BitDepth#1359
MARK LYNDERSAY
THE RECENTLY published report on the digital inclusion survey done by Kairi Consultants for the Telecommunications Authority (TATT) raises questions about how digital adoption and access projects are being managed in Trinidad and Tobago.
The survey gathered responses from a total of 6,174 households between April and November 2021. Fieldwork was halted from mid-April to mid-September in 2021 because of covid19 restrictions.
The survey has found an increase in the ICT Development Index, which was measured at 5.55 in 2013, rose to 6.04 in 2017 and is set at 7.86, according to statistics revealed by the survey.
The index is a measure of fixed telephone subscriptions, mobile cellular subscriptions for every 100 citizens, internet bandwidth per user, the percentage of households with a computer and the percentage of households with internet access.
In one notable chart included in the report, of the number of respondents reporting that they did not have internet access in the household, three per cent noted that their homes did not have electricity, 33 per cent said they had no need for the internet at home and 24 per cent said they had internet access elsewhere.
While there is probably some overlap in the latter two numbers, it's notable that just one per cent of respondents cited not having internet availability as a concern. Access to the internet is not actually a problem, according to the findings of this report.
Fixed internet penetration per 100 households is 87.5 per cent. Of the 12.5 per cent who are not connected, only one per cent of that number, 0.12 per cent, are truly underserved.
According to the 2011 census by the CSO, there are 401,382 households in TT and 0.12 per cent of that is roughly 400 households.
The current Universal Service Fund (USF) stands at $148,344,602, according to TATT's 2021 annual report. That's a lot to spend to connect them.
A report by TATT on a St John's Parish USF project delivered after a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request offers a test case opportunity for a last-mile implementation of internet services.
The villages of Parlatuvier, Bloody Bay and L'Anse Fourmi in the parish, identified as underserved in the survey, represent 265 underserved households.
According to a March 2022 USF update, the project remains stalled.
Instead, between 2020 and 2021, $16,620,200 was spent on the authority's say-so on devices for students without the directive of its line minister or a mandate to do so in its regulations.
The remainder of its $20 million spend over the covid19 years went to the politically motivated national free Wi-Fi initiative and for Wi-Fi at transportation hubs (both founded on a dubious premise).
Only two transport hubs in Port of Spain and San Fernando are active, no libraries or hospitals were reported connected.
From a budgeted $3,834,000 earmarked to support the dramatically underserved disabilities sector with 7,000 subsidised smartphones and training, TATT's 2021 annual report notes tha