TSTT rings up alliances to prepare for competition

As it prepares for the impending stiff competition from other carriers, Telecom-munications Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT) is moving forward to develop all sorts of strategic partnerships with both local and foreign companies as it strives to consolidate its position in the local marketplace. Three major developments in the recent past are alliances with Nortel Networks and Net2phone, both of the United States, and Teleios Systems, a Port-of-Spain technology company. Its partnership with Teleios was put to the test during the recent One Day cricket series between the West Indies and South Africa. Using Teleios’ MessageCentral platform for value added SMS distribution, TSTT was able to launch its ‘Text2Win’ competition and was happy with the public response.

According to Michael Barrow, TSTT’s Executive Vice President, Mobile, “We were very pleased with the exercise. We were also pleased with the response of the public and the technology appropriate to the occasion as presented by Teleios.” Barrow added that his team was more than happy with the public response. “It was just fantastic. We were averaging between 8000 and 10,000 entries per day,” he disclosed. The competition was spread over an eight-day period. Participants had a choice of either reading the questions in the press or receiving them on their mobile phones. They had to respond via SMS to a special number between 6 am and 6 pm each day to be eligible to win. “The Teleios platform performed exceptionally well and we are all very satisfied with the partnership we’ve developed with this local company; we expect this relationship to grow from strength to strength,” said Barrow.

So successful was ‘Text2Win’ that Barrow said TSTT would be starting a new series of contests hinged on the upcoming series between the West Indies and England, “where we will again be using Teleios’ MessageCentral platform.” But it goes much further than ‘Text2Win.’ TSTT now uses MessageCentral to distribute bill payment and service reminders to post-paid customers, as well as service notifications to pre-paid customers direct to their mobile phones on both TDMA and GSM networks. Asked about MessageCentral, Ronald Hinds, Managing Director of Teleios Systems told Business Day, “MessageCentral as a business solution has the potential to provide a tremendous opportunity for businesses here. I see it leading to a change in the shape of communication in the country by leveraging the cell phone which is now virtually everywhere.” Commenting on the actual use of his company’s platform to realise one of TSTT’s objectives, Hinds said,  “Too often local companies do not have the confidence, or indeed the encouragement to go after their dream. We are very appreciative of the confidence that TSTT placed in Teleios and we hope that what we have done encourages others to build on it.
 
“‘With Text2Win,’ I think TSTT has shown a willingness to push the envelope in mobile communications and I know that this is only the beginning. “It’s really exciting to be part of the emergence of a whole genre of business,” added Hinds. The ‘Text2Win’ cricket competition is one of several SMS-based promotions planned by TSTT and is expected to create new levels of excitement of the possibilities of SMS-based, value-added services. TSTT’s arrangement with Nortel requires the American company “to converge the operator’s existing networks and build a single, high capacity, next generation infrastructure based on IP (Internet Protocol) technology. The new voice over IP network, which should be operative by mid 2004, will position TSTT to accelerate delivery of DSL and other advanced broadband voice, data and multimedia services to businesses and consumers in Trinidad and Tobago.

“TSTT’s commitment to customers in Trinidad and Tobago has always been to provide a broad array of advanced services that can enhance as well as simplify their day-to-day communications,” said Sam Martin, company CEO. Under the new supply agreement, the Nortel package is estimated to cost TSTT some (US)$33 million over the next two years. In its continuing quest to position itself as market leader whenever the competition is introduced, TSTT has entered into a two-year contract with the New Jersey-based Net2Phone. This alliance would allow the TSTT customer to save money on his/her overseas calls as well as on local service by using more advanced technology now available in the marketplace.

Net2Phone’s contract demands that it delivers VoIP calling cards, including prefix dialing services (like 10-10 services in the United States) and Internet telephony call shop services. It was also revealed by TSTT that the companies were working on the development of a card, which will allow both local and overseas clients to share one account. This would allow for Trinidad and Tobago residents to talk to family and friends abroad using the same account. It is hoped that this card could also be used in other countries like the United Kingdom and Canada as well as the United States.