Communications in Barbados
Encyclopedia
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. (a division of Canada
-based Emera
).
The International Telecommunication Union
(ITU) call sign
prefix
allocated for all radio
and television
broadcasts in Barbados is 8P, and this replaced the former ZN as a British territory
.
Barbados has had various forms of Communications as early as the 1840s. Some of the earliest expressions of inter-island communication includes a number of signal stations built along the high points of the island to relay acts of transgression towards the island to the Saint Ann's Garrison on the south-west coast. The first telephone network in the country was developed in 1884. As the former British Empire
's All Red Line
came into existence during the early 1900s, Barbados played an importain role as a crucial link in the trans-Atlantic
communications network. By 1935 a hard wired cable-based radio network was later deployed throughout the country to broadcast the Rediffusion
service directly from London
to homes and business across Barbados.
In 2001 the Government of Barbados
and the local Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier
(ILEC) provider, Cable & Wireless signed a MOU beginning a phased process of liberalisation of the international segment of Barbados' telecommunications sector. The process was aimed at bringing Barbados' sector into compliance with the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The plan outlined the first phase commencing on 1 December 2001 and the entire process ending with full liberalisation being achieved on 1 August 2003. As these target dates were missed, the Phase I process was later commenced on 1 November 2002, with Phase II and III beginning on 16 November 2003 and 21 February 2004 respectively. Full liberalisation was attained in February, 2005, for the international telecommunications services market.
, telephone service for the period 2000-2004, stated Barbados had 124 telephones in usage for every 100 people. Telecommunications are virtually universally accessible to all.
Telephone
s - main lines in use:
Telephones - mobile cellular:
Telephone system:
Mobile providers:
Radio
s:
Television broadcast stations:
Television
s:
(ISPs):
Internet country code
:
Internet
hosts:
Internet users:
was ranked by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and UNICEF to be one of the most wired countries in the world on a per capita
basis. The report entitled "State Of The World's Children 2007" stated Barbados had rate of Internet
usage which was 55 users for every 100 people. This ranking meant that only 13 nations: Australia
, Canada
, Finland
, South Korea
, Liechtenstein
, Luxembourg
, Malta
, the Netherlands
, San Marino
, Singapore
, Sweden
, Britain
and the United States
had a higher ratios per head of population. In so scoring this placed Barbados in the lead for the Caribbean
and Latin America
regions.
Telephone services in Barbados are provided by: LIME (Incumbent), Digicel
, Sunbeach
, WIISCOM,
Internet services in the country are provided by: CariAccess, CaribSurf, Sunbeach Communications, TeleBarbados
/Freemotion.bb, WI-NET INC.
ADSL services are widely available, as are Frame Relay and other more advanced services.
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
. Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
has long been an informational and communications centre in the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
region. Electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
coverage throughout Barbados is good and reliable. Usage is high and provided by a service monopoly, Barbados Light & Power Company Ltd. (a division of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
-based Emera
Emera
Emera Incorporated is a Halifax, Nova Scotia based energy and services company with 570,000 customers.It operates three utility subsidiaries:* Nova Scotia Power* Bangor Hydro Electric Company* Saint Lucia Electricity Services Limited...
).
The International Telecommunication Union
International Telecommunication Union
The International Telecommunication Union is the specialized agency of the United Nations which is responsible for information and communication technologies...
(ITU) call sign
Call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations...
prefix
ITU prefix
The International Telecommunication Union allocates call sign prefixes for radio and television stations of all types. They also form the basis for, but do not exactly match, aircraft registration identifiers. These prefixes are agreed upon internationally, and are a form of country code...
allocated for all radio
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
and television
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
broadcasts in Barbados is 8P, and this replaced the former ZN as a British territory
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
.
History
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
's All Red Line
All Red Line
The All Red Line was an informal name for the system of electrical telegraphs that linked much of the British Empire.It was inaugurated on 31 October 1902. It had this name because on many political maps, British Empire territory was coloured red ....
came into existence during the early 1900s, Barbados played an importain role as a crucial link in the trans-Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
communications network. By 1935 a hard wired cable-based radio network was later deployed throughout the country to broadcast the Rediffusion
Rediffusion
Rediffusion was a business which distributed radio and TV signals through wired relay networks. The business gave rise to a number of other companies, including Associated-Rediffusion, later known as Rediffusion London, one of the first companies to win a terrestrial ITV franchise in the UK...
service directly from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to homes and business across Barbados.
In 2001 the Government of Barbados
Government of Barbados
Government of Barbados consists of: The Monarch, HM Queen Elizabeth II ; The Prime Minister, The Hon. Freundel Stuart, and his Cabinet; as legislature, divided into two chambers , and an independent judiciary...
and the local Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier
Incumbent local exchange carrier
An ILEC, short for incumbent local exchange carrier, is a local telephone company in the United States that was in existence at the time of the breakup of AT&T into the Regional Bell Operating Companies , also known as the "Baby Bells." The ILEC is the former Bell System or Independent Telephone...
(ILEC) provider, Cable & Wireless signed a MOU beginning a phased process of liberalisation of the international segment of Barbados' telecommunications sector. The process was aimed at bringing Barbados' sector into compliance with the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The plan outlined the first phase commencing on 1 December 2001 and the entire process ending with full liberalisation being achieved on 1 August 2003. As these target dates were missed, the Phase I process was later commenced on 1 November 2002, with Phase II and III beginning on 16 November 2003 and 21 February 2004 respectively. Full liberalisation was attained in February, 2005, for the international telecommunications services market.
Telephone
The rate of telecommunications penetration in Barbados ranks among the highest in the world. According to the International Telecommunication UnionInternational Telecommunication Union
The International Telecommunication Union is the specialized agency of the United Nations which is responsible for information and communication technologies...
, telephone service for the period 2000-2004, stated Barbados had 124 telephones in usage for every 100 people. Telecommunications are virtually universally accessible to all.
Telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
s - main lines in use:
- 134,900 (2005)
- county comparison to the world: 133
Telephones - mobile cellular:
- 237,100 (2006)
- county comparison to the world: 165
Telephone system:
- general assessment: fixed-line teledensity of roughly 50 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular telephone density of about 85 per 100 persons
- domestic: island-wide automatic telephone system
- international access code: +1.246 (in the North American Numbering PlanNorth American Numbering PlanThe North American Numbering Plan is an integrated telephone numbering plan administered by Neustar which encompasses 24 countries and territories, including the United States and its territories, Canada, Bermuda, and 16 nations of the Caribbean...
, Area code 246Area code 246The area code +1 246 is a composite part of the telephone numbering plan for Barbados, also known as the National Numbering Plan. Area code +1 246 is part of a system used for assigning telephone numbers in Barbados, and functions as a part of the North American Numbering Plan...
);
-
-
- landing point for:
-
- 1) the East Caribbean Fiber System (ECFS) submarine cable with links to 13 other islands in the eastern Caribbean extending from the British Virgin IslandsBritish Virgin IslandsThe Virgin Islands, often called the British Virgin Islands , is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the remaining islands constituting the U.S...
to TrinidadTrinidadTrinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
; - 2); the Antilles Crossing Phase 1Antilles CrossingAntilles Crossing is an underwater 20 gigabit per second fiber optics ring network connecting several countries in the Caribbean Sea.It was built by TeleBarbados, and is one of the newer important network connections to the Internet for Caribbean countries in the Windward and Leeward Islands...
link to the US Virgin IslandsUnited States Virgin IslandsThe Virgin Islands of the United States are a group of islands in the Caribbean that are an insular area of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.The U.S...
via Saint LuciaSaint LuciaSaint Lucia is an island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It covers a land area of 620 km2 and has an...
;
- 1) the East Caribbean Fiber System (ECFS) submarine cable with links to 13 other islands in the eastern Caribbean extending from the British Virgin Islands
- satellite earth stations - 1 (IntelsatIntelsatIntelsat, Ltd. is a communications satellite services provider.Originally formed as International Telecommunications Satellite Organization , it was—from 1964 to 2001—an intergovernmental consortium owning and managing a constellation of communications satellites providing international broadcast...
- Atlantic Ocean); tropospheric scatter to Trinidad and Saint LuciaSaint LuciaSaint Lucia is an island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It covers a land area of 620 km2 and has an...
(2007)
-
Mobile providers:
-
-
- Current: LIMELIME (Cable & Wireless)LIME, an acronym for 'Landline, Internet, Mobile, Entertainment', is a communications provider owned by the British based Cable & Wireless Communications plc operating in Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts...
, DigicelDigicelDigicel is a mobile phone network provider covering parts of Oceania, Central America, and the Caribbean regions. The company is owned by Irishman Denis O'Brien, is incorporated in Bermuda, and based in Jamaica. It provides mobile services in 26 countries and territories throughout the Caribbean...
, SunbeachSunbeachSunbeach Communications Inc. is the leading Internet Service Provider, Internet webhosting provider and mobile/wireless phone company located in Barbados. Since the mid-1990s Sunbeach has been one of the chief competitors to the incumbent telecommunications company Cable and Wireless in providing... - Defunct: Cingular WirelessCingular WirelessAT&T Mobility LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T that provides wireless services to 100.7 million subscribers in the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands...
(divested to Digicel)
- Current: LIME
-
Broadcasting
Radio broadcast stations:- AM 2, FM 6, shortwaveShortwaveShortwave radio refers to the upper MF and all of the HF portion of the radio spectrum, between 1,800–30,000 kHz. Shortwave radio received its name because the wavelengths in this band are shorter than 200 m which marked the original upper limit of the medium frequency band first used...
0 (2004)-
- (VOB-AM 790 (Gospel), 8PX-AM 900 (CBC)
- (BBS 90.7FM, PBS 91.9FM, BBC 92.1FM, VOB 92.9FM, CBC 94.7FM, HOTT 95.3FM, Mix 96.9FM, Gospel 97.5FM, The One 98.1FM, WE 99.9FM(SVG), Q 100.7FM, SLAM 101.1FM, Faith 102.1FM, Love 104.1FM, Radio GED 106.1 FM)
-
Radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
s:
- 237,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations:
- 1 (plus two cable channels) (2004)
-
- 8PX-TV (C.B.C. TV8Caribbean Broadcasting CorporationThe Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation is the government-owned media corporation located in Barbados.The television service broadcasts on channel 8 and is the only legally-licensed, over-the-air television channel broadcasting in the country of Barbados...
) - Public Broadcast ServicePublic Broadcast ServiceThe Public Broadcast Service is a government-owned educational radio and television broadcast service located in Barbados. Public Broadcast Service owns a radio station, 91.1FM and its television programming will be introduced in 2009....
(PBS) -- Scheduled for 2009
- 8PX-TV (C.B.C. TV8
-
Television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
s:
- 76,000 (1997)
Internet
Internet Service ProvidersInternet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
(ISPs):
- 3+ (1999)
- (Cable & Wireless(CaribSurf), TeleBarbados/Freemotion.bbTeleBarbadosTeleBarbados Inc. is a recent start-up telecommunications company in the country of Barbados.Started as one of the first competitors in the new liberalised telecommunications market of Barbados, TeleBarbados is reforming itself to be a major competitor of the long time monopolistic incumbent...
, Sunbeach Communications)
Internet country code
Country code
Country codes are short alphabetic or numeric geographical codes developed to represent countries and dependent areas, for use in data processing and communications. Several different systems have been developed to do this. The best known of these is ISO 3166-1...
:
- .BB.bb.bb is the Internet country code top-level domain for Barbados. The .bb top-level domain has been maintained by several administrators since its creation. The first of which was the University of Puerto Rico. In 1996 the Government of Barbados sought the relegation of .bb to the incumbent local...
Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
hosts:
- 104 (2008)
- county comparison to the world: 178
Internet users:
- 160,000 (2005)
- county comparison to the world: 131
Broadband Internet access
Globally, the country of BarbadosBarbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
was ranked by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and UNICEF to be one of the most wired countries in the world on a per capita
Per capita
Per capita is a Latin prepositional phrase: per and capita . The phrase thus means "by heads" or "for each head", i.e. per individual or per person...
basis. The report entitled "State Of The World's Children 2007" stated Barbados had rate of Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
usage which was 55 users for every 100 people. This ranking meant that only 13 nations: Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
, Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein
The Principality of Liechtenstein is a doubly landlocked alpine country in Central Europe, bordered by Switzerland to the west and south and by Austria to the east. Its area is just over , and it has an estimated population of 35,000. Its capital is Vaduz. The biggest town is Schaan...
, Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
, Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, San Marino
San Marino
San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino , is a state situated on the Italian Peninsula on the eastern side of the Apennine Mountains. It is an enclave surrounded by Italy. Its size is just over with an estimated population of over 30,000. Its capital is the City of San Marino...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
had a higher ratios per head of population. In so scoring this placed Barbados in the lead for the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
and Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
regions.
Telephone services in Barbados are provided by: LIME (Incumbent), Digicel
Digicel
Digicel is a mobile phone network provider covering parts of Oceania, Central America, and the Caribbean regions. The company is owned by Irishman Denis O'Brien, is incorporated in Bermuda, and based in Jamaica. It provides mobile services in 26 countries and territories throughout the Caribbean...
, Sunbeach
Sunbeach
Sunbeach Communications Inc. is the leading Internet Service Provider, Internet webhosting provider and mobile/wireless phone company located in Barbados. Since the mid-1990s Sunbeach has been one of the chief competitors to the incumbent telecommunications company Cable and Wireless in providing...
, WIISCOM,
Internet services in the country are provided by: CariAccess, CaribSurf, Sunbeach Communications, TeleBarbados
TeleBarbados
TeleBarbados Inc. is a recent start-up telecommunications company in the country of Barbados.Started as one of the first competitors in the new liberalised telecommunications market of Barbados, TeleBarbados is reforming itself to be a major competitor of the long time monopolistic incumbent...
/Freemotion.bb, WI-NET INC.
ADSL services are widely available, as are Frame Relay and other more advanced services.
See also
- .bb.bb.bb is the Internet country code top-level domain for Barbados. The .bb top-level domain has been maintained by several administrators since its creation. The first of which was the University of Puerto Rico. In 1996 the Government of Barbados sought the relegation of .bb to the incumbent local...
- Call signs in North America
- List of countries by number of Internet users
External links
- telecoms.gov.bb - Government of Barbados' Telecommunications unit
- The Telecommunications Act, 2001
- Statistic by the Government of Barbados as of 2010