The Rise of Caribbean Tech Leadership
Caribbean technology leadership is maturing. A new generation of executives — educated locally and internationally, tested across complex transformations — is now holding positions that would previously have been filled by expatriate consultants. This column examines what that shift means.
A new generation of technology leaders is redefining what Caribbean excellence in the digital economy looks like
In Q1 2024, Trinidad and Tobago ranked first in the Caribbean for fixed broadband performance, with a median download speed of 110 Mbps according to Ookla's global speed rankings. By May 2024, that figure had risen to 122 Mbps. By any technical measure, T&T has among the strongest fixed broadband infrastructure in the region.
That is real progress. The Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago reports that fixed broadband penetration stands at 96 out of every 100 households. Mobile internet penetration has risen to 62.9 per 100 citizens. The country’s telco market, with 2,017,400 mobile subscribers in a population of 1.5 million, reflects a connectivity saturation rate of 147 per cent — a signal that devices, not people, are constraining growth.
But speed rankings and penetration rates tell only part of the story. The question that matters for economic development is not how fast the connection is. It is how productively it is being used — and whether national policy, regulatory frameworks, and infrastructure investment are aligned to translate connectivity into competitive advantage.
The Productivity Gap
T&T’s broadband performance compares favourably with most of the region. Antigua and Barbuda recorded 35 Mbps in Q1 2024. Sint Maarten recorded 25 Mbps. Cuba recorded 2.7 Mbps. The disparity across the region underscores a persistent challenge: connectivity quality is highly uneven, and the organisations and governments that most need digital capability to drive economic diversification are often in the markets with the weakest infrastructure.
Even in T&T, where the infrastructure is strong, the gap between connectivity and productivity is significant. A population with near-universal broadband access and a low rate of online commerce, digital government interaction, and data-driven business decision-making is not extracting the value of its infrastructure investment. Connectivity without digital literacy, without e-government services worth using, and without businesses structured to operate digitally is infrastructure without purpose.
This is a strategic failure that no telco can solve unilaterally. It requires coordinated policy across the Ministry of Digital Transformation, TATT, the education system, and the business community. Infrastructure investment and demand-side development must move together. One without the other produces either idle capacity or frustrated demand.
“Speed rankings and penetration rates tell only part of the story. The question that matters is how productively connectivity is being used.”
The Regional Picture: Where Coordinated Investment Works
The Caribbean Regional Communications Infrastructure Program — CARCIP — offers a model for what coordinated regional investment can achieve. Under this World Bank-supported initiative, Caribbean governments pooled their buying power, partnered with the private sector, and drove broadband expansion that now covers over 75% of the region’s population. In Saint Lucia, monthly data costs fell from $3.50 to $2.23. Women represented up to 54% of new broadband adopters. Nine innovation centres were established, nurturing 63 tech solutions and supporting over 250 businesses with consulting and equipment. These outcomes did not happen by market forces alone. They required deliberate, coordinated public investment.
The emergence of Low Earth Orbit satellite internet — Starlink in particular — is introducing a new variable into Caribbean connectivity. Ookla’s 2024 report notes strong performance differentials in markets where LEO satellite is active, with the US Virgin Islands showing median speeds of 108 Mbps in satellite-served areas compared to the market’s overall median of 56 Mbps. For Caribbean territories with difficult terrain, dispersed populations, or limited fibre infrastructure, satellite connectivity offers a genuine alternative to waiting for terrestrial rollout. Regulators and policymakers need frameworks that accommodate this technology without creating competitive distortions that undermine the investment case for existing infrastructure.
From Infrastructure to Economic Asset
The Ministry of Digital Transformation’s government cloud and data centre initiative, supported by the IDB, is an important step toward treating connectivity as national infrastructure rather than a commercial service. A government cloud that provides a secure, reliable foundation for digital service delivery changes the economics of digital government — and by extension, the productivity of every business that interacts with government digitally.
T&T’s September 2024 agreement with NPCI International Payments Limited to implement a Real-Time Payment Platform is another signal that connectivity infrastructure is increasingly being treated as an economic enabler rather than a utility. A real-time payment rail changes what is possible for businesses, particularly SMEs, in ways that slower payment infrastructure does not.
The strategic question for T&T and the Caribbean is whether connectivity policy is being made at the level of ambition the opportunity demands. A country that leads the region in fixed broadband speed should also be leading in digital commerce, digital government uptake, and data-driven business productivity. If the infrastructure is strong but the outcomes are modest, the constraint is not technical. It is strategic. And strategy is a leadership question, not a telco question.
