FOLLOWING the granting of a licence to operate in Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados telecom firm Neptune Communications said it is looking to become an agent of digital transformation as it moves to carve out a presence in the twin-island Republic.

This, after it was given the green light and a 10-year concession to provide services by domestic telecoms regulator, the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT). The company will also operate in the market alongside the Elon Musk-owned Starlink satellite services, which TATT also granted a concession in May. Despite the competition Neptune hopes to roll out its services in Trinidad by next month, boasting 100 per cent coverage of the territory.

The company, formally launched in 2019, is to operate a public international telecommunications network, a public domestic fixed wireless (via satellite) telecommunications network, and public domestic fixed telecommunications services in Trinidad.

CEO Julian Jordan, commenting on the latest development, said that Neptune’s continued regional thrust is in keeping with its aim to provide high-speed Internet access to businesses and government users in the region.

According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, in July 2021 Neptune enlisted US-based Open RAN (radio access network) specialist Parallel Wireless to deploy what it described as “the first O-RAN compliant 4G LTE solution in the Caribbean. Earlier that year the company was also awarded a block of 700MHz spectrum in Barbados to deliver mission-critical voice and data services. It later, in May 2022, was further granted permission to launch satellite broadband services in Jamaica.

Neptune, as a provider of resilient Internet connectivity, delivers solutions over independent infrastructure, enabling genuine network redundancy and robust broadband connectivity critical to business continuity, public and national safety, disaster mitigation, and economic development. With operations now in three major countries across the region the company said its focus is to keep the Caribbean ‘Always on’.

“It’s a very exciting time for Neptune, and we are always on the lookout for great corporate partners who want to be a part of this journey, businesses who might have looked at the industry and thought: ‘I wish I could do this or could do that,’ because we’re going to change the way that many companies operate in this business,” Julian said in a Trinidad Newsday report.