thing to confirm now would be UTMS revision ( higher revision basically means higher download speeds) (something Trini like ) & what frequency Digicel is rolling out on, i Suspect 2100Mhz (2.1GHZ) this would mean it would have a slightly better in building coverage than TSTT wimax

Also for those of you with your blackberries if you go into network options and switch to manual network selection and then in the network type select the network type select 2g&3g and do a search you might see the 3g network which is great, this means that you could use your standard Blackberry to access the 3g network and don't need that stupid my hotspot in your pocket

However if you happen no to see the 3g network it doesnt mean that you need a new phone i might mean that they have not upgraded your area as yet ( as is my case) I am keeping my fingers crossed they upgrade my area b4 the lunch, i do know that a huge amount of their sites have already been upgraded already its been almost 1yr since they have began this silent upgrade, the way i count is if they do 10 sites a week by 52 weeks equals to around 520 sites which i believe is a very conservative figure. ( i believe it could be more that 10 a week because alot of sites are on rooftops)

Something i really like is that digicel had already began to sell compatible 3g phones around the same time they started this upgrade which means that most of the higher end phones are probability UTMS compatible even the cheapest blackberry 9300 for $1300( which i own lol )

Some might say so what TSTT already has 4g well i would like to let you know Wimax is not really 4g it is just marketed as 4g it doesn't meet the ITU spec for 4g also you cant use wimax directly on your expensive Iphone4 you need that stupid my hotspot
I believe that if digicel is able to provide decent speeds at a reasonable cost and the advantage of being able to use your standard blackberry or Iphone on ths UTms nework will give Digicel a huge advantage
over the next couple of weeks i wait in anticipation of this Digicel 3g network

Talk for 3 min get the next 60 min free to all t&t numbers not just digicel mobile

Any thoughts?

Hey everyone i got this today .....i dont believe tstts story...... how is it as competition arrives in t and t tstt starts to loose ?

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, May 24 (Reuters) - Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago said on Thursday it would post its first yearly operating loss, blaming rising costs in a newly liberalized market.

TSTT, which held a monopoly until Digicel entered the market last year, estimated its operating loss at just over US$20 million for the year ended March 31, compared with a profit of US$42 million for the prior year.

The government owns 51 percent of the company and Cable & Wireless Plc (CW.L: Quote, Profile , Research) owns 49 percent.



"While I have been here only a short time, I can speak for all TSTT employees when I say that we are not satisfied with these results," said newly appointed Chief Executive Roberto Peon, in a prepared statement. "The difficulties that we are facing are no more than to be expected in the early stages of a liberalizing market."

"We are determined to get the company back on track to better financial health in the long term," Peon said.

Peon said he was encouraged by the company's "very strong balance sheet" and was confident in its ability to compete successfully. He said TSTT had retained significant leadership in the mobile phone market by nearly doubling its mobile customer base to more than one million.

"However with its aggressive response to competition, the company incurred a substantial increase in operating costs, reflected in its current financial results," he said.

TSTT reported gross revenue of US$459 million for the financial year, down from US$468 million for the previous year.

Hi i recieved this alert this morningand i thought it was rather interesting here it is:

Digicel, the Caribbean mobile operator owned by entrepreneur Denis O’Brien, is in the running for a mobile-phone licence in Panama.

If Digicel is successful in its bid, it will mark the latest phase of the firm’s expansion. It already has more than four million subscribers in 22 markets in the Caribbean. The firm is facing competition in its Panama bid from America Movil, which is based in Mexico.

Digicel is currently bidding to enter five new markets, either by winning mobile licences or acquiring existing operators. The firm is expected to launch services in Guatemala this year, after it bought a company that holds a licence in that country last year.

It has also been linked to expansion into Honduras and Costa Rica. The company’s rate of growth will determine its future funding strategy, including the possibility of a stock market listing in New York, which could raise more than$500 million.

It is understood that Digicel has done the groundwork for a stock market listing and could move quickly if it feels the time is right to go public. While industry sources said the company could go public as early as this month, a listing in the middle of the year seems more likely.

In recent interviews in Time magazine and USA Today, O’Brien said that Digicel would enter the US market this year with ‘‘an interesting proposition’’ that would rival the existing operators.

A move into the highly-competitive US market would require significant funding.

Industry sources said that Digicel could be valued at up to$3 billion in a stock market listing. O’Brien owns almost 90 per cent of the company.

Digicel could also be a takeover target for a larger operator, such as Vodafone or America Movil.

Last week, Digicel and Vodafone signed a three-year roaming partnership.

America Movil is owned by Mexican telecoms billionaire Carlos Slim Helu, who is the world’s fourth-richest man. He has been aggressively expanding his telecoms interests in South America.

it seems that Digicel going public is imenent and there is also talks about a merger between Vodafone and digicel

I was informed today that digicel is doing some major modifications on there sites ....appearantly they ( both tstt and Digicel) must make certain alterations to their sites or else the will not get approval

here are a couple of the guidlines that must be adhered to

1) the supporting structure must be a minimum of 20ft form all sides of the perimeter fence

2) the actual leased property must be a minimium of 4,450sq feet .......a little less than one lot of land lol

so i guess if they (tstt and digicel) dont come up with some good explinations we will be seein quite a few of towers comming down

as i know of a few of tstt towers that are in peoples back yards and i have even seen some of them on street corners which i think is madness how can you have a tower on a corner of a street you have an intersection?

the leased premises looks like around 30ft by 30ft which is 900sqft thats high class madness