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Bermuda's Internet Access

Compare each of the ISPs' shown below for speed and price

By Keith Archibald Forbes (see About Us) exclusively for Bermuda Online

To refer by e-mail to this file use "bermuda-online.org/internet" as your Subject

Introduction

Bermuda Internet is governed by the regulatory agency the Bermuda Government's Department of Telecommunications at http://www.mtec.bm/portal/server.pt. Bermuda is expensive in Internet (now mostly Broadband/DSL) cost. As merely one example, compare the 101 Mbps (megabits per second), $99 a month service being offered to American residents by CableVision-USA with the much slower service being offered by Bermuda companies for the same price. In Canada, the UK and Europe high-speed Broadband is the norm, not the exception. Even in the UK's more remote areas, such as the far north of Scotland, 8 Mbps unlimited service with BT is routinely available for £19.50-£27.50 a month. In Jamaica, 15 Mbps is the norm and in the Bahamas 9 Mbps is standard.

Prices

As a good example of the most competitive prices see Logic Communications at http://www.logic.bm.

Internet Service Providers (ISPs), residential and business

In its 21 square miles, Bermuda has the following at home Internet Service Providers providing both DSL (Broadband) and much slower dial-up 56 Kbps services. (Note, their websites will be linked to gladly when they reciprocate the link).

• Bermuda Telephone Company (BTC). 
• Bermuda CableVision -  with Cable Modem' DSL service.
• Digicel Internet. 
• LinkBermuda (formerly Cable & Wireless).
• Logic Communications Ltd. The original ISP. For individuals and businesses. 30 Victoria Street, Hamilton HM 12. Phone (441) 296-9632.
• North Rock Communications. Washington Lane. Telephone (441) 296-2700. Fax (441) 296-2701. Wireless DSL services. 
• TeleBermuda International (TBI).  DSL for registered businesses only.

Current system

The four categories of telecommunications companies are:

• Class A providers. International service providers (TBI and Cable & Wireless. Also Brasil Telecom, which cannot sell to retail customers).
  

• Class B providers. Fixed and wireless domestic service providers, including BTC, Quantum, the cellular providers and the Cable TV providers; and
  

• Class C providers. Internet service providers, including Logic, North Rock, Fort Knox and Transact.
  

• Cable TV providers - Bermuda-based Cable TV companies authorized to provide limited telecommunication services. They include Bermuda CableVision and World on Wireless.
  

• Companies would get one licence to cover all sectors under the Government's new proposal. (See at end of Other Factors, etc. below)

Industry trends recently reported

• Largest single ISP is Logic, followed by North Rock . 

• Logic Communications is currently the largest Internet Service Provider (ISP) market in Bermuda with just under 50 percent. North Rock has about 39%.

• BTC DSL accounted for 44 percent of the high-speed (for Bermuda) Broadband service provider market, with CableVision cable modem and North Rock wireless the next closest at 21 percent and 19 percent respectively.

• It appears about 87 percent of all working Bermudians and residents now have access to the Internet at home

• About 85 percent of Bermudians and residents use Broadband to access the Internet at home, while about 11 percent employ the services of dial-up, mostly those with lower incomes or more limited or less frequent Internet usage. 

In October 2011 the former Cable and Wireless (Bermuda) Holdings was formally rebranded with its new name LinkBermuda Holdings Ltd, following the purchase for $70 million by the Canadian-headquartered Bagg Group which operates as EastLink in Canada. The new reforms are expected to allow Bermuda’s telecoms providers to offer one-stop-shopping for services such as phone, digital cable TV, wireless and Internet. LinkBermuda is expected to be one of the largest players in the new regime - along with KeyTech, TBI, Digicel (which recently acquired Transact), and CellOne. LinkBermuda plans on launching new services within its existing licence in the next few weeks. When reform occurs,  LinkBermuda would like to offer new services. The Bragg Group, owner of Bragg Communications, is the largest privately held communications and video services company in Canada, operating in 9 of 10 Canadian provinces under the EastLink brand. The company was the first Canadian cable company to offer a “triple play” (telecom, Internet and video services) to customers. 

Reforms to be implemented

In late November 2011, long-awaited legislation to regulate electronic communications was tabled in the House of Assembly. The Regulatory Authority Act 2011 and the Electronic Communications Act 2011 propose an overhaul of the telecommunications sector and the creation of a Regulatory Authority. The Electronic Communications Act establishes the regulatory framework of any electronic communication other than broadcast, while the Regulatory Authority Act establishes an authority to regulate the sector. The Authority, according to the legislation, would have $3.5 million in operating capital, and could raise additional funds through service fees and general regulatory fees, potentially a percentage of the service providers total or relevant turnover. The exact rate and nature of the fees will be submitted in a request to the responsible minister along with the Authority’s budget. Industry leaders have previously expressed concern about the potential cost of fees imposed by the Authority, which was said to cost as much as $9 million a year.

It is understood Government would help fund the Authority, at least for the first year. According to the legislation, the Authority would have a board of three commissioners and a chief executive, each serving a three-year term, and would have the power to grant licences and permits required to establish an electronic communications network or service. The legislation also lays out the responsibilities of service providers, forbidding dominant providers from abusing their position to restrict competition or using unfair trade practices. The Authority would be able to conduct an investigation, and those found in breach of the act can be punished with fines of up to $50,000 and two years imprisonment.

In October 2010 the Department of E-Commerce within the Ministry of Energy, Telecommunications and E-Commerce announced the creation of an Internet Policy Advisory Board (PAB). The move came at a time of transition for the worldwide web, particularly involving domain naming systems and security. While the Information Technology Office (ITO) is responsible for managing the .BM cc Top Level Domain (TLD) technical infrastructure and the Registry General is responsible for the day- to-day administrative functions, the Department of E-Commerce is responsible for developing and maintaining strategies and policies related to the .BM ccTLD. Important changes coming include the introduction of version 6 of the Internet Protocol (IPv6), which will replace the IPv4 which has been in place since 1981 and which faces an issue of potential domain name exhaustion. Also extensions are planned to the security specifications for the Domain Naming System (DNSSEC), which addresses Internet security and stability concerns caused by a proliferation of malicious activities. The introduction of new top-level domains, includes Internationalized TLDs that empower the entire world's population to use the Internet's domain name system in their native language. The Department of E-Commerce began discussing the issue of IPv6 implementation with local Internet Service Providers, the Registrar General and the ITO. The PAB will help to provide recommendations and advice in connection with certain policy matters related to the .BM domain and will also be tasked with producing an annual report of its activities, thus ensuring the openness, transparency and inclusiveness of its operations to the Bermuda Internet community, in accordance with best in class practices employed by other ccTLD managers.

Current telecommunications licensing system with three classes of licenses will eventually be abolished in favor of a new general Communications Licence, to better foster competition among a variety of service providers. At the moment, there are three different licenses for telecommunications providers which restrict providers from offering services outside their licence stipulations, although the provider may have the capacity to provide other services. International providers have Class A licenses, while domestic telephone providers have Class B licenses and Class C licenses are issued for Internet Service Providers (ISPs), paging providers and other providers of miscellaneous services. With the new general Communications Licence, competition will be enhanced and industry innovation encouraged. Removing the licence barriers will allow head-to-head competition between small and large providers and hopefully balance out any market dominance larger providers may have at the moment.

Bermuda moved a step closer to this more competitive market place for internet and international telecommunications after Government offered a consortium of domestic companies a licence to install a new undersea cable connecting Bermuda and North America.  Initially, North Rock Communications, Transact and KeyTech - parent company of the Bermuda Telephone Company, joined together under the name Cable Company to apply for the new licence in September, 2007, to own and operate their own undersea telecoms cable as a way of by-passing the need to buy capacity from carriers Cable and Wireless and TeleBermuda International on existing cable networks. Once awarded, the licence enabled the consortium to construct and operate a new submarine cable, connecting Bermuda to North America. A new undersea internet and telecommunications cable to end the current duopoly of Cable & Wireless and TeleBermuda International was completed and in April 2009 began operations, but with North Rock and Transact no longer as two of the partners, instead now as customers. The new cable is 100 percent Bermudian owned. It has the ability to carry telecommunications traffic 10 times the capacity of that currently used.

  Will it mean cheaper and faster internet prices? It is hoped so. 

Present limitations

• In December 2011 Bermuda CableVision was refused permission, after waiting for more than a year from the Telecommunications Commission, to launch a high-speed internet service. It had been trying to bring in a new 12 Mbps and 20 Mbps service, and a 2 Mbps service at a reduced cost. Currently, it can only offer up to 8 Mbps service. Bermuda Cablevision had hoped the Commission would welcome innovation and the chance for customers in Bermuda to experience the kind of speeds now common in other jurisdictions, as well as a more affordable high-speed offer. In USA, Canada, etc. Bermuda CableVison equivalents such as Cox in USA, Sky in UK, etc. have long been routinely approved to offer such services (See below). 

• In Bermuda, no utility presently provides commingled phone, (Internet Broadband) and cable or wireless TV, such as Cox etc in USA, Sky or Virgin or BT in UK, etc. There are a number of ISPs but they generally provide Internet (Broadband or dial-up) only. There's only one land-line telephone company (BTC) allowed, also offering Broadband. If you go to say Cablevision for your cable TV and Broadband you won't get a land line phone included if that is your wish, you'll have to get BTC also. It's normal in Bermuda to have cable TV, plus a compulsory account with BTC for phone - if you want a land line but no need if you will use solely a cell phone at home - plus, if you don't want Cablevision to run your Broadband, to go to say Logic or Northrock or one of the others as your ISP for Broadband or dial-up. Note that dial-up in Bermuda is no longer recommended. 

• Bermuda Domain Name exclusions. Only in Bermuda - not in any other Internet Domain Name registration country - are there huge limitations on who can and cannot use BM (Bermuda's Internet address) as part of their website address. In Bermuda, only the following may do so, according to the Bermuda Government-run BermudaNIC. (a) Corporation: A corporation, limited liability company, entity or organization that is incorporated in Bermuda under the provisions of the Companies Act and any subsequent amendment thereto. (b) Bermuda Registered Charity: An unincorporated organization, association, or club registered under the Bermuda Charities Act; and any subsequent amendment thereto.
• Currently, none of Bermuda's three ports - City of Hamilton or Town of St. George or Dockyard - are WIFI-friendly or free or offer WIFI Hotspots to cruise ship passengers, unlike the competing ports of Cadiz, Lisbon, Madeira, Canary Islands, USVI, etc. 

Not yet in either case but both are specifically recommended by this author for Bermuda's three cruise-ship ports

• Unlike in the USA, Canada, UK, etc. where it is possible, via the Internet, for people from or in other parts of the world to access published landline and other telephone numbers, in Bermuda it is not. There is no Bermuda equivalent of the Internet's 411 service.
• In Bermuda, all international companies must by law by 100 percent dependent on local companies - such as the Bermuda Telephone Company Limited (BTC) - for their local telephone and other local telecommunications needs.  Local Internet Service Providers (ISPs) must be Bermudian companies (in other words, at least 60% beneficially Bermudian owned,  directed and managed). Presently - and this is not likely to change - local laws do not allow  any foreign corporations - such as AOL, which routinely offers services in the UK, Europe, USA and Canada - to offer Internet service from Bermuda, or to own more than 40 percent of a local business (one trading in the local market place). Overseas based organizations with huge bulk purchasing power elsewhere and no controls (like Bermuda has) are not permitted to own local outlets.  
• Global companies with world headquarters or offices in Bermuda - like insurance and investment companies and telecommunications companies - may operate in worldwide markets but are not allowed to operate freely in the local Bermuda market place.
• The Bermuda Government has import duties (averaging 27.5 percent and up) levied by the Government on computers, modems, peripherals, routers and all other relevant electronics. They are among the highest in the Western Hemisphere. In addition to Customs Duties are Air freight, wharfage and Air Terminal fees. Thus the retail cost in Bermuda of a new 3.4 GHz computer with 4 G DDR RAM and a 17" LCD Flat Panel Display is hugely more than in the USA and double that of the UK. Plus, USA and UK prices price often come with lots of extras including a printer, scanner, choice of software options  and 1 year free high-speed Broadband Internet access, but Bermuda prices do not.
• The license fees paid to the Bermuda Government by ISPs and others directly or indirectly are the highest fees and taxes per square mile of territory imposed by any country anywhere for telecommunications. 
• The very high Cost of Living, see www.bermuda-online.org/costoflivingguide.htm. 

Other Services include

• a number of privately owned Internet Cafes

• A Bermuda Government operated community portal program aimed at senior citizens, in community centres.

• A Bermuda Government operated recycled PC program, for seniors in government owned  Parish Rest (care) homes.

• An Internet Access in Public Places initiative, such as in Post Offices, libraries and other public buildings, following the UK methodology.

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