Caribbean - Telecoms Market Insights and Statistics

Synopsis

The telecoms markets in most Caribbean countries have been liberalised, with operators in these markets able to offer a full range of telecom services. Telecoms remains one of the Caribbean’s major growth industries, particularly in the mobile telephony and data sectors.

Cable & Wireless (operating services under the LIME brand) is the dominant telecom provider in most regional markets, with Digicel and other players offering effective competition. Investment in the telecoms sector has been affected by the global financial crisis, which has led to reduced revenue for operators, scaled-back government programmes and a weakened tourist sector. Given the dependence on tourism by local economies, lower revenue helped to trigger recession in most Caribbean nations, leading a number of them to turn to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank for rescue financing or for alternative fiscal and monetary policy arrangements. Yet, spurred by signs of increasing tourist numbers and offshore company activity, the region’s economy is expected to have grown 3.1% in 2011 and to develop at a similar rate in 2012.

This report analyses the telecom market in the Caribbean, including recent regulatory measures, telecom infrastructure updates and developments in key sectors including mobile, broadband and fixed-telephony.

Key developments:

Digicel launches WiMAX network in Barbados; LIME launches FttH in Jamaica with a view to offering triple play services; regulatory developments to 2012; operator data for Q3 2011 with updates to early 2012.

Companies covered in this report include:

Digicel, Cable & Wireless, Globalstar.

Table of Contents

• 1. Synopsis
• 2. Telecommunications market
  • 2.1 Overview
• 3. Regulatory environment
  • 3.1 Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)
  • 3.2 Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL)
  • 3.3 Telecom sector liberalisation
  • 3.4 Caribbean Association of National Telecommunication Organisations (CANTO)
• 4. Major telecom operators in the Caribbean
  • 4.1 LIME (Cable & Wireless)
  • 4.2 Digicel
• 5. Telecommunications infrastructure
  • 5.1 Fixed-line teledensity
  • 5.2 Submarine cable systems
• 6. Broadband market
  • 6.1 Overview
    • 6.1.1 Broadband statistics
• 7. Mobile communications
  • 7.1 Overview of mobile markets in the Caribbean
    • 7.1.1 Mobile statistics
  • 7.2 Satellite mobile
• 8. Related reports

• Table 1 – LIME financial data – 2010 - 2011
• Table 2 – LIME revenue by sector – 2010 - 2011
• Table 3 – Digicel Group financial data – 2011
• Table 4 – Fixed lines in service and teledensity in Caribbean countries – 2009
• Table 5 – Fixed-lines in service in select Caribbean countries – 2009 - 2012
• Table 6 – Internet users and penetration rate in Caribbean countries – Jun 2011
• Table 7 – Fixed-line broadband subscribers in select Caribbean countries – 2008 - 2012
• Table 8 – Mobile subscribers, annual change and penetration in Caribbean countries – Jun 2011

• Chart 1 – LIME revenue by sector – 2010 – 2011

• Exhibit 1 – Island territories of the Caribbean
• Exhibit 2 – Telecom privatisation and liberalisation in the Caribbean
• Exhibit 3 – Digicel’s Caribbean operations – 2012
• Exhibit 4 – Major submarine cable networks serving the Caribbean region