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Telecommunications in the Bahamas

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Telecommunications in the Bahamas is accomplished through the transmission of information by various types of technologies within the Bahamas, mainly telephones, radio, television, and the Internet. The first telegraph line was laid in 1892 between Jupiter, Florida and current-day Cable Beach in New Providence.[1] The first telephone system was introduced on October 5, 1906 in Nassau.[2] Wireless telegraphy was introduced to Bimini in 1920, and the first telegraph station was opened in West End in 1925.[3] The first telephone service from the Bahamas to the United States was introduced on December 16, 1933.[4]

In 1966 the Telecommunications Department was incorporated as the Bahamas Telecommunication Corporation, also known as Batelco.[5] Batelco was reorganised into the Bahamian Telecommunications Company or BTC in 2002.[6] Cable Bahamas was founded in 1995 after a public equity raise with over 3000 Bahamians contributing.[7] The BDSNi submarine communications cable was built in the mid-2000s, connecting 14 islands of the archipelago, spanning more than 2,800 km.[8]

The use of radio communication and mobile telephony is regulated by the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority.[9] As of 2026, the only two licenced mobile operators in the Bahamas are Aliv, of which 48% belongs to Cable Bahamas, and BTC. The government of the Bahamas owns 49% of BTC and 51.75% of Aliv.[10]

Status

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Route of the ARCOS-1 fiber optic submarine communications cable. 22 is Crooked Island, 23 is Cat Island, and 24 is Nassau, Bahamas.

Telephones

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137,000 fixed lines, 141st in the world (2012).[11]

254,000 mobile cellular lines, 176th in the world (2012).[11]

Radio

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About 15 radio stations operating with BCB operating a multi-channel radio broadcasting network alongside privately owned radio stations (2007).[11]

Television

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2 stations (one in Nassau and one in Freeport, a rebroadcast transmitter, commercially run Broadcasting Corporation of the Bahamas (BCB); multi-channel cable TV subscription service is available (2007).[11]

Internet

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226,855 users, 152nd in the world (2012). 71.7% of the population, 47th in the world (2012).[12]

8,730 fixed broadband subscriptions, 52nd in the world (2012). 2.8% of the population, 120th in the world (2012).[13]

20,661 hosts, 117th in the world (2012).[14] 121,856 IPv4 addresses allocated, 385 for every 1,000 people (2012).[15]

Former internet service providers include:

  • Coral Wave – an email provider shut down by Rev on June 6, 2022[16]
  • BaTelNet – a dial-up and DSL internet service provider operated by the BTC[17]
  • SpeedWay Internet – a dial-up internet service provider[18]
  • DSL Bahamas – a DSL internet service provider[19]
  • BGC – wireless, LAN and WAN services
  • Out Island Internet – wireless and dial-up internet service provider[20]
  • Wicom Bahamas – fixed wireless service provider[21]

Internet censorship and surveillance

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Access to the Internet is unrestricted.[22] There were no government restrictions on access to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitors e-mail or Internet chat rooms without judicial oversight.[23]

The constitution provides for freedom of speech and press, and the government generally respects these rights in practice. An independent press combined with a relatively effective—albeit extremely backlogged—judiciary, and a functioning democratic political system ensures freedom of speech and press. The constitution prohibits arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence, and the government generally respects these prohibitions in practice.[23] Strict and antiquated libel laws dating to British legal codes are seldom invoked.[22]

In April 2013, the Bahamas Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade warned that the police would press charges against people who post “lewd” or “obscene” pictures on social media websites and Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson announced that the government was working on legislation that will police information posted on the Internet. "We have to balance freedom of the press with protecting the public,” she added.[24] Also in April Rodney Moncur was charged with "committing a grossly indecent act" by posting autopsy photographs of a man who died in police custody on his Facebook page.[25]

Phone calls to the Bahamas were monitored by the U.S. National Security Agency's MYSTIC program.[26]

See also

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References

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Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook (2025 ed.). CIA.

  1. ↑ "BAHAMAS INFORMATION SERVICES UPDATES". www.thebahamasweekly.com. 23 July 2012. Archived from the original on 28 February 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  2. ↑ "The fumbled, failed fiasco of BTC". The Nassau Guardian. 31 March 2014. Archived from the original on 28 February 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  3. ↑ Craton, Michael; Saunders, Gail (1998). Islanders in the Stream: A History of the Bahamian People. Athens Georgia: University of Georgia Press. p. 243. ISBN 0-8203-2284-9.
  4. ↑ Shepherd, Megan (17 December 2022). "Today in History: December 16". Our News. Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  5. ↑ Galanis, Philip C. (29 December 2014). "The fumbled, failed fiasco of BTC". Bahamas Local News. Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  6. ↑ "Fixed and Cellular Mobile Services". Bahamas Financial Services Board. 22 November 2002. Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  7. ↑ "Our Story". Cable Bahamas. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
  8. ↑ "north america". Lightwave+BTR. 22 (11): 8–10. 1 November 2005.
  9. ↑ "URCA Publishes National Spectrum Plan 2026-2029". Bahamas Local. 6 May 2026. Retrieved 5 July 2026.
  10. ↑ Hartnell, Neil (25 September 2023). "No third mobile operator during Davis Gov'ts term". The Tribune. Retrieved 5 July 2026.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Communications:: Bahamas, The", The World Factbook, U.S. Central Agency, 28 October 2013. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  12. ↑ "Percentage of Individuals using the Internet 2000–2012", International Telecommunication Union (Geneva), June 2013, retrieved 22 June 2013
  13. ↑ "Fixed (wired)-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012" Archived 26 July 2019 at the Wayback Machine, Dynamic Report, ITU ITC EYE, International Telecommunication Union. Retrieved on 29 June 2013.
  14. ↑ "Internet hosts", CIA World Factbook, U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, 2012, accessed 17 June 2013
  15. ↑ Select Formats Archived 13 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Country RFI IP Blocks. Accessed on 2 April 2012. Note: Site is said to be updated daily.
  16. ↑ "Coral Wave Email Retirement". REV. Retrieved 5 July 2026.
  17. ↑ "BaTelNet Web Portal - The Islands of the Bahamas". www.batelnet.bs. Archived from the original on 24 September 2005. Retrieved 5 July 2026.
  18. ↑ "Internet packages". future.bs. Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2026.
  19. ↑ "dslbahamas". www.dslbahamas.com. Archived from the original on 9 October 2007. Retrieved 5 July 2026.
  20. ↑ Lyman, William. "Out Island Inter.Net Home". www.abacoinet.com. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 5 July 2026.
  21. ↑ "WICOM Response to URCA Review of Wholesale Broadband Access" (PDF). The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority. 27 May 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2026.
  22. 1 2 "Bahamas", Freedom in the World 2013, Freedom House. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
  23. 1 2 "The Bahamas", Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 22 March 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
  24. ↑ "Offend someone online in Grenada... go to jail", Caribbean News Now, 1 July 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
  25. ↑ "Rodney Moncur Charged In Court Over Facebook Pictures", Lamech Johnson, Tribune 242, 5 April 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
  26. ↑ Devereaux, Ryan; Greenwald, Glenn; Poitras, Laura (19 May 2014). "Data Pirates of the Caribbean: The NSA Is Recording Every Cell Phone Call in the Bahamas". The Intercept. First Look Media. Archived from the original on 21 May 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
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