Victor Zakharchenko. InternetTT

InternetTT
Victor Zakharchenko

Publication date: April 14, 2003

The Trinidadian Internet began in 1993. At the end of the year, Trinidad and Tobago had its own autonomous Internet access point. It worked on UUCP technology and was coordinated by the National Research Institute of Education and Technology NIHERST . Later, the country's main university, UWI (University of the West Indies), joined the project, but communications there faced huge problems for a long time.

The NIHERST project became the localization of the CUNET program, within which many countries in Central America and the Caribbean were connected to the Internet. The UWI, after stabilizing its project, began making its first attempts to connect its students and staff to the Internet. These endeavors were paid for by international organizations such as the OAS and the UN. With their money, UWI, named after St. Augustine, created a real computer center on campus, where 5 machines connected to the Internet worked.

The challenge has long been to find qualified teaching staff to train Trinidad and Tobago's nascent IT sector. But even experiencing difficulties with teachers, on the islands (there are five in total, the two largest gave the name to the state) they managed to create good conditions for self-education, which had an impact years later.

The first attempts to bring the Internet to the masses were carried out with great difficulty - prices were prohibitive even for the middle class, not to mention the dominant category of poor peasants. In many ways, the high price was determined by the high cost of the telephone connection. Although, over time, these initial costs were overcome, and the Internet in Trinidad and Tobago reached a level that many neighbors would envy.

This is ensured, of course, thanks to the efficient work of local providers . Dial-up is the most popular way to access the Internet. This segment of the Internet services market is very dependent on the whims and desires of the country's main telecommunications operator - TSTT (by the way, a minute of local telephone calls in Trinidad and Tobago costs 23 cents). Providers that provide their clients with dial-up Internet access, as a rule, have a wide range of services, which includes viewing email and, in fact, surfing. Access speed varies from 28.8 Kbps to 56 Kbps.
TSTT, in addition to its status as the largest primary provider in the country, also became a pioneer in the development of ADSL. This service first appeared on the islands in 2002.

Satellite Internet access on the islands is sold by two commercial providers - Starworx and DirecPC . These one-way systems provide connection speeds of up to 400Kbps in good weather. Although in bad weather conditions the Internet may fail altogether, which, unfortunately, happens quite often. There is one more obstacle on the way of satellite Internet to Trinidad and Tobago - legislative. Obtaining a license to use VSAT technology on the islands is not so easy. But, despite this, it can be stated that today the islands have high-quality, good, and therefore relatively expensive Internet.

While talking about the Internet in Ecuador, we have already touched on the regional issue of access prices. We quote : “Currently, the cost of Internet access in Ecuador ($40) is second in Latin America only to the price of connection in Argentina (41.90), Venezuela (54.35) and Trinidad and Tobago (81.71).” We are talking about a monthly subscription fee, according to which users on the islands are entitled to 40 hours of Internet.

But even the relatively strict pricing policy of local providers has little effect on the popularity of the Internet in Trinidad and Tobago. Here's what ITU statistics say:

• December 1999 - 30,000 users (2.55% of the total population),
• December 2000 - 42800 (3.64%),
• December 2001 - 120,000 (10.31%).

Unfortunately, there are no more recent figures, but judging by the trend, the current share of users in Trinidad is approaching a third of the total population of the islands. And these are not just numbers, to the great pride of statisticians from the local Ministry of Communications, but the basis for the development of such new areas of the economy as, for example, Internet banking . But more on that later, for now let’s talk in more detail about what Trinidadian (and Tobago) Internet users are like. The audience research was led by the popular local server Trinidade-OnLine .

47.5% of users are women, 52.5% - guess who.
43% of users are in the age category 18-34,
49% - 35-54,
8% are over 55.

Most users have an annual household income above $50,000.
8% - $150,000 and above,
33% - 75000-149999 dollars,
28% - $50,000-$74,999,
32% - less than $50,000

52% have a university degree,
29.5% - college education.

56% of users are looking for travel information.
46% - about health.

70% have home Internet access,
46% - access from work.

25% of users (1999 data) used the Internet for shopping or to select a product. 63% consider brands that advertise online to be the most progressive.

A user views 322 pages per week, spending five and a half hours of time. On average, 37 pages are viewed per session. The length of the session is 37 minutes.

The audience, as you can see, is not the most hopeless. It is not surprising that since October 2000, the First Citizens Bank of Trinidad and Tobago began to actively introduce Internet banking systems on the islands. FCB Chief Executive Officer Larry Howe, in communications with media representatives, named the amount of $3 million as the cost of developing such a project. Moreover, Trinidad and Tobago do not expect immediate benefits from Internet banking. Here we are ready to wait for the moment when high-tech banking services make modern services of credit institutions obsolete.

At first, the pioneers of online banking tracked every payment, convincing the first users of the service that their payments were secure - tales about Kevin Mitnick's associates quickly reached the islands. In the first year of operation, the technical support service was in working order 24 hours a day, pleasing customers as much as possible. In 2000, such a service cost $30 a month, and a special server www.fcb-e-bank.com was even launched to implement the project.

The technical side of the development of the local network segment does not stand still either. In the last couple of years, serious prerequisites have emerged to bring it to the highest international level. In 2001, through the efforts of TSTT, wireless Internet access became possible on the islands. Under the terms of the contract , which was worth $11 million, 12 base stations were built for TSTT, which covered the entire country.

That same year, broadband arrived in the Caribbean. And here the small island state (there are no others here) Trinidad and Tobago acted as a pioneer . It was the local provider Caridirec that was the first to provide such access services to its clients. Vsat technology with a bandwidth of over 400Kbps was used.

A few words about the local web. He could not remain aloof from the technical development of the local segment of the Internet. Today, the three most popular entry points and search engines on the Trinidadian Internet are Search.co.tt , Trini.com and Trinbago.com .

The local press is also represented on the Internet. She is personified online by Express , Guardian , Newsday and TnT Mirror .