Bahamas
Telecommunications in The Bahamas
The Bahamas, known officially as the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is an archipelagic state within the Lucayan Archipelago. It consists of more than 700 islands, cays, and islets in the Atlantic Ocean, and is located north of Cuba and Hispaniola, northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands, southeast of the US state of Florida, and east of the Florida Keys.
The Bahamian mobile market was a monopoly of Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) until October 2016, when Aliv entered the market with a fully operational LTE network.
ITU Analysis
Notwithstanding the late introduction of competition in the mobile segment, the penetration rates in Bahamas are not far from the average in the region. The country stands out in regard to its higher percentage of individuals using the Internet as well as its mobile-broadband coverage, relative to the other countries in the region.
As with many small countries, the Bahamas’ various telecommunications segments are susceptible to a concentrated market but the regulator is committed to adopting the various measures necessary to move towards broader market liberalization. The country’s infrastructure already allows for a more intense usage uptake of the various telecommunications services. According to latest ITU data (June 2018) mobile coverage reaches 98% of the population, and 4G LTE also accessible by 95% of Bahamians.