BFP reader Bajanboy considers the cost of broadband in Barbados…
I think the price of DSL internet access in Barbados is still too high, the connection speeds too low, and the service too mediocre. I was hoping with Telebarbados operating here, we would have seen the kind of competition that drove down prices and improved service for cellular subscribers. That has not happened even if one considers the recent doubling of the internet speeds (from very slow to slow) by Cable and Wireless.
In Japan, the cheapest cost per 1Mbps is US$0.22 while in Barbados it is US$50. While other countries move ahead, Barbados is falling behind by standing still.
Before Cable and Wireless launches its recently mooted IPTV service, they better had bring Barbados broadband access into the 21st century.
Bajanboy
Article Link: BBC News: Global Broadband Prices Revealed
67 Comments
July 16, 2007 at 6:27 pm
C&W are not doing a great job. They simply can’t meet the demand for internet bandwidth, it would seem.
‘Service’ North of Warrens is downright laughable to non-existent (take your pick!).
Service(once established) East of Bridgetown is acceptable but also spotty at times.
This comes to you via (temporary?) dialup
- they can’t seem to get my ADSL service working and it’s bin a week and a half now!!
July 16, 2007 at 6:31 pm
I have it on good authority that, by September,
EVERYone will have 1 megabyte ADSL.
That rate will be the minimum.
You won’t be able to sign up for 256 or 512….1 Megabyte will be the absolute minimum.
Whether it functions properly, or all-the-time is another matter
July 16, 2007 at 7:07 pm
Here in Bermuda, BTC (the local phone company) charges US$49 for its basic DSL package…
July 16, 2007 at 8:09 pm
(Quote)
#
God Bless David (Not Thompson or Commissiong!)
July 16th, 2007 at 7:07 pm
Here in Bermuda, BTC (the local phone company) charges US$49 for its basic DSL package…
(end Quote)
If Bermuda were independent- it would be the third richest country on earth too…
Don’t believe me? Google it…
Something like “Bermuda 3rd richest on earth” will return plenty hits.
July 16, 2007 at 8:15 pm
Verizon here in Boston has a promotion right now….
$14.99/Mo for ADSL.
(up to 768 Kbps)
OR for a raw fiberoptic line to your house.
$29.99/Mo
(up to 5 Mbps)
http://www22.verizon.com/content/consumerfios/packages+and+prices/packages+and+prices.htm
July 16, 2007 at 9:02 pm
Not before extracting some more from the cash cow.
July 16, 2007 at 10:09 pm
Surprisingly Barbados is substantially cheaper than Trinidad when it comes to Internet service.
Many people there have to subscribe for so many hours per month because the fulltime is so expensive, around double what we pay, I believe. One of the very few bargains we get.
No doubt our friendly colonial monopolist, Cable and Wireless, is behind the extortionate rates Trinis pay.
July 16, 2007 at 11:31 pm
C&W is joking when they say these ADSL connections are 1MB. You rarely get over 150 kB !!! This is not even considered ADSL speed on the internet. If you do not believe me, try this bandwidth test: http://reviews.cnet.com/7004-7254_7-0.html
I understand we are sharing bandwidth with other users, but why promise a service you cannot deliver C&W ?!
July 16, 2007 at 11:48 pm
Bajanboy _ first thing the rates you quoted were per second _ not unlimited monthly rates _ you should maybe read the article more fully as it clearly states what the rates for monthly is.
But if the move to 1mb is going to happen then the rate is in line when you realise where all the content that you access is. As a former employee of Exodus who hosted hotmail, google, yahoo, msn amongst others most content is based in the US and you have to pay to get to it.
July 16, 2007 at 11:51 pm
Yeah…real pathetic huh?
Oy, how much is it for a T1 connection? An arm and a leg, still?
Look, let Sprint come down here and give some REAL competition, nuh!
July 17, 2007 at 12:32 am
Actually, itprofessional, the rate for japan would work out to US$22 for a 100 Mbps connection, hence the US$0.22 per Mb per second. I know you cannot strictly compare the two, but we are still paying a lot for a little. Someone also raised an intersting point. How do we know if we are getting what we pay for? I know you never really get the theoretical maximum throughput you are paying for, but at what speed does it become a case of the consumer not getting what they pay for?
July 17, 2007 at 4:55 am
Re: The Peeper
Sprint sold off their phone business cuzz it was losing money… They are not mostly just a cell phone company…. The phone business of Sprint is called Embarq…
MCI got snatched up by Verizion.
and AT&T got snatched up by SBC. (which changed their name then to AT&T.)
Nah. You don’t want T1 line…. T1 line is sometimes split up just to be ADSL lines… MIT has T1 lines in most of their on campus dorms… But it’ll run you a couple hundred maybe US$300 a month… Some charge upto $800/Mo for each T1 line… But if u goin wid T1- you might as well go T3- or jump to an OC3 or an OC48 line….
Then you really——— would have the Internet in your living room…. Ofcourse then your PC’s processor (not the Internet) would be the issue starting to slow down your browsing….
July 17, 2007 at 5:00 am
Re: Bajanboy
It is tough to prove… that and ISP isn’t providing what they claim it usually involves having to setup a company on the network that does various network pings to certain servers. e.g. showing latency times and so on. And your burdon of proof lies with showing latency leaving the C&W global backbone network and entering the wider- Internet. You usually then have to show slow latency from the bridge unit to the CO…. It is tough to do…. People in my area had to start proceedings on a class action against MediaOne (The cable modem company that became AT&T Broadband— Now Comcast) It was tough to prove… You have to prove that the slow down is caused by their network alone. Meaning they’re not making the investment that they should be for the price.
July 17, 2007 at 5:03 am
opps…. *Correction* Company = Setting up a –computer– on the network…..
hehe
July 17, 2007 at 5:05 am
I always laugh when some “IT Professional” has to explain away the unreasonably high rates of Cable & Wuklessness. 1 dollar that says the next excuse is how expensive it is to run internet to this little rock in the middle of the pond. I think I need to take a deep breath before I start to get vex again just by thinking of these excuse making scallywags. The prices are unreasonable for what is delievered period. Just.. put .. that …in .. your …pipe and smoke it. Stop the explaining away man. You only piss us off even more.
July 17, 2007 at 12:44 pm
Look, let Sprint come down here and give some REAL competition, nuh!
How’s THAT gonna work??
The Government (read B.L.P.//O$A) is in bed with C&W,
so no more competition,please, We’re Bajan.
As it is, Digicel is in here, giving land-lines a run for their money.
Government(read BLP/O$A) is in bed with EVERY money making entity on this island,
and so they(Gov’t./BLP/O$A) control EVERYthing.
You’re yet to understand how African tinpot republics work, aren’t you?!
July 17, 2007 at 12:49 pm
Is Cable & Wireless crashing and burning slowly?
so many times I’ve called their help line at 1-800-804-2994 for this or that,
to be told “I’m sorry we can’t help you right now, coz our system(computer) is down”
I just laughed in her ear, five minutes ago, when I got that response. I reckon this happens about twice a week?
(am I being too easy on them? 3-4 times a week?)
Maybe they should consider running their computer system on a real OS, like Unix or Linux?
My ADSL has been down now for nearly two weeks and I am spinning my top in mud.
Only dialup access is saving my sanity.
It’s been fun.
July 17, 2007 at 12:58 pm
It seems to be the general trend to deliver one-tenth what you pay for.
When I was at “256″ download speeds were in the general range of 25-30 Kb.per sec.
When it got bumped up to 512, it shot up to around 45-50 Kb.per sec.
(these figures while steadily downloading software installers)
Come September, when 1 Megabyte is the standard,
we’ll get around 100Kb.per sec. download speeds.
It’s that simple.
Mom? ..Dad?
How come by internet bill isn’t one-tenth what it is,now??
July 17, 2007 at 1:21 pm
Cable and Wireless has sucked the Caribbean dry for years….. It’s no surprise… Their operations should have been nationalised long ago because if Barbados was at least putting the money they are paying to C&W and their CEOs in London, and their London based shareholders in the pockets of some Barbados fund Barbados would be much better off. Even if it was going into a fund to support schools, libraries and perhaps a low intrest fund for Bajans to startup their own businesses…. The island would be rich.
July 17, 2007 at 2:00 pm
Barbados cannot afford to nationalise Cable & Wireless operation.
Didn’t we try dat, already?
Didn’t we turn it into BARTEL?
Where is BARTEL today.
Oh wait…it turned right back into Cable & Wireless, from whence it originally came!
How long did that process take?
20 years? – if that?
———
Yours Truly,
Mauby Money.
July 17, 2007 at 2:14 pm
Cable and Wireless constantly cites the amount of investment they paid into the local network…
Firstly way-back-when I think it reasonable to suspect that slaves on the island were probably paid very little (if anything) for hauling those telephone poles across the country and putting them up. I can’t back this up with any information but if history is indicitive of how things were done back then, I’d wager a small sum on it. Secondly C&W’s network was taken apart and totally revamped when the fore-runner to Verizon (G.T.E.) took over the telephone business in Barbados just after ‘66 independence GTE did much of the upgrading….
July 17, 2007 at 2:17 pm
But that government has no vision…
If I had done it I would have separated the POTS from the dial tone service. (Just as the USA did with the AT&T break up). This meant you could subscribe to any carrier as your phone service “sponsor” and then the other division would just do regular maintanance of the phone network. E.g. the C&W workers you see maintaining the network around the island… The Bahamas owns their own phone network and you don’t hear scandal there…. Trinidad and Tobago owns 51% of TSTT (C&W only owns 49%) so its not far fetch. Ofcourse Bahamas is better run than TSTT.
July 17, 2007 at 3:48 pm
Bahamas =
http://www.btcbahamas.com/
&
http://www.batelnet.bs/
If the Barbados Gov’t had some vision they should put liberalisation of the telecom market on the agenda during the talks with the Canadian P.M…
I’m certain if 1-2 Canadian Cos. launch service in Barbados they’d be able to shake things up…. Possibly leading to lower rates since they’re not likely to charge their Barbados operations a lot of money when calling to their North American operations.
July 17, 2007 at 9:16 pm
My plan would have been this… I think it would be way— cheaper than the current C&W Juggernaut structure we have now *and* way more economical to the Barbados economy at large.
Step 1) Kick out C&W. It has been umm “fun” over the years but- they are holding back progress.
I have a far more innovative plan that keeps costs down for the average Barbadian…
As per this article below. It is clear Barbados and Jamaica are nowsupporting most of the bulk of this C&W $company.
–
Hetherington steers Cable & Wireless’ Caribbean businesses on the right course – By Al Edwards
Friday, June 22, 2007
Link: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/maga…GHT_COURSE_.asp
Now of the local company- I would split it into two distinct comapanies.
Part A) Would be the Phone service…
(e.g. the dial tone.)
and
Part B) The Physical Barbados network.
This plan of mine uses some of the ingenuity that has worked in the Bahamas, and Bermuda. And even with some Asia thrown in. But more importaintly it raises the stakes to bring Barbados to the forefront and cutting edge for telecommunications.
The aim would also– make Barbados into a major global inter-connection point in the Backbone of the Internet and should lower the cost of affordable high speed bandwidth into/from Barbados.
It is kind of complicated but it works well.
The phone company (dial-tone provider) would be floated freely to compete against other competitors. Any phone company can come launch service…. the policy towards new entrants will be… May the best company win….. This means new comers might have to offer things like free voicemail. Or even drop the price charged for the first few months to win customers over…
Anyway The part B of the company would continue to administer the Barbados network during the day to day. It would carry out repairs. It would watch network problems dealing with service load… Network outages… And maintaining the Central Office/Switching Office areas… It would also do things like adding new equipment to the network… Implement service installs etc. etc. This part b would be a contractor for any phone company that became registered to Barbados.
There would then be created in Barbados a Telecommunications council which would consist of a Minister of telecommunications plus- a single representative member from each of the largest phone providers that were operating in Barbados. This council (a largely unpaid role)…
However— P.S. their representing companies can pay their salary would vote on national telecom policy in Barbados.
Why this works??? If the largest telecom companies in Barbados keep getting requests by their customers for things like Fiberopitcs to them home/business. They will tell their representative on the council to vote for it. If other telecoms in Barbados are getting the same request they’re also likely to vote for it. Which means with widespread adoption throughout Barbados it means the service will likely be used. You wont have situations where for example a unilateral company like Cable and Wireless might say. We’re going to give the public this feature and they can take it or leave it…. But the public will decide what they want on their own…
In terms of this council companies like Sunbeach, Freemotion, Digicel etc would probably all each have representatives to this council since they are currently the largest telecom companies in Barbados (customers wise.)
The council’s job would be *vote* on whatever technology is to be implemented to the national Barbados network.. Example if all the telecoms in Barbados decide they want to roll out ADSL. (and why wouldn’t they.) The council can then come together raise the funds to pay the part b. company to either find an International tender or pay part b to carry out the upgrade themselves. Since this is all by vote…. Companies have more flexibility on the Barbados network.
If a company on or off– the council wants to launch a service on the Barbados network that they think would benefit the country but they can’t get the votes… Meaning other telecoms in Barbados think it would be a waste of money. This other company can still privately raise the funds for that technology and pay to add it to their back-end whereas their customers would have access to it.
This guarantees that you don’t have a situation where a few large companies on the council keep voting down something innovative that makes a competitor stand out.
Also a group of companies for example can come together and pay to have a certain feature implemented to the Barbados telephone phone network and operated out of their own phone switching office (at their own expense). And they can then offer it as something unique in Barbados to their customers.
Local Barbadian telecom firms would be charged *less* (in their startup years) than the well established global providers. Face it Barbadian companies deserve some subsidies to enter the market. Errol Barrow believed this for example I read when he gave subsidies to the Solar hot water companies so they could become more established in Barbados and regionally. Plus with companies being in charge of what gets added it creates an incentive where some or a couple of these companies will try to push the latest technology in Barbados to get customers to join them.
July 17, 2007 at 9:25 pm
Since all that would be required to become a telecom in Barbados is a license fee. And a small some deposited into an escrow trust. (So that companies aren’t just leaving with people’s money etc.) Any company would be able to provide service in Barbados, AT&T, Embarq(Sprint), Verizon, Qwest, British Telecom, NTT(from Japan.), Brazil Telephone, South Africa Telephone you name it….
All can pay the registration fee and be able to provide service on the network but it is up to them to roll out the services that they feel will help them retain a large enough consumer base in Barbados…. I mean even if Vonage wants to pay license fee to provide service… That is ok…. All the customer would have to pay for is the Part B. company. (which is essential to even have a network in Barbados.) and then Vonage and voila… It would be up to these companies to find out how they can provide the best service for the cheapest.
I say let the Free market do it’s thing… But be fair to all.
July 18, 2007 at 12:03 am
c&w a joke
I ran the test you suggested and what did I get? 163.7kbps. Now that is pathetic if anything is.
July 18, 2007 at 12:42 am
J. Payne
Ideas sound more than feasible. Get the feeling you are an insider of sorts. Don’t be surprised if you should see your ideas in somebody’s manifesto soon.
You know how we are at times. Like to copy things and I do hope that someone copy this stuff.
July 18, 2007 at 1:29 am
Its funny you mention that. I sent this plan to the BLP before about 2 years ago via email…. I think Barbados needs to move forward and grab telecommunications by the horns because there’s not many other industries right now which Barbados is excelling at.
As far as me… I used to work at AT&T Broadband (MediaOne division)… Ofcourse back then, other US Internet companies in the USA wanted access to the cable infrastructure. Its funny, AOL was the ring leader pushing a campaign called the “Open Net Coalition….”
They were pushing the FCC/US government to adopt regulation to force-open the head end of cable companies to all providers that wanted to interconnect and be able to provide their own services directly to people’s homes.
Their argument was it is not feasible to literally have (for example) 13 pairs of copper hanging off a telephone pole just to have various choices between providers. The twisted-pair that is up there should be able to carry all other providers esp. since it is traveling along the public’s right of way…. They also reasoned that every time there is a new entrant it shouldn’t mean that roads across the US need to be re-dug up to lay new phone cables when the existing lines should suffice…
I personally didn’t see anything wrong with the idea that the cable networks should be open. I thought AT&T should spin off the Cable business if AT&T thinks it will be unprofitable– then they should keep the network infrastructure business which has to make money in order for the network to even exist in the country and go from there….
My plan basically leaves the functioning of the organisation intact but it makes it un-baisedly open to all local companies… It also gets government out of the way of technology since it is the free market in Barbados that would be vocal in what the Barbados public should be offered technology wise….
The problem is in big companies like C&W when they have a monopoly they just use places like Barbados to pay the salary for upper upper upper—- managment. Barbados can cut all that out and pass on the savings allowing more people to launch their own technology companies in Barbados and in turn have a better chance at those higher paid salaries.
Plus the Barbados gov’t would earn money every time a new phone company wants to register to become a local provider and they pay the registration fee… That money can go into a fund to perhaps be low intrest loans for small business owners or something like that as I’ve said already.
July 18, 2007 at 3:05 am
A quick primer:
MB = megabyte
mb = megabit
1 byte = 8 data bits + 1 start bit + 1 stop bit = 10 bits
so 512 mb/sec = 51.2 MB/sec
The Opera web browser shows the download speed
when obtaining web pages and/or files. Try it, you
might like it (www.opera.com)
I get 45 – 55 MB/sec nearly every time.
July 18, 2007 at 3:18 am
Crusty,
Who are you with for service? I’m on the 1.5MB(ROGLMAO) service from C&W and here is a cut & paste of my results
Download Speed: 408 kbps (51 KB/sec transfer rate)
Yup I’m getting less than a third of the speed I pay for; and it’s fast tonight, last night it was 167 kbps, anybody think C&W will accept $47 instead of $139?
So if you are getting 45-55MB/sec I need to switch
Please bench your service on speakeasy.net and post your results, I’d love to see them.
DFX
July 18, 2007 at 7:07 am
Hi DFX,
Long time no hear man.
Speakeasy is on of the better test to use,these are my results:
Last Result:
Download Speed: 1315 kbps (164.4 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 337 kbps (42.1 KB/sec transfer rate)
Speakeasy!
Time is 3:00am now in Bim.
Like I have said before ,C&W has a serious congestion problem because they doubled everyones speed without looking at the bigger picture of congestion on the network.All this to make you feel on par with TeleBarbados.
So if you want to enjoy your speed ….you have to lose some sleep since these speeds are only available between 1 am and 6 am.
July 18, 2007 at 7:54 am
download 1436
upload 352
at 3.54 am
July 18, 2007 at 11:40 am
From http://www.speakeasy.net test:
download 443 kbps
upload 175 kbps
at 0730, 18 July 2007 in Bim
I’m on C&W basic ADSL, now offering max rates
512 kbps download, 256 kbps upload.
Cost per month $ 69.00 incl VAT.
I can’t see what technology underlies the speed test
so I don’t know if the browser used makes any
difference in this case. http://www.opera.com
For a similar show of performance variations you
can compare Adobe Reader and Foxit Reader for
pdf files. There is a 40 : 1 difference in package size
and an unknown, but evident, difference in speed
of action while loading, displaying and moving in
a pdf file. http://www.foxitsoftware.com
Your mileage might vary.
July 18, 2007 at 12:38 pm
download 478 kbps
upload 349 kbps
at 8.38, 18 July 2007 in Bim
July 18, 2007 at 3:04 pm
Last Result:
Download Speed: 694 kbps .
Upload Speed: 295 kbps .
Time is 11:00am in Bim..
July 18, 2007 at 3:07 pm
download 430 kbps
upload 415 kbps
at 11.07 am
July 18, 2007 at 4:33 pm
Wishing in Vain:
How close are you from the nearest Exchange or Remote?
The distance also plays a role,not to mention the type and amount of splices along the cable route.
July 18, 2007 at 7:03 pm
You think C&W easy? Think again!
I moved house, moved tel.number
ADSL got terminated, completely,
as did my email account. dead! “no such username here,dude!”
Bouncing back mail to friends(they told me)
Finally got email a/c re-instated, but not ADSL.
After nr. 2 wks, finally I got back ADSL.
before the break, I had signed up for “256″, and got that….no, one-tenth that, but whatever.
- whatever passes for “256″
Then about a month ago, just before the move
every one got bumped up
(remember that,Chase?) – to “512″ or thereabouts)
Life was good.
“C&W was my friend” – at last.
yeah but that was Then and dis is Now.
I get fix up and got back ADSL
now I check my rate… “256″
I’m soooo naive: I thought I woulda get back in at the same ole “512″ that I was enjoying before the ‘break in transmission’. HA!
I’m so naive!
Doan mind, I gyne hold-on til the Sept. bump-up when allegedly we’ll all be at 1 Meg.
We’ll see.!
July 18, 2007 at 7:09 pm
NoC&WFan,
Very strange. There is no 256 service anymore. Everybody had their speed doubled. Call them again I know you know the number (I hear that you call it out in your sleep lol) or try resetting your modem. But don’t feel bad on my 1.5MB line I lucky to hit 512.
DFX
July 18, 2007 at 8:00 pm
noC&Wfan have you done a tracert? or tried to ping the C&W gateway?
July 18, 2007 at 8:04 pm
noC&Wfan
Is this speed as reported by a benchmark or in the modem?
DFX
July 18, 2007 at 8:23 pm
I don’t know what you guys are complaining about. Having returned to Bim from Canada I am quite pleased with the speed, price (following the recent 2x upgrade) and consistency of service from C&W. It may have been a bit trying getting it turned on, but it’s Barbados and everything takes a little longer.
I am on the select service (now 1.5Mbps) which some of you seem to think means 1.5MB/s but it doesn’t. It equates to download speeds of about 160-170kB/s which for B$139 isn’t too bad – its not incredible but it certainly gets the job done. I regularly speed test my connection (www.dslreports.com) – several days a week always at different times and I am never disappointed by the consistency.
July 18, 2007 at 9:44 pm
K:
Everyone knows that you will never get the advertised speed unless you are connected directly to the exchange by a fibre link or something similar.
What concerns us is the fact that C&W has advertised the doubling of your speeds but to date no one has realised this except those of us who are up between 1-6am.I would further argue that because of this congestion of the network by doubling everyone speed…..you hardly even get now,what you were originally paying for.
At least overseas,if it is pricy,you still get service.
Good thing BFP doesnt carry high graphics or streaming videos……they would never make the top 100 blogs.
.
July 18, 2007 at 9:54 pm
noC&Wfan:
That sounds like a problem with the provisioning of the port at the exchange.When you moved maybe you had to be assigned a new port at the exchange in your area.There is a lot of hiccups with their new software .
July 19, 2007 at 12:19 am
Hi Chase,
I was down for a few weeks with pneumonia
Back and kicking now.
Man I need to move closer to the Exchange. My service is so slow now.
But BFP is worth the wait
Later
DFX
July 19, 2007 at 1:32 am
Hi DFX:
Glad to hear you are still kicking man.Take care of yourself.
Moving closer to the exchange is one thing but it will not address the congestion issues….sorry man.
Right now your best option is to surf in the wee hours of the morning.I for one cant see this problem being rectified in any hurry……and trust me I know what I mean..Drop me a line….I’ll share something with you……rudeboy.chase@gmail.com
July 19, 2007 at 4:46 am
Hi DFX,
Nice to know you are in harness again, keep well.
Yardbroom
July 19, 2007 at 5:41 am
Other providers landing fibre optics cables on the island could shake things up… so long as the government presses C&W to allow them to interconnect at the central office.
July 19, 2007 at 5:42 am
Wishful thinking to my own post above…
July 19, 2007 at 12:17 pm
J Payne:
Not really sir,Telebarbados is already doing this.
July 19, 2007 at 12:39 pm
Chase… dude…. read my post again, I am getting exactly what I am paying for and what is advertised by C&W. I don’t understand how you don’t underestand the difference between megabits and megabytes. My connection is exactly as it should be and I get the same speeds whether it is 6am, noon, 6pm, or midnight.
I am not connected via fibre, I am going over normal copper lines in an old house.
July 19, 2007 at 12:47 pm
a guide to caribsurf internet speeds:
Package: Lite
Bandwidth = 512 kiloBITS per second
download speed = ~60 kiloBYTES per second
Package: Lite
Bandwidth = 1024 kiloBITS per second
download speed = ~120 kiloBYTES per second
Package: Select
Bandwidth = 1.5 megaBITS per second
download speed = ~180 kiloBYTES per second
July 19, 2007 at 2:36 pm
K :
Then I stand corrected,if you are getting exactly what you are paying for regardless of the time and congestion is not a problem for you,good for you .
You must be extremely fortunate and one in a thousand.
I would like to hear from others though ,if this is also true to them regardless of the time.
I also know the difference between a bit and a byte.
July 19, 2007 at 2:38 pm
I am using another pc …sorry for the anonymous post.
July 19, 2007 at 5:18 pm
Re: To Mr. Chase
July 19th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
You are correct about the TeleBarbados but C&W is an obstructionist company.. . I see Digicel had to do-like CariAccess and sue Cable and Wireless for denyin access to interconnect properly…
—
Digicel to take action against C&W
19-07-2007
by Ciara O’Brien
http://www.electricnews.net/article/67707.html
Mobile operator Digicel is taking legal action against Cable and Wireless over claims that C&W impeded its entry into the English-speaking Caribbean market.
The mobile operator alleges that C&W engaged in “illegal behaviour” by delaying Digicel’s entry into various telecommunications markets in the area, and is seeking **multi-million pound** damages in the English High Court.
According to Digicel, it believes C&W made a co-ordinated effort between 2002 and 2006 to delay its launch into St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Barbados, the Cayman Islands, Trinidad and Tobago and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Digicel is claiming for loss of revenue, profits and market share, and is also seeking restitutionary damages from C&W for the gains and benefits made by C&W as a result of what Digicel claims was its “unlawful” conduct. The operator is also going after C&W for exemplary damages, which is compensation in excess of actual damages, and interest.
The case is expected to come to court next year.
Chairman of Digicel, Denis O’Brien, said the firm was frustrated with the obstructions it claims to have encountered from C&W. “We believe that a successful claim will not only compensate Digicel for the losses it has suffered but also that it will put an end to the anti-competitive practices of C&W,” he said.
Digicel currently has over of 4.7 million subscribers and operations in 22 markets in the Carribean region, and more recently the Central America market.[-End]
—
Good for them! C&W is seriously holding the country back…..
I hope Digicel wins this lawsuit. The amount of damages they’re asking for could be the final blow to C&W’s pocketbook. They might fold up after there… Perhaps a Barbados interest could put together a bid for the Caribbean assets.
July 19, 2007 at 5:31 pm
Chase & Yardbroom
Thanks guys! I’m back not 100% yet, but as troublesome as usual lol
DFX
July 19, 2007 at 5:55 pm
Chase,
This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification
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you……rudeboy.chase@gmail.com
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Drop me a line on bfpemac@mac.com
DFX
July 19, 2007 at 8:06 pm
Of COURSE C&W made a co-ordinated effort between 2002 and 2006 to delay Digicel’s launch into St Lucia, St Vincent+Grenadines, Grenada, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Trinidad and the Turks & Caicos !
It was obvious.
It was stall stall stall every single time
every single territory.
Patently obvious.
And every time it was ‘hurdles’ at the interconnectivity agreement stage,
like they’d never done it before in any nearby island!
They sucked us dry right up to midnight of the day before Digicel launched,
and THEN(only then) did the pricing race to the bottom begin.
And when we saw what rates dropped TO,
only then did we realize how much C&W was previously soaking our collective asses for!
yes, I hope Digicel wins the case.
And even then C&W will stall them somehow.
C&W didn’t get where it is, by being cute.
July 19, 2007 at 8:19 pm
And Anonymous. You know what too? They asking multi-million £ in damages….
The Barbados dollar is tied to the US$, which goes without saying… But the US$ is WAY down against the British £. US$2.03 = G.B.£1 so the amount digicel ‘gon get back will be some big—— money… They were smart to use British courts against C&W cuzz they will get back double x double what they would in Barbados based on the conversion rate alone.
July 25, 2007 at 12:01 am
i Just want to put in my two cents worth about C&W blood sucking crooks
August 4, 2007 at 4:53 pm
C&W has been doing this to all competition in all areas and so far we have only seen Cariaccess and Digicel coming out but believe you me there are more to come!
August 7, 2007 at 5:28 am
I have the adsl lite package 512 kb/s.Recently last week , july 30th or so the service was down.Before this I was downloading at 40kbs max , 20 kbs at average.When it came back up I could’nt even break into double digits.I was paying for dsl and getting dial up speeds.
From searching the net I learned this could have something to do with p2p and bandwidth shaping.The service providers lower the speed on p2p surfing.Everyone else Iknow reported the same problem about the vast differences in speed , it seems service wide.I don’t know 100% if it is bandwidth shaping but it certainly seems so.
If this is the case they are willfully with-holding a service which we pay for.In
their advertisements they said greater speed ,faster
download of big files.Now they are going back on their word , this is false advertising.Everyone knows the main reason people get adsl is #1 ,the speed , what requires said speed:)p2p and #2 ,the ability to use your phone while online.At the moment we are only getting one of adsl’s strenghts, #2.
ps. If my post looks funny or poorly formatted it’s because it’s my first.
August 7, 2007 at 1:56 pm
I wonder what kind of Internet service is provided by C&W to major business in Barbados.
I hope it is better than the “slow as molasses “service to the public.
Reliable high speed internet service is critical in this Global economy.
August 14, 2007 at 9:55 pm
Any body know whats up with freemotion and
Fidelity. where is the competition
September 1, 2007 at 11:06 pm
Hey! Anybody notice that the ADSL service has been upgraded again? Was downloading updates and got a download speed of 249kbps and then it leveled out around 194kbps. I thought this was strange. Logged on to my modem and low and behold 2045 is my reported download speed.
Thanks C&W
January 24, 2009 at 8:40 pm
my download speed is freaking 50Kb and i use to get 100KB my friends still getting 100KB and i have to deal with 50KB now -.-
March 14, 2009 at 4:31 am
speed comes goes even to connect to hotmail have refresh over and over