Senior Reporter
peter.christopher@guardian.co.tt
Hundreds of people were turned away empty-handed yesterday, after the Blue Network’s well advertised launch failed to materialise at Invaders Bay.
From as early 4 am, people converged at the site hoping to register for an event which advertised smart phones and laptops for $1 for signing up for the service.
By 9.30 am, both pedestrian and vehicular traffic piled up along the access road running in front of MovieTowne, which is called Hollywood Boulevard, frustrating workers and visitors headed to the Marriott and adjacent buildings.
The streams of people hoping to score on the advertised deal were left wondering if they would still get the items after Blue Network marketing manager Kieron Les Pierre’s announcement that the planned launch, which had been carded for 10 am, would have to be halted.
“Right now we are overwhelmed, if you can, we have persons there, persons came from 4 am this morning waiting to subscribe to get their smart phones and laptops for $1. Unfortunately, we had been told by building management that we have to shut the event down for now,” Les Pierre said.
Guardian Media learned that Blue Network had rented space in the building for what was said to be a board meeting as opposed to a public registration. This left management and security bewildered, as people came in waves to sign up for a network they hoped would spare them from the Bmobile-Digicel duopoly.
“We need competition in the country, Bmobile is overcharging the customer. Digicel became like Bmobile, so when we have a third competitor, the rates would be more competitive and we will get better service for money,” Champs Fleurs resident Rebecca Ranger told Guardian Media.
By mid-morning, however, potential customers were all turned away disappointed, leaving a bitter taste in the mouths of some, with many questioning if there was ever going to be such a launch at all.
“You all are liars! It never had a launch!” said one woman angrily, after she and her young child were turned away by a security officer.
That officer, for an extended period, was the only source of information for members of the public, as Blue Network members, including La Pierre, spent the rest of the morning in meetings away from the public.
“Disappointing would be an understatement for a lack of a better way of saying it, because it was a big launch where they invited as many people as possible and then we people come to the location, and they said the hours from 10 to 4 and by half 10/11 I hearing everything is done,” said Quasey Jackson of Bon Air Gardens.
He, however, was hopeful they would get their act together and provide more information to the public about their services.
But the confusion was not only shared by the waiting public, as it extended to Blue’s peers on the telecommunications landscape.
TSTT subsequently submitted a letter to the Telecommunications Authority of T&T, asking if Blue had been granted a licence to operate a mobile network, while TATT dispatched a team to meet the company’s officials at the venue.
That meeting, according to one Blue team member, made the group feel “like the most wanted people in Trinidad,” as TATT and officers from the TTPS asked them about their operations.
TATT CEO Cynthia Reddock-Downes later confirmed that Blue had not applied to operate as a mobile operation.
In a release yesterday afternoon, TATT said, “There is no new mobile network in the country.”
TATT pointed out that a “potential operator wishing to operate a public telecommunications network, must apply for, be approved and be granted a concession to operate a network.”
TATT added, “No application has been made nor a concession granted to any potential “new” operator that was scheduled to launch today (Friday).”
TATT confirmed a legal team and its telecommunications inspectors visited the Blue team at Invaders Bay. It said based on its investigation, the Blue Network is not providing a public telecommunications service or network.
Blue, however, denied it was a mobile virtual network operator, and in a release of its own, said following its meeting with TATT, it had permission to operate once it removed the word mobile from its name.
Blue, on its social media page, also sought to address several rumours which surfaced during the launch, as it confirmed the company was not affiliated with the Elon Musk owned Starlink.
Incidentally, Starlink had been granted a concession licence from the Digital Transformation Ministry to provide internet services last month but has yet to announce its official launch date in T&T.
La Pierre, in another social media post, also said while the company was utilising a social media page formerly operated by the GRAPES Group, it is not a part of that company.
The company GRAPES For A Good Life Ltd provided low-cost laptops to customers but over time, the level of their service was publicly questioned and the company has since been embroiled in a legal matter.