Yuh know we jes might get lucky an' not get leff back behin' de rest of de world wid de Vision 2020 ting dey talkin' about. Yes, I know...right
now alyuh mus' be feelin' dat Tants get a lil too much sun dis weekend, but lemme explain what I mean.

Fus to begin, since everybody an' dey nennen godchile have cellphone dese days is only a matter of time before we in T&T go start usin' dem like dey does do in de 'real' world outside. We gettin' a lil inkling of what could be wid de TSTT promo fuh tickets to de T&T vs Peru match ...but is why yuh cyant pay fuh de tickets one time wid de phone too? Wid 'competition' in de place, all three both players bong to mus step up de pace wid what dey go be offerin' 'online'. Digicel look like dey up de ante wid dey DigicelINFO service (accordin' to dey website dat is, because I ent have a SIM from dem...yet) wid a whole heap of categories dat impressive lookin' on de site, but is how well it does actually wuk?

I waitin' fuh dem to start de specials on high-end phones, is then yuh go see ole mas in de place...allyuh remember dat when it fus come out
dat de Motorola Razr (or Razor as bmobile website have it) was over $3000? Is only serious posers did use to have one, but dese days is like every
Tom, Dick, Harrylal an' dey nennen could manage to scrape up de $1500 an' buy one. Phone dese days is a serious fashion accessory/statement, but when yuh check it out, most of dem not only pre-paid but dey ent have no money on dem an' if by chance dey have money is a $5-10 jes so dey could make a call if dey really have to.

I wonder jes how many people does actually use de features in de phones? Dey have calendar an' appointment book an' ting dat could be real useful, but I feel dat not even business people does make use of dem features. Is to hope I wrong, an' dat Trini really an' truly wakin' up to what
tools it have available fuh dem to capitalise on. I guarantee de one feature dat doh get as much use as it should is de handsfree ... oh jeeezanages, is why Trini like to feel dem could drive wid one hand holdin' de phone while dey turnin' corner? It look like de onliest way Trini go use de handsfree is if is one ah dem fancy cordless ting hangin' on dey ear...is fus we like to pose. But seriously though, if people go start actually usin' de features of de phones, we might jes have a chance.

De nex odder ting dat get me thinkin' we might have a chance was when I did realise dat at least one bank in T&T finally ketchon dat nobody ent
want to pay no setta service charge dat does take out more money than yuh gettin' in interest. I did happen to be in de bank wid a fren' when mih
eye rest on a notice on de counter...dey ent chargin' NO service charge if yuh do yuh bankin' at dey own ATM or on de telephone or on de Internet. De usual Linx charges go apply if yuh use a nex' bank ATM, but if yuh go in de bank to deposit is still no charge, is only if yuh want to
make withdrawal or do some nex' kinda transaction in de bank dat dey go drop a charge on you. I like dat too bad...de ketch is dat even though
is a savings account, dey ent payin no interest if yuh balance drop below $5000, but if dat is how dey could afford to not have service charge I ent complainin'. Dey even givin' yuh free chequing wid de account too.

Is wid progressive an' innovative thinkin' like this dat we go have a chance - slim though it may be, of comin' close to realisin' de future dat Vision 2020 'promises'...but all go be fuh naught if we still cyant manage to not trample all over de simple laws, rules an' regulations dat a society mus' live by. Lewwe start wid someting simple:

de Speed Limit is NOT a suggested minimum speed.
 

BACKCHAT: Issue 15


Come nuh, tants, anyone who thought Digicel would be cheaper was only fooling themselves.

It is clear that many of us who are technology and service hungry have been waiting not only for choice but mainly for better service. Rates have come down for me: 4 years ago my cell phone (basic Nokia) cost me 850 TT$ and two days of waiting in line.

Last Saturday I got a phone( basic Nokia) for 399,00 and within 15 minutes I was up and running. No lines, no hazzles, no lost work hours.

While the old post paid rate plan does not cater for anyone who talks very little (I have accumulatd 9 hours of free talk under my basic plan of 89.90 per month) my friends and children were credited frequently with 20$ worth on their pre paid plan. Expiry time one month, which has all of a sudden increased to 2 months (due to competition?)

As for Digicel, I got the red carpet treatment last week. No waiting, all the phones advertised were available, all the questions answered, everyone
was extremely professional, courteous and helpful. Imagine this: Customer Service (dial 100) available on Saturday night at eight thirty with a
human answering all my son's questions.

And I got signal inside my house wereas previously I had to go into the parking lot to make a phonecall. So what if there is a slight hickup with
texting between the two networks. Maybe that has already been resolved as I write. I got a top up of fifty dollar a day later with the new Network.
That should last me a while (until the rates go up).

In the quest for the hearts and minds of celluphobes like me the rates are slashed between the competing networks (only to go up later??) Better
customer service does cost more money.

Staff has to be educated and trained well and paid well in order to do their job well. And treat their cutomers well. I am happy to pay the
price. I am getting a second cellphone today (from Digicel for all of $399.00) just to enjoy being treated like a Queen and to avoid the
interconnecting fees, the long, long, awful, tiring,bothersome,  neverending, frustrating, long, long lines. As for my old network phone: I'll keep that one on standby, just in case.... .

Long live the competition and long live customer service.
"Happy as a Clam"
//Trinidad


You were wondering'who go turn out to be de Judas in dis play' but according to the recently authenticated Gospel of Judas, Judas's 'betrayal' of Jesus ad been clothed. Judas was apparently one of Jesus' closest disciples and received special knowledge from him. So let's not look for Judas among the cell phone salesmen, it seems he was someone whose level of spiritual enlightenment was such that TSTT and Digicell could never conceive of.
//Trinidad