Santa Cruz man slams TSTT monopoly

A SANTA CRUZ resident has accused the Telecommunication Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT) of abusing its monopoly of the telecommunications network, after an alleged problem within the company’s exchange left him without the use of his telephone for almost two weeks. David Power of First Street, Sun Valley, Santa Cruz, said that he believes the only reason people in this country are made to suffer at the hands of TSTT is because the company (TSTT) is the only provider of a telecommunication service in this country. Power, who moved to Trinidad from England four years ago, said if this was in England, the company would have been at his premises the day after he made the report to deal with the problem in order to make sure “the customer did not take their business to another company.”

He believes that since TSTT is the only company that provides this service in Trinidad and Tobago, they treat people “like they are  nothing.” Power explained that on Sunday last, he realised that his telephone line was dead. He said on Monday morning he informed TSTT about the problem and was told that someone from the company would respond to his report within five days. However, up to yesterday no one had arrived. He said he called the company yesterday and was informed that someone had in fact investigated the report, and found that the problem existed in the company’s exchange.

TSTT also told Power that since Monday was Indian Arrival Day, a public holiday, nothing could be done until “maybe next Wednesday or Thursday,” which, according to Power, means that he is without his phone line for almost two weeks. He said this has created a problem for him since he is unable to communicate with his daughter who lives in England, and his wife is unable to make her weekly call to her relatives in the United States. He said the matter is unacceptable because if something happened to his daughter, she did not have another way of contacting him in Trinidad. The irate man is calling on TSTT to “get their act together” so that it can provide a reliable and timely service to citizens in this country.