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Good practice Imported

TATT's Persons with Disabilities Initiative — Subsidising Assistive-Feature Smartphones in Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago · Port of Spain · See the Trinidad and Tobago profile · See the Port of Spain profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 61% 68/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Trinidad and Tobago's telecom regulator subsidises up to TTD $900 toward an assistive-feature smartphone for disabled residents. By late 2024, 1,239 people had received devices, against a baseline where only 57.3% of persons with disabilities owned a mobile phone.

1,239 people
PWDs receiving subsidised devices (2020–2024)
up to 900 TTD
Maximum device subsidy
57.3 %
Baseline PWD mobile phone ownership
1 %
Baseline PWD use of digital government services

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT)
Period
2020–2024
Keywords
telecommunications, disability inclusion, assistive technology, universal service

Context

The Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT), the country's telecom regulator, runs a Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) Initiative that began in September 2020, against a baseline in which only 57.3% of persons with disabilities owned a mobile phone and just 1% used digital government services.

Objectives

The initiative aims to reduce this gap by subsidising assistive-feature mobile devices for residents who are visually or hearing impaired, or who otherwise have a disability and receive a qualifying government grant.

Activities

TATT subsidises up to TTD $900 toward the purchase of a mobile device with assistive features — such as screen readers or hearing-aid compatibility. Eligibility runs through two routes: applicants with any disability who receive a grant from the Ministry of Social Development and Family Services, or applicants who are visually or hearing impaired and receive an invalidity grant, public assistance, food-support cards, or a senior citizens' pension, with medical evidence required. Applicants apply by email, phone, text or WhatsApp and submit identification and disability documentation for verification.

Results

AMCHAM Trinidad and Tobago's Q3 2024 'Linkage' publication, citing TATT and the national Digital Inclusion Survey, reported that 1,239 persons with disabilities had received subsidised devices to date.

Conclusions

Neither TATT nor AMCHAM publishes a follow-up evaluation of how recipients used the devices or whether digital-service uptake among PWDs subsequently rose, so the programme's downstream impact remains undocumented.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k) — Per-device subsidy of up to TTD $900 (roughly USD 130) funded through TATT's Universal Service programme; aggregate programme cost not disclosed.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Ongoing since September 2020 with no announced end date; 1,239 devices distributed as of the Q3 2024 report.
Staffing & skills
Administered by the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT) via its Universal Service programme, Applications processed by TATT via email, phone, text or WhatsApp, with identification and disability documentation verified

Conditions for success

  • Eligibility tied to existing government disability/social-assistance grants (Ministry of Social Development and Family Services grant, invalidity grant, public assistance, food-support cards, or senior citizens' pension) with medical evidence required

Common failure modes

  • No published follow-up evaluation of how recipients used the devices or whether digital-service uptake among PWDs rose afterward

Where it fits

Governance type
national telecom regulator / universal service fund
Scale
national
Income level
high income

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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