LaqTel Ltd. is a privately held up-start mobile phone

Mobile phone

A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...

 and wireless service provider, of Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...

. Currently a division of Telcom Holdings Ltd. (TH), LaqTel was first founded in 2002 by Dr. Joseph Laquis, the current CEO of LaqTel Communications is Michael Barrow.

On March 14, 2008 had its CDMA licence revoked in Trinidad and Tobago due to its failure to pay outstanding bonds and court fines. Equipment valued at $1 Million TTD

Trinidad and Tobago dollar

The dollar is the currency of Trinidad and Tobago. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively TT$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies. It is subdivided into 100 cents...

 was also seized from its offices.

History

Laqtel was initially financially backed by a group of local investors who were awarded one of the first mobile licenses- by the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT) on July 5, 2005. The licenses awarded to Laqtel and one other bidder formally began the process of mobile competition in Trinidad and Tobago alongside the incumbent Telecommunications monopoly provider TSTT.

Laqtel Communications was successful in its submitted bid along with the one other candidate namely: Digicel

Digicel

Digicel is a mobile phone network provider covering parts of Oceania, Central America, and the Caribbean regions. The company is owned by Irishman Denis O'Brien, is incorporated in Bermuda, and based in Jamaica. It provides mobile services in 26 countries and territories throughout the Caribbean...

. These two companies were chosen to form the initial process of competition in the wireless landscape of Trinidad and Tobago. The further three bidders for licenses: NatTel, Cingular Wireless and Telkom Caribe were the other providers that were unsuccessful in this licensing round.

Prior to the TATT announcement of which companies received licenses, both Digicel and Cingular Wireless had announced a deal where Digicel will acquire from Cingular their entire Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

 and Bermuda

Bermuda

Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...

-based wireless networks and licenses, thus leaving only Laqtel and Digicel as new entrants for Trinidad and Tobago.

The entry of Laqtel and Digicel into the local mobile and wireless market place was heralded by many in Trinidad and Tobago as the official start of competition in the local wireless industry.