Trinidad-Majority state-owned telecom provider TSTT, reported today their first ever after tax loss of TT$239million. They lay blame squarely at the feet of Digicel, Irish owned cellular provider which entered the newly liberalised telecommunications market and wreaked havoc on their customer based and now clearly their bottom line.
These reported figures are for the financial year ending March 31 2007 and when compared to its previous financial year where the company recorded a profit of TT$261 million, one can see why there is grave concern among TSTT owners.
But TSTT, which is 51 per cent owned by the State and 49 per cent by telecoms giant Cable and Wireless, should not have been surprised, Digicel also trounced them(Cable & Wireless) properly in the Jamaican marketplace and has been doing so in other Caribbean countries.
The liberalisation of the telecom markets in the Caribbean, started in Jamaica just over five years ago, gave the Jamaican consumer a choice of products and pricing on all telecom products for the first time in 50 years. The Jamaican market showed their appreciation by giving Digicel a record first year uptake in the market place. Long live liberalised telecom markets and consumer choice.
