Telecommunications in the British Virgin Islands

Last updated

Country Code: +1284
International Call Prefix: 011 (outside NANP)

Calls from the British Virgin Islands to the US, Canada, and other NANP Caribbean nations, are dialled as 1 + NANP area code + 7-digit number. Calls from the British Virgin Islands to non-NANP countries are dialled as 011 + country code + phone number with local area code.

Number Format: nxx-xxxx

Telephones – main lines in use: 11,700 (2002)

Telephones – mobile cellular: 8,000 (2002)

Telephone system: worldwide telephone service
general assessment: worldwide telephone service
domestic: NA
international: Connected via submarine cable to Bermuda; the East Caribbean Fibre System (ECFS) submarine cable provides connectivity to 13 other islands in the eastern Caribbean (2007)

Radio stations: AM 1, FM 5, shortwave 0 (2004)

Television stations: 1 (ZBTV), (plus one cable company) (1997)

Internet service providers (ISPs): 1 (1999)

Internet country code: VG

Internet hosts: 465 (2008)

Internet users: 4,000 (2002)

See also : British Virgin Islands

Deregulation of the telephone market

bmobile's headquarters in the BVI. BMobile BVI headquarters.jpg
bmobile's headquarters in the BVI.

In 2006, the British Virgin Islands government undertook a deregulation of the telephone industry. [1] Prior to 2006, in common with many other Caribbean countries, Cable & Wireless (Caribbean) had a statutory monopoly [2] on telephone and other electronic communications services. However, in the 1990s, a local company called CCT Boatphone, which had previously provided radio boatphones to tourists on charter boats, expanded into cellular (mobile) telecommunications for land-based users. Although technically in breach of the statutory monopoly, CCT Boatphone was backed by a powerful collection of local interests known as the BVI Investment Club. Negotiations between Cable & Wireless and CCT Boatphone led to a split of the monopolies, with Cable & Wireless retaining a monopoly over fixed line and internet services, and CCT Boatphone keeping a de facto monopoly over cellular telephones.

In 2007 the government abolished the previously existing monopolies under an order made pursuant to the new legislation. The process proved politically fraught, and the government's Minister for Communications and Works, Alvin Christopher, ended up leaving the government and joining the opposition party as a result of the furore. The process was also criticised as cumbersome and slow, the initial deregulation having been announced in 2004, and taking no less than three years to come to fruition through delays in legislation and regulation.

Although there have been no new entrants into the fixed line industry, the government issued three licences under the new regime to cellular telephone service providers. The existing provider, CCT Boatphone, obtained one licence. Bmobile, the cellular arm of Cable & Wireless, obtained a second. The third licence was obtained by BVI Cable TV, a local cable television service. The licence in favour of BVI Cable was controversial, as the Regulator had announced in advance that only three licences in total would be issued, and BVI Cable TV had crumbling cable television infrastructure, and was in no position to offer cellular telephone services (and to date, has not offered any cellular telephone services, or anything other than simple cable television). However, bmobile's main regional competitor, Digicel, was rejected for a licence. The decision was regarded as highly controversial in the local media. [3]

Digicel then issued court proceedings against the Regulator, arguing that he had acted improperly by imposing an arbitrary limit of three licences (although no complaint was made about the decision to prefer BVI Cable TV's improbable licence over Digicel). Bmobile was joined to the suit as an interested party. High Court Judge Rita Joseph-Olivetti found in favour of Digicel and quashed the original decision. [4] Digicel commenced separate proceedings against Cable and Wireless (as bmobile's parent company) in the English courts, claiming that Cable & Wireless has unfairly stifled competition in several Caribbean jurisdictions. [5] During the intervening period, bmobile has obtained a virtual stranglehold on the cellular telecommunications market in the British Virgin Islands by a combination of low prices and aggressive advertising, as well as significant investment in infrastructure and technology. [6]

Digicel was finally granted a licence on 17 December 2007 and started operations in the BVI on 28 November 2008. [7] [8] [9]

Related Research Articles

Telecommunications in Antigua and Barbuda are via media in the telecommunications industry. This article is about communications systems in Antigua and Barbuda.

This article is about communications systems in Anguilla.

Communications in the Cayman Islands

Telecommunications in Dominica comprises telephone, radio, television and internet services. The primary regulatory authority is the National Telecommunication Regulatory Commission which regulates all related industries to comply with The Telecommunications Act 8 of 2000.

Though Guam is a United States territory, some U.S. long-distance plans and courier services list Guam as an international location. As a result of Guam's being added to the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) in 1997, calls made to the U.S., Canada, or other participating countries from Guam only require the caller to dial a 1 followed by the area code.

Telecommunications in Haiti Internet, radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones.

The Isle of Man has an extensive communications infrastructure consisting of telephone cables, submarine cables, and an array of television and mobile phone transmitters and towers.

Telecommunications in Jamaica include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet.

Telecommunications in Trinidad and Tobago include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet.

Communications in the United States Virgin Islands

Communications in Barbados refers to the telephony, internet, postal, radio, and television systems of Barbados. Barbados has long been an informational and communications centre in the Caribbean region. Electricity coverage throughout Barbados is good and reliable. Usage is high and provided by a service monopoly, Barbados Light & Power Company Ltd..

Bermuda has three main television stations, a small cable microwave system, two public GSM services, multiple submarine cables, and two main Internet service providers. In late 2020 a new provider Horizon Communications gained regulatory approval. Horizon Communications offers High speed 4G and soon 5G Fixed LTE Wireless connection, with burstable bandwidth.

This is a list of Communications in Saint Kitts and Nevis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago</span> Telephone and internet service provider in Trinidad and Tobago

Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago Limited is a large telephone and Internet service provider in Trinidad and Tobago. The company, which is jointly owned by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago and Cable & Wireless Communications, was formed out of a merger of Telco and Textel. TSTT no longer holds a monopoly in fixed-line telephone services due to FLOW introducing a fixed-line service of their own, and their cellular monopoly was broken in June 2005 when licenses were granted to Digicel and Laqtel.

Area code 246 is the telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for Barbados. Telecommunication services in Barbados are regulated by the Government of Barbados's telecommunications unit. The number 246 spells BIM on an alpha-numeric telephone keypad, a nickname for the island.

Area codes 876 and 658 are the local telephone area codes of Jamaica. The first area code, 876, was created during a split from the original 809 area code. Permissive dialing began 1 May 1997 and ended 1 May 1998.

Communications in Grenada

Telecommunications in Guyana include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet. Early telecommunications were owned by large foreign firms until the industry was nationalized in the 1970s. Government stifled criticism with a tight control of the media, and the infrastructure lagged behind other countries, Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) holding a monopoly on most such services. In a 2012 census report on Guyanese households, 55.5% had a radio, 82.7% had a television, 27.8% had a personal computer, and 16.2% had internet at home, 49.3% had a telephone landline, and 70.6% had a cellular phone.

LIME, an acronym for 'Landline, Internet, Mobile, Entertainment', was a communications provider owned by the British based Cable & Wireless Communications for its operations in Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines and Turks & Caicos in the Caribbean.

FLOW is one of many trade names of the Caribbean former telecom Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC), now known as Liberty Latin America used to market cable television, internet, telephone, and wireless services provided by the company. Flow also replaces the UTS brand in the Dutch and French Caribbean, following the recent acquisition and integration of United Telecommunications Service (UTS) by Liberty Latin America's CWC division.

References

PD-icon.svg This article incorporates  public domain material from the CIA document: World Factbook.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.