“So long as we can call (sic) get fired, Radio will never be free.”

So went the anonymous e-mail message I received last night. Did the sender of this message so desperately need to vent his/her feelings about Prime Minister Patrick Manning’s visit to radio station 94.1 FM that any Trinidad and Tobago-identified entity with the word “radio” in its name sufficed as a target? Or could it be that he/she thinks CFR is a radio station? Or perhaps a warning that I should expect a visit from the PM some time soon?

I’m also wondering what, apart from temporary stress-relief, this person expected to achieve by sending me the message, and, moreover, in a manner (ie via anonymous remailer) that did not permit me to respond, or, even better, enter into dialogue with him/her. Unless he knew I would write this blog post, which, given my recent record, would be way against the odds.

But I agree that the day a Prime Minister pays a visit to a media company that results–either directly or indirectly–in two people being suspended from their jobs, is a sombre day indeed for those who work in what has come to be known as the mainstream media. And when that same Prime Minister declares, in a post-Cabinet news conference, that he was well within his rights to visit the radio station, denies any connection between his visit to the station and the suspension of the employees, announces his intention to sue the TNT Mirror for their report on the incident, asserts his right to “sue any media house whose reporting aggrieves him” and to “visit any offending media house ‘as the spirit moves [him]‘”, who can blame the citizens of the country for feeling that freedom of expression–indeed, democracy–in Trinidad and Tobago is under serious threat?

For those unfamiliar with the details of the radio station visit, here’s the version of the story circulated by the Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago (MATT):

MATT received reports of an incident involving Prime Minister Patrick Manning at the Abercromby Street, Port of Spain, offices of Power 102 and 94.1 FM.

The association contacted the station’s Vice-President of Operations O’Brien Haynes, who confirmed the Prime Minister had visited the station on October 25 to express his displeasure at the contents of the station’s 12:25 pm newscast. He described the Prime Minister’s demeanour as calm and cool.

Mr Haynes said the Prime Minister expressed concerns about crosstalk during the newscast on statements he made at Thick Village with regard to the increase in the price of premium gas and drivers converting from diesel to CNG.

The Vice-President said after an internal investigation it was agreed by management at the station that a newscaster and presenter were in breach of programming protocol. Mr Haynes added the employees were suspended.

Perhaps even more offensive than his threats are Mr. Manning’s efforts to shroud the clearly personal reasons for his beef with the media in the sheep’s clothing of officialdom. “Too many of the commentators either in the newspapers or on the radio do not respect our institutions,” he is reported as saying. “It is a question of being disrespectful to institutions and authority and pursuing a course of action that can cause the image of these institutions and individuals to be tarnished in the minds of those in whose interest they are set up to serve. And therefore they can become completely ineffective.”

Which I take to mean that our “institutions” are so feeble as to be rendered ineffective by the fact that the public thinks they’re not doing their job. And of course the reason the public thinks this they’re not doing their job is solely because the media tells them so, not because members of the public have dealings with these institutions and draw conclusions themselves. In addition to the impending suspension of our right to freedom of expression, should I also be bracing myself for the announcement that thoughtcrime has been added to the list of criminal offenses? Now there’s something that would aggrieve me.

People finding themselves in Mr. Manning’s situation are also fond of falling back on the old line about rights not being absolute. “They exist,” he said yesterday, “to the extent that they don’t encroach upon the rights of others, and if my rights are trampled in that process then I too have redress under the law.” Today MATT issued the following press release in response to the comments made by the Prime Minister in yesterday’s post-cabinet meeting, reminding us what those rights are:

Freedom of speech is enshrined in Section 4 of the Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago. The Media Association takes this opportunity to remind its members and all members of the population that we have a responsibility and right to comment on the actions of public officials and issues of national importance.

While we agree Mr. Patrick Manning has the same rights as any other citizen, a prime minister has greater power, which should be exercised in the public interest, with due care and responsibility.

MATT notes it is not the first time, nor will it be the last time, a prime minister has taken issue with a media house. Mr. Manning has every right to consult his lawyers whenever he feels aggrieved.

The association notes that in the Privy Council’s 1936 ruling in the Ambard case, Lord Atkin said, “The path of criticism is an open way: the wrongheaded are permitted to err therein.”

With regard to the Prime Minister’s statement that “expecting redress from the media is asking too much,” MATT begs to differ. Individual media houses have mechanisms for dealing with such matters and members of the public are also free to ask the Media Complaints Council to intervene if they are not satisfied.

MATT maintains its position that the Prime Minister’s visit to 94.1fm was inappropriate and unnecessary.

Well done, MATT. But let us keep talking about this. Let us not take this sitting down. Let the media also harness its power to help the citizens of this 46 year-old quasi-democracy internalise the idea that the right to free speech is as precious as the right to wine, and that it is in fact a “gateway” right to other critical rights.

Mr. Manning is also free to visit Caribbean Free Radio at any time the spirit moves him.

On Wednesday I promised “festival reports and photos” from the Calabash International Literary Festival starting today. It looks, however, like I’ll have to break that promise, as I learned this afternoon that photography isn’t allowed at this year’s event. An official I spoke with briefly said something to the effect that this year they were trying to prevent photos from getting out “all over the place”. A misguided policy, in my opinion, and one that’s contrary to the spirit of the age and the openness that Calabash is otherwise known for.

The ban on photography also deprives the festival of the kind of free publicity the likes of me gave them last year. I just hope the official festival photographer gives the festival dogs their due.

See last year’s photos here.

Apologies for boring you again with the TSTT saga, but I feel it is important to document these things in public.

Someone hinted to a relative of mine recently that I had failed to express sufficient gratitude on this blog to TSTT, my internet service providers. I believe (or hope) the comment was tongue-in-cheek, as I think I have offered gratitude where gratitude was due. In an earlier post, for instance, I mentioned Dustin, the tech support person who handled my ADSL installation. I also wrote that Broadband Marketing manager Francisca Jordan responded promptly and clearly to my email. I commended Dustin because he offered excellent service, i.e. he was highly responsive throughout the process and delivered on his promises.

I feel absolutely no need, on the other hand, to feel “grateful” for the actual fast-tracking of my ADSL installation, as I first applied for the service way back in October 2007, then was told at various points by various TSTT personnel that:

• - the service was not yet available in my area (understandable)
• - the service would be installed in within six weeks from early November
• - the service wouldn’t be available until the end of December
• - they couldn’t say when the service would be available
• - ADSL service had been activated on my line since early October, though nobody could tell me why it wasn’t actually working
• - it was sunny in Bangalore (okay, that one’s a joke)

The installation finally took place on January 23, 2008, apparently in response to the letter I sent to TSTT and also posted on this blog. (I have since learned that my original ADSL application had been screwed up on the TSTT end of things. Since the installation, I have also received three phone calls from other tech support personnel responding to outdated service requests I’d made in early January.)

But the crux of my argument with TSTT, as you may recall, was not ADSL: it was the fact that they’ve continued billing me (and other TSTT Wireless Broadband users) at the original rate for Wireless Broadband Service that has deteriorated in some cases to speeds lower than dial-up.

Ms. Jordan told me that she had passed my letter on to her Executive Vice President. To date, however, nobody has responded further to the matter. I should also say here that I do not consider the fast-tracking of my ADSL installation an appropriate response.

If or when I receive a response, however, you’ll be the first to know. And at least I’m no longer the only blogger TSTT has to worry about.

Technorati Tags: tstt, consumer rights, customer service, trinidad, caribbean, telecommunications

I now have ADSL service. Passed by the computer a few minutes ago and noticed the DSL light on the modem was on, so I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn’t dreaming, fired up the control panel and voilà — we were in business. And people tell me my smattering of geek skills count for nothing.

The battle’s still not over, though, as the service seems to be 256Kbps. The level of service I ordered was 2-megabit. A luta continua.

But at least now I doesn’t take me hours to send an e-mail.

(And kudos to Dustin of TSTT, who’s been completely responsive throughout the entire process).

I still haven’t received a direct response from TSTT on the matter raised in the letter I sent day before yesterday. I’m wondering, however, if I’m meant accept the sudden fast-tracking of my application for ADSL service (pending since October) as a response of sorts.

I’m still waiting for the service to actually be activated, though. I was assured yesterday that a technician would visit this morning, and I received a text message today just before 9am saying that things were in the works (at least they’ve realised that I appreciate being kept in the loop).

It’s 1219pm, however, and a technician is yet to darken my doorstep. I figure they’re probably drawing lots to see who gets assigned to visit the customer from hell. Which messes up my day completely, as I should already have been out of the house attending to various things, including having the computer I’m writing this post on serviced.

Flow Digital, where are you?

Technorati Tags: tstt, trinidad, trinidad+tobago, caribbean, telecommunications, consumer rights

Two phone calls this morning from TSTT in response to yesterday’s letter (and blog post), with promises that attention will be paid both to my request and also possibly to my now four month-old application for ADSL service (which is another story altogether). And as it turns out, the e-mail address to which I’d sent the first letter was one that the recipient does not check regularly. The unreliability of their service has also worked in TSTT’s favour, by setting my work schedule back to such an extent that I had no time yesterday to prepare a version of the letter for the press, which I shall now hold off on doing as the matter is apparently being dealt with.

I’m not cracking out the champagne just yet, however, as there is still no guarantee that all this will result in my bill being reduced, which is really the heart of the matter. Because reducing the bill of one customer would amount to an admission that they’ve been wrong, all along, to continue charging the same rates for a deteriorating service.

Ainsley suggested in a comment on yesterday’s post that I take the matter up with the Telecommunications Association of Trinidad & Tobago (TATT). “Might there be some consumer protection law that’s being broken?,” Ainsley wrote, “I bet your case is not unique, meaning that, if TSTT were to be found “liable” or in breach somehow, they’d owe a whole lot of refunds. That might be one answer to the poor service they try to mask daily by gazillions spent of public relations.”

It would all be so much simpler if TSTT had taken the lead and reduced the cost of the service at the moment when they acknowledged it wasn’t what it should be, as it’s not like they didn’t just declare a net profit of $124 million. I’m sufficiently cynical, however, to understand that this is not how things work. But I am also sufficiently naïve to keep blogging about it.

Perhaps if being online weren’t so central to my job it would be different, but the lack of reliable internet access at home is stressing me beyond belief. I never received an answer to my initial letter to TSTT, so I sat down today and wrote the follow-up posted below. It’s already been sent via e-mail to the main recipient and everyone on the cc list except TSTT CEO Roberto Peon, whose e-mail address I do not have, and will be dropped in the nearest mail box tomorrow morning. A version of it will also be sent to the local newspapers, who may well choose not to publish a letter asking one of their biggest advertisers to change its behaviour.

The audio recordings linked to in the letter have been edited to obscure the names of the support personnel, the code on my EVDO modem and my home address, and also to remove the extended periods during which I was put on hold and subjected to — of all things — a dirge-like rendition of the calypso “Portrait of Trinidad“. What wicked irony.

Update: Shortly before posting this I received a response from Francisca Jordan, saying that she had forwarded my letter to her EVP. Ironically, the e-mail I’ve written her in reply, thanking her for her kind and prompt attention to the matter, is now refusing to leave my inbox.

January 21, 2008

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
Service, Billing, Payment & Enquiries
TSTT
52 Jerningham Avenue
Belmont

Dear Sir/Madam:

I am a TSTT Wireless Broadband customer. For this service, TSTT bills me TT$431.25 per month. TSTT personnel tell me that there is no guaranteed speed associated with this service, which does not seem reasonable to me, as sound business transactions usually involve clear expectations on the part of both the seller and buyer.

According to the TSTT Wireless Broadband web site, however, users of this service should expect to receive connection speeds of about 400Kbps to 700Kbps. (When the service worked properly, I used to receive average speeds of considerably less than this, but as the connection speed still allowed me to carry out normal internet-related tasks, I put up with it). And I would assume that TSTT expects that users should at least be able to connect to the service when they require.

Since November 2007, the service I have been receiving from TSTT Wireless Broadband has deteriorated dramatically, especially at my home in Diego Martin. When I do manage to connect to the service at all, I experience average connection speeds of lower than 70Kbps (measured using TSTT's own Bandwidth Test), which rapidly dwindle to zero. Web pages take ages to load, if they ever load at all. It takes me several minutes to send a single e-mail. The connection itself cuts off frequently. As having reliable internet access is central to my job, the drop in the level of TSTT Wireless Broadband's service has seriously affected my ability to work effectively. Yet in spite this dramatic decrease in the level of service, TSTT continues to bill me at the rate of $431.25 per month.

I have spoken several times to both TSTT's tech support and billing departments about the problem, and both acknowledge that there is a problem with the service, as the audio recordings I have posted here attest. (I resorted to recording my telephone conversations with TSTT after an unfortunate encounter with a very rude tech support person). While I sympathise fully with the technical difficulties involved in correcting the problems with Wireless Broadband, I think it is grossly unfair that TSTT should continue charging customers at the same rate for a service that has clearly deteriorated. The sum I believe I actually should be paying works out to around $28.75 per month, as the following calculation shows:

431.25 x 70/700 X 20/30 = $28.75

(where 70 and 700 represent the actual and expected connection speeds, and where 20 and 30 represent the actual and expected number of days I receive connectivity).

I have not paid my TSTT Wireless Broadband bill since December 2007, and I do not intend to pay it until TSTT adjusts my bill to bring the amount I am being charged in line with the level of service I have been receiving since November 2007. Once the service returns to normal, I should be happy to resume paying the normal rates.

I look forward to hearing from you further about this matter. Please note that I shall be posting a version of this letter on my blog.

Sincerely,
Georgia Popplewell

cc.
Mr. Roberto Peon, Chief Executive Officer, TSTT
Ms. Camille Salandy, Head, Public Relations and External Affairs, TSTT
Ms. Francisca Jordan, Manager, Broadband Marketing, TSTT

Technorati Tags: tstt, trinidad, caribbean