{"id":62018,"date":"2014-07-02T09:05:46","date_gmt":"2014-07-02T14:05:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ict-pulse.com\/?p=62018"},"modified":"2014-07-02T09:16:48","modified_gmt":"2014-07-02T14:16:48","slug":"snapshot-2014-update-state-telecoms-caribbean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2014\/07\/snapshot-2014-update-state-telecoms-caribbean\/","title":{"rendered":"Snapshot: 2014 update on the state of telecoms in the Caribbean"},"content":{"rendered":"

An update of fixed-line, mobile\/cellular and fixed-broadband Internet take up across select Caribbean countries, as of 2013.<\/em><\/p>\n

This year, 2014, marks our fourth review of telecoms services take up across the Caribbean, in terms of subscriptions density. Table 1 lists the countries that were included in the exercise, which we have increased from 17 to 22, since our 2013 iteration.<\/p>\n

\"Table

Table 1: List of countries surveyed for 2014 update on state of telecoms in the Caribbean (Source: ICT Pulse)<\/p><\/div>\n

The results presented were drawn from data published by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). However, we stress that although the ITU has established clear definitions for all of the indicators it collects, the countries are charged with supplying the data to the organisation. Hence it is not clear the extent to which the ITU corroborates or validates the data it publishes, and neither have any explanations been given for anomalies that might be evident.<\/p>\n

The per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP), purchasing power parity (PPP), was drawn from a number of resources, including the World Bank and CIA World Factbook. The latter was especially useful for countries that are colonies (or dependencies) of other countries, such as Anguilla, Aruba, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Montserrat and the Turks and Caicos Islands.<\/p>\n

Two things to note: (i) countries such as Cura\u00e7ao and Sint Maarten have not been included because the ITU did not publish data for those countries; and (ii) the data sets for Haiti and the Turk and Caicos Islands were incomplete, hence they were not be included in all of the services discussed.<\/p>\n

Results: Region-wide trends<\/h3>\n

Figure 1 shows subscription penetration rates for fixed-line, mobile\/cellular and fixed broadband Internet services averaged across the Caribbean (22 countries) over the past seven years. It can be readily observed that the subscription levels for mobile\/cellular service far outstrips that for the other two services featured. As at 2013, subscription densities for fixed-line voice and fixed Internet broadband were approximately a quarter and one-eighth that of mobile\/cellular service, respectively.<\/p>\n

\"Figure

Figure 1: Averaged fixed-line, mobile\/cellular and fixed broadband Internet subscription penetration rates across the Caribbean from 2007\u20142013 (Source: ITU)<\/p><\/div>\n

Interestingly, over the seven-year period under review, both the mobile\/cellular and fixed-line voice services experienced a steady but slight decline in take up, whilst fixed broadband Internet has been increasing. As at the end of 2013, the averaged subscription densities across the region were:<\/p>\n