TSTT earns US$14m profit, plans to remove underground copper

The Telecommunications Service of TT (TSTT) has earned US$14 million after tax and US$17 million before tax making this financial year – which ended in March – the first profitable one in five years. This is compared to $2.04 billion in 2021.

Chief Financial Officer Shiva Ramnarine said this during TSTT’s investors call on Friday.

CEO Lisa Agard added that with the introduction of Starlink – an internet service engineered by Elon Musk’s SpaceX team – in the local market, it poses no risk to TSTT’s business. This is in spite of the speed it provides, 150-500 megabits per second.

As for major capital projects, TSTT is working on its expansion of its fibre footprint – through its internet provider company, Amplia – which is meant to give it a competitive edge.

It is also working on its 4G LTE project which is meant to make its services faster and more reliable, Ramnarine said.

As for TSTT’s copper plant, Agard said the tendering process is complete with the next phase to start in August, this is in addition to its underground copper cable removal project.

During the question-and-answer segment, she addressed the projected financials of this copper project and the expected completion time frame.

“It will cost us approximately $90 million to remove the underground cable and most of that will relate to contractors who we will have to employ to remove the cables and the actual storage of them pending sale. We have estimated that this project… we are hoping it will finish by the end of this fiscal year, but we have a suspicion that it may well spill over into the next financial year given the complexity removing underground cables generally,” she said.

As for project updates within the mobile, so far, 25 per cent of the company’s mobile network expansion, access network modernisation and core network licence expansion and modernisation projects are completed.

For its fibre cable programme, over 160,000 homes passed with fibre, surpassing the company’s goal.

Agard also added that TSTT’s Laventille Work Centre – its most significant work property – and the St James Street, San Fernando, part of the Macoya cable yard and the main complex on Frederick Street are all carded for disposal in this financial year.