Above: TSTT’s Lorraine Jones (second from left) and engineer Gabriel John collaborate with technicians onsite at the installation of the free WiFi at City Gate. Photo courtesy TSTT.
Commuters caught in the hustle and bustle of City Gate will now be able to access free WiFi at their fingertips courtesy telecommunications giant, TSTT.
As a gift to celebrate the nation’s 40th anniversary as a Republic, TSTT has outfitted City Gate’s main waiting area with four access points that would allow hassle-free connection to the internet. The service, which will be launched on September 23rd, is intended to increase the productivity of the thousands of citizens who use the hub to enter and exit the country’s capital city.
Darryl Duke, Senior Manager Government, Security and Directories Business at TSTT stated, “We live in a digital age and the one place where our education, social and professional lives collide is on the internet. It’s therefore absolutely necessary to have reliable internet access especially in places where a substantial amount of time is spent”.
“As the local communications service provider, it is our responsibility to empower and do our part to ensure that Trinidad and Tobago is a well-connected society, and while this project was initiated by TSTT, it would be remiss not to mention that this service integrates seamlessly with the Government’s ICT policy of nationwide WiFi deployment”.
Duke further explained that while there will be restrictions to the sites that are available to the public for various reasons including security, users will be able to check and respond to emails, read articles and access certain social media platforms.
TSTT has installed four access points where the average bandwidth is 53.3 Mbps download and 54 Mbps upload, per access point. It is estimated that the average bandwidth per user will be 2Mbps. Regardless of the service provider, once prompted, users will be invited to login and can enjoy multiple 30-minute sessions daily.
Editor’s addendum: Questions about specifics of the project were posed to TSTT. These are the responses.
Q: Is this a service that will be in place indefinitely or is it being made available for a specific period?
TSTT: The service is for people of Trinidad and Tobago thus is available to all and has no specified period for the service availability.
Q: Is this a bZone limited access point or is it open to any user with WiFi capability?
TSTT: This service is available to anyone whose phone has wifi capability.
Q: There is a requirement to log in. Users log in using what credentials?
TSTT: Users will be required to select ‘TSTT Free Wifi’. They will be directed to a splash page and asked to click ‘login’
Q: What happens after 30 minutes are up? Can a user log in again immediately?
TSTT: After 30 mins users will be required to log back in via splash page.
