Find Telecommunication expertise in Bahamas, The

The telecommunications system of The Bahamas is highly developed by world standards. Information collected by URCA states that the electronic communication sector in The Bahamas employed more than 1,300 people directly in 2012. In the same year the sector had revenues of over BSD$460 million, an increase from $444 million in 2011, representing a total of 5.83% of the country’s GDP for 2012 (URCA, 2012).

The primary telecommunications company in The Bahamas is The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC), a full telecommunications service provider co-owned by the government and the Caribbean company Cable and Wireless Communications. BTC offers internet and landline services and is a leading provider of mobile phone services. Other telecommunications providers include Cable Bahamas Ltd, a company offering internet and television services; DSL Bahamas, an internet service provider also specialising in computer consultation; and Batelnet, a local internet service provider.

Initially the telecommunication sector of The Bahamas was an entirely state owned monopoly. However in 2011 the government began the liberalisation of the telecommunications sector to open it up to the potential of private sector investment, with it selling a majority of BTC to Cable and Wireless Communications in the April of that year. The government maintains a minority share of the company. It is predicted that the telecommunications sector will become fully liberalised by 2014 (The Bahamas Investor, 2012). Enhanced competition in the sector is expected to bring about greater choice for consumers, improved services and more widespread access to technology.

The main regulatory body for the telecommunication sector in The Bahamas is the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA), an organisation which replaced the previous Public Utilities Commission and Television Regulatory Authority. In 2009 UCRA was responsible for drafting new legislation on achieving liberalisation of the telecommunication sector, which brought about the subsequent sale of 51% of BTC shares. URCA is responsible for regulating all electronic communication and broadcasting regulations.

In 2012 the Government of The Bahamas Ministry of Education, Science and Technology invested BSD$2.2 million in improving the information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure in 76 state run primary and secondary schools throughout the country. These investments marked the first phase of governmental plans to transform schools into strong ‘technological centres’ through the utilisation of ICT (2012).

The telecommunications system of The Bahamas is highly developed by world standards. A survey of telecommunications in The Bahamas shows large numbers of mobile phone subscriptions in the country; in 2014 there were 714 mobile phone subscriptions for every 1,000 people in the population. There were 360 landlines per 1,000 people for the same year. Internet usage in the country is also high, with results for 2014 showing 769 internet users per 1,000 people.  However broadband internet subscriptions in the country are still relatively low with 27.6 broadband internet subscriptions per 1,000 people in (World Bank, 2012).