Fixed. UPDATE August 05...
TSTT is pleased to advise that customers should already begin to experience improved Internet browsing via computers and smart devices following the completion of repairs shortly after 6:00 PM this evening (Tuesday 4 th August), to submarine cables damaged off the coast of Grenada during volcanic activity associated with the Kick Em Jenny volcano on July 23rd.
The cable maintenance company responsible for the repairs will continue monitoring the performance of the cables over the next 48 hours to respond promptly in the event that any other issues emerge. TSTT will continue to update customers as the need arises.
UPDATE July 31…
Favourable weather and ocean conditions have allowed work to begin by the cable ship dispatched by the regional cable administrator, to repair the damaged submarine fiber optic cable off the coast of Grenada. The work involves locating the specific points of damage along the cable in the waters between Grenada and St. Vincent, raising the damaged ends of cable off of the sea floor, replacing these with a new section of cable, testing the repairs and safely lowering the cable back to the sea floor.
Notwithstanding the large size of the area to be covered by this exercise and the depth of the sea floor, if the ocean and weather conditions remain favourable over the next five days, it is projected that the cable will be back in full service by Wednesday 5th August.
While repairs are continuing, TSTT advises that customers will continue to periodically experience variable Internet and data speeds from computers and mobile devices.
UPDATE July 28…
TSTT wishes to advise that its customers will continue to periodically experience slow browsing speeds for Landline Internet and Mobile Internet as a result of damage sustained by the submarine fibre optic cable in the vicinity of the Kick ‘em Jenny Volcano near Grenada. A cable repair ship dispatched to the area is as yet unable to effect repairs due the Alert still in effect.
The website for the Seismic Research Centre at UWI states that ‘the volcano is currently at Alert Level YELLOW which means that vessels should observe a 1.5 km exclusion zone. However,as a precautionary measure, the marine community is advised to continue observing the 5 km exclusion zone.’
Until the damaged submarine cable is repaired, during periods of peak Landline and Mobile Internet use, customers will experience slower browsing and upload /download speeds.
TSTT regrets any inconvenience and will continue to explore alternatives for increasing available bandwidth to customers in the interim.
UPDATE July 24…
TSTT is continuing to work with its international technology partners in an effort to minimise the impact of the reduction in bandwidth available for Internet and International data users as well as subscription TV customers.
These services have been affected by a damaged submarine fibre optic cable in the vicinity of the undersea volcano near Grenada. While TSTT has been able to secure some improvement, customers may continue to periodically experience slow browsing and limited access to some subscription TV Channels until repairs to the damaged submarine cable are completed.
The regional communications vendor that has responsibility for the affected submarine cables is implementing the necessary preparations of the cable ship for the repairs, but due to the risk posed by the volcano to boats in the vicinity, a repair time cannot be determined at this time.
TSTT will continue to monitor the situation and explore all avenues for bringing further relief to customers and will provide updates on the status of the submarine cable repairs as more information becomes available.
Original release, issued on July 23…
TSTT has been made aware of damage to submarine fibre optic cables located up the Caribbean between St. Vincent and Grenada, managed by a regional communications company and which is used in part by TSTT for international data and Internet traffic.
As a result of this damage, local customers may experience slow browsing and data speeds for Internet access and mobile data where the content resides outside of Trinidad and Tobago. This is also affecting some TV channels.
TSTT is providing all assistance possible for the vendor to have this issue resolved in the shortest possible time so that normal services can be restored to customers.
TSTT, along with many other other local ISPs, uses multiple inbound connections for its Internet services [Editor].