LAST MINUTE RUSH FOR GSM PHONES

Last week, TSTT announced the termination of their TDMA service by midnight on August 31 (tomorrow), and said all existing TDMA customers should trade in their cellphones before this deadline.

However, yesterday, a day before the deadline, an estimated 200 customers were lined up from 6 am in both south and north Trinidad.

Angry customers complained that they had been waiting for hours. TSTT’s corporate communications officer Graham Suite told Newsday that it was necessary for the company to set the deadline in order to completely phase out the TDMA network which was rapidly becoming obsolete.

Suite said TDMA hand-sets and accessories were no longer being manufactured, thus making it very expensive for TSTT to maintain the service.

He said although the TDMA service would be discontinued by midnight tomorrow, customers who already handed in their TDMA phones, would still be able to get GSM phones until October 31.

Suite said customers were offered a $50 airtime bonus when purchasing any new GSM phone worth over $99, as another way of avoiding the last minute trade-in rush. He said TSTT had been appealing to customers since last year to trade in their TDMA phones and as anticipated “in true Trini fashion they all waited for the last minute.”

TDMA customers will be granted new GSM phones once they turn in their TDMA phones before tomorrow.