Telecommunications in the British Virgin Islands

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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)

* ZBVI 780 Tortola
* ZJKC-FM 90.9 Tortola (repeats WJKC 95.1 Christiansted, USVI)
* ZGLD-FM 91.7 Tortola
* ZCCR-FM 94.1 Todman's Peak
* ZWVE-FM 97.3 Tortola
* ZKNG-FM 100.9 Chalwell
* ZROD-FM 103.7 Tortola
* ZVCR-FM 106.9 Chalwell

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[edit | edit source]

File: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]

## References[edit | edit source]

1. ^ Telecommunications Act (No 10 of 2006)
2. ^ Under the Cable and Wireless (West Indies) Limited Telephones Act, 1975 (Cap 168)
3. ^ BVI Platinum news, 23 May 2007 and BVI Platinum news, 4 June 2007
4. ^ BVI Platinum News, 25 May 2007
5. ^ BBC World news, 19 July 2007
6. ^ BVI Platinum news, 8 June 2007 and BVI Platinum news, 25 June 2007
7. ^ Caribbean Net News: British Virgin Islands Archived 15 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine
8. ^ Jamaica Gleaner News – Digicel to take on two new markets – Investing US$15m in BVI roll-out, bids US$80m for Honduras licence – Friday | 21 December 2007 Archived 22 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine
9. ^ DIGICEL LAUNCHES IN BVI WITH US$17 MILLION INVESTMENT

This article incorporates public domain material from World Factbook. CIA.

* v
* t
* e

Telecommunications in the Americas

* North America
* Caribbean
* Central America
* Northern America
* South America

Sovereign states|

* Antigua and Barbuda
* Argentina
* Bahamas
* Barbados
* Belize
* Bolivia
* Brazil
* Canada
* Chile
* Colombia
* Costa Rica
* Cuba
* Dominica
* Dominican Republic
* Ecuador
* El Salvador
* Grenada
* Guatemala
* Guyana
* Haiti
* Honduras
* Jamaica
* Mexico
* Nicaragua
* Panama
* Paraguay
* Peru
* Saint Kitts and Nevis
* Saint Lucia
* Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
* Suriname
* Trinidad and Tobago
* United States
* Uruguay
* Venezuela

File:Americas (orthographic projection).svg

Dependencies and
other territories

* Anguilla
* Aruba
* Bermuda
* Bonaire
* British Virgin Islands
* Cayman Islands
* Curaçao
* Falkland Islands
* French Guiana
* Greenland
* Guadeloupe
* Martinique
* Montserrat
* Puerto Rico
* Saint Barthélemy
* Saint Martin
* Saint Pierre and Miquelon
* Saba
* Sint Eustatius
* Sint Maarten
* South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
* Turks and Caicos Islands
* US Virgin Islands

* v
* t
* e

Telecommunications industry in the United Kingdom

* Economy of the United Kingdom
* Science and technology in the United Kingdom

Companies|

| Infrastructure
providers|

* Arqiva
* Babcock International
* BT Wholesale and Ventures
* CityFibre
* Openreach
* Interxion
* TelecityGroup
* Telehouse Europe

|

Service
providers|

| Current|

* Andrews & Arnold
* Asda Mobile
* BT Group
* BT Consumer
* BT Business and Public Sector
* BT Global Services
* EE
* Plusnet
* China Mobile
* CMLink
* Claranet
* Colt Group
* The Co-operative
* Cable & Wireless
* Entanet
* Inmarsat
* KCOM Group
* Eclipse Internet
* Lebara
* Lycamobile
* Sky
* Sky Broadband
* TalkTalk
* Business
* Mobile
* TV
* Telecom Plus
* Tesco
* Three
* Three UK
* SMARTY
* Tru
* Trunk Networks
* Leetline
* No One
* Virgin Media O2
* O2
* Giffgaff
* Virgin Media
* Virgin Media Business
* Virgin Mobile
* Vodafone
* Vodafone UK
* Talkmobile
* Voipfone
* WightFibre
* Zen Internet

|

Defunct|

* AOL
* Atlantic Telegraph Company
* Be Un Limited
* Bonelli's Electric Telegraph Company
* British and Irish Magnetic Telegraph
* Cable & Wireless plc
* Cable & Wireless Worldwide
* Delight
* Electric Telegraph Company
* Energis
* Family
* General Post Office
* Gutta Percha Company
* Ionica
* London and Provincial District Telegraph
* Mercury
* National Telephone Company
* NTL
* Orange
* Ovivo
* Post Office
* Pipex
* Rabbit
* Sainsbury's
* Stan
* Submarine Telegraph
* Tiscali UK
* T-Mobile
* Universal Private Telegraph

Suppliers|

| Current|

* ARM Holdings
* Icera
* Metaswitch
* Sarantel
* Spirent
* Telent

|

Defunct|

* CSR
* GEC Plessey
* Marconi Company
* Marconi Communications
* Pace
* PicoChip
* Standard

Other|

* Carphone Warehouse
* Hibu

Government and
regulatory bodies|

* Broadband Stakeholder Group
* Defence Science and Technology Laboratory
* European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations
* International Telecommunication Union
* Ofcom
* Phone-paid Services Authority

Industry bodies|

* GSM Association
* Internet Service Providers Association
* Internet Telephony Services Providers’ Association
* LONAP
* London Internet Exchange
* MaNAP
* Symbian Foundation

In Crown Dependencies &
British Overseas Territories|

* Anguilla
* Antarctica (including British Antarctic Territory)
* Ascension Island
* Bermuda
* British Indian Ocean Territory
* British Virgin Islands
* Cayman Islands
* Falkland Islands
* Gibraltar
* Guernsey
* Isle of Man
* Jersey
* Montserrat
* Pitcairn Islands
* Saint Helena
* South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands
* Turks and Caicos Islands

History,
legislation|

* Adastral Park
* British Approvals Board for Telecommunications
* British Telecommunications Act 1981
* British telephone sockets
* BT Research
* BT site engineering code
* Buzby
* Communications Act 2003
* Earth stations in UK
* Hull Colour Pages
* Interception of Communications Act 1985
* Internet in UK
* Telegraph Act
* Telegraph Act 1868
* Telegraph Act 1885
* Telephone numbers in UK
* UK telephone code misconceptions
* Web blocking in UK

* Category
* Commons

* v
* t
* e

Telecommunications

History|

* Beacon
* Broadcasting
* Cable protection system
* Cable TV
* Communications satellite
* Computer network
* Data compression
* audio
* DCT
* image
* video
* Digital media
* Internet video
* online video platform
* social media
* streaming
* Drums
* Edholm's law
* Electrical telegraph
* Fax
* Heliographs
* Hydraulic telegraph
* Information Age
* Information revolution
* Internet
* Mass media
* Mobile phone
* Smartphone
* Optical telecommunication
* Optical telegraphy
* Pager
* Photophone
* Prepaid mobile phone
* Radio
* Radiotelephone
* Satellite communications
* Semaphore
* Semiconductor
* device
* MOSFET
* transistor
* Smoke signals
* Telecommunications history
* Telautograph
* Telegraphy
* Teleprinter (teletype)
* Telephone
* The Telephone Cases
* Television
* digital
* streaming
* Undersea telegraph line
* Videotelephony
* Whistled language
* Wireless revolution

File:Telecom-icon.svg

Pioneers|

* Nasir Ahmed
* Edwin Howard Armstrong
* Mohamed M. Atalla
* John Logie Baird
* Paul Baran
* John Bardeen
* Alexander Graham Bell
* Emile Berliner
* Tim Berners-Lee
* Francis Blake (telephone)
* Jagadish Chandra Bose
* Charles Bourseul
* Walter Houser Brattain
* Vint Cerf
* Claude Chappe
* Yogen Dalal
* Daniel Davis Jr.
* Donald Davies
* Amos Dolbear
* Thomas Edison
* Lee de Forest
* Philo Farnsworth
* Reginald Fessenden
* Elisha Gray
* Oliver Heaviside
* Robert Hooke
* Erna Schneider Hoover
* Harold Hopkins
* Gardiner Greene Hubbard
* Internet pioneers
* Bob Kahn
* Dawon Kahng
* Charles K. Kao
* Narinder Singh Kapany
* Hedy Lamarr
* Innocenzo Manzetti
* Guglielmo Marconi
* Robert Metcalfe
* Antonio Meucci
* Samuel Morse
* Jun-ichi Nishizawa
* Charles Grafton Page
* Radia Perlman
* Alexander Stepanovich Popov
* Tivadar Puskás
* Johann Philipp Reis
* Claude Shannon
* Almon Brown Strowger
* Henry Sutton
* Charles Sumner Tainter
* Nikola Tesla
* Camille Tissot
* Alfred Vail
* Thomas A. Watson
* Charles Wheatstone
* Vladimir K. Zworykin

Transmission
media|

* Coaxial cable
* Fiber-optic communication
* optical fiber
* Free-space optical communication
* Molecular communication
* Radio waves
* wireless
* Transmission line
* data transmission circuit
* telecommunication circuit

Network topology
and switching|

* Bandwidth
* Links
* Nodes
* terminal
* Network switching
* circuit
* packet
* Telephone exchange

Multiplexing|

* Space-division
* Frequency-division
* Time-division
* Polarization-division
* Orbital angular-momentum
* Code-division

Concepts|

* Communication protocol
* Computer network
* Data transmission
* Store and forward
* Telecommunications equipment

Types of network|

* Cellular network
* Ethernet
* ISDN
* LAN
* Mobile
* NGN
* Public Switched Telephone
* Radio
* Television
* Telex
* UUCP
* WAN
* Wireless network

Notable networks|

* ARPANET
* BITNET
* CYCLADES
* FidoNet
* Internet
* Internet2
* JANET
* NPL network
* Toasternet
* Usenet

Locations|

* Africa
* Americas
* North
* South
* Antarctica
* Asia
* Europe
* Oceania
* (Global telecommunications regulation bodies)

*   * Category
* Outline
* Commons

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