By Sherry Ann Singh, www.guardian.co.tt

Independent internet service providers are resisting attempts at regulation contained in amendments to the Telecom Act.

They fear the move will wipe them out completely since they are already hampered by a system structured in favour of TSTT, the dominant Internet service provider.

Most of the independent ISPs rely on T1 lines from TSTT in order to provide their service.

"If they have a grouse with you they can cut it off, mysteriously make it go down and you don't have Internet access," Lyndon Clarke general manager of Wow.Net said.

The independent ISP's are the pioneers of the domestic Internet sector yet have had a TSTT yoke around their necks since inception.

While TSTT provided the data port, the company was not initially interested in providing an Internet service. That's when the ISPs came on the scene and began offering the service using T1 lines leased from TSTT.

"When they saw the potential that's when TSTT got involved. At that point in time things really got tough." ISPs began to experience innumerable problems that stifled their growth.

"It's known that TSTT has a monopoly within the industry and they're also given certain rights. They're consulted by the ministry and Government when licences have to be issued etc with respect to telecommunications in T&T," Clarke said.

In some instances it takes as long as three years for their requests for additional T1's to be granted. At other times they just aren't. A T1 supports 24 phone lines. An ISP would normally operate at a ratio of eight customers to every phone line, hence the need for additional T1's in order to expand.

In addition, TSTT has cornered particular geographic areas for themselves by locking the ISP's out. The ISP's are only granted Points of Presence (POPs) in certain exchanges and all of them are forced to compete against each other in those confined areas.

Clarke also recalled that TSTT discouraged them from offering a Voice Over Internet Protocol service yet TSTT just a few weeks ago teamed up with Net2Phone to offer a similar service.

"I don't know if it's because of the great proliferation of call centres all over Trinidad they realise that they really cannot stifle this service and this technology any more," Clarke said.

So why haven't the ISP's joined the party? Merely because they have too much to lose.

"One has to be very careful with what you're doing."

The ISPs have been seeking a fairer price for bandwidth but that too has been difficult to come by.

The cost of bandwidth is one of the primary inputs in the cost of internet services. ISPs in Trinidad have two options - either they buy bandwidth from TSTT or buy directly from an external supplier.

"If there's anyone in Trinidad who should be capable of supplying cheap bandwidth it should be TSTT because the way bandwidth is sold the greater quantity you buy the cheaper the price you pay. However, that has not been the case."

Most of the independent ISPs are now getting some bandwidth from external suppliers.

"At one time we used to pay over $60,000 a month for 256 k of bandwidth whereas we can get one and a half megabits of data for that same cost."

Clarke was also concerned that while the telecom amendments speak to the issue of regulating ISP's, it does not go into detail.

"One very important issue will be how the legislation treats with value added services such as VOIP, Net2Phone, web hosting, streaming and video conferencing. That has been up for discussion and they (Government) indicated the possibility of having these licensed and we would need separate licences for each service."

Clarke thinks this method will be a grave setback for independent ISP's based on previous experience.

Clarke said Wow.Net has been trying for years to obtain a licence to provide broadband service but was initially denied copies of the application forms. It was subsequently obtained only after the Ministry began holding consultations on broadband policy.

"That is the reason one of the oldest ISPs in the country is not offering broadband service. That's why we're concerned about applying for all these licences. There's no guarantee you're gonna get those licences, nor how long its gonna take," he said.

And that's no way for a small, private company to step through the doors of free competition.

"I don't think the FTAA is gonna wait on us while we're bickering," he said.