Executive SummaryThe Caribbean Sea lies south of the Gulf of Mexico, covering an area of about 2,754,000km².
The region comprising the Caribbean Sea and its numerous islands is commonly known as the Caribbean.
For many years it was referred to as the West Indies, however the name Caribbean has been universally adopted since the early 20th century.
Varying considerably in size, the Caribbean islands form a wide arc between Florida in the north and Venezuela in the south, as well as a barrier between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.
Caribbean Countries: Small Island Nations: These countries include Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Granada, Netherlands Antilles, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent & the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago.
Caribbean countries are in the process of deregulating their telecom sectors, bringing an early end to Cable & Wireless’ decades of monopoly on each island, and awarding fixed and mobile concessions throughout the region.
With revenues rising and competition increasing, the Caribbean is showing great potential for investment.
Digicel, AT&T Wireless (now Cingular) and Cellular One have been very active, purchasing licences and launching service throughout the region in an attempt to secure their position as regional players.Cuba: Despite being one of the Latin American leaders in R&D, Cuba lags behind the rest of Latin America in fixed-line teledensity; it occupies the very last place in mobile phone penetration (around 0.2%), and the second last (after Haiti) in the number of Internet users.
Mobile phones and Internet access are limited by cost, access restrictions, severe penalties and inadequate infrastructure.
Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba SA (Etecsa), owned 73% by the government and 27% by Telecom Italia, holds a monopoly in both fixed-line and mobile services.
It offers Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) and GSM services through its subsidiary Cubacel.
Modernisation efforts during 2003-2004 involved the digitisation of the telecom infrastructure.
In early 2005, around 85% of the country’s telephone system had been digitised.
Dominican Republic: Although the country’s telecom market is one of the fastest growing and most competitive industry sectors, in 2004 only about 10% of the population had a fixed-line telephone.
Mobile subscribers overtook fixed lines in service in 2001, and now mobile penetration is almost three times as high as fixed-line teledensity.
The country enjoys a relatively modern and mostly digital telecom infrastructure; however the country’s economy has been damaged repeatedly by violent hurricanes.
Verizon Dominicana is the dominant provider of fixed-line and mobile telephony, as well as Internet services.
The location of the Dominican Republic ensures fairly high Internet speeds.
The telephone cable that connects Europe to the US runs close by and allows for excellent connectivity.
The broadband market in the Dominican Republic is in its infancy and there is enormous potential for growth.Haiti: Fixed-line teledensity in Haiti is the lowest of all Latin American nations, while mobile penetration is the second lowest after Cuba.
Political unrest has severely affected investments in a country where most people have no telephones, electricity or even running water.
In January 2005, the Haitian economy showed some signs of recovery and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved US$15.6 million in Emergency Post-Conflict Assistance.
Fixed-line services are provided by state-owned monopoly operator Teleco, which is inefficient and poorly managed.
Private competition in the mobile market began in 1999.
Internet access is also open to competition.
To supplement the shortage of fixed lines, mobile provider HaiTel has deployed Wireless Local Loop (WLL) fixed wireless services, and a number of ISPs provide international telephony through Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).Jamaica: The phased telecom liberalisation process in Jamaica ended in March 2003, in accordance with the agreement established in 1999 between Cable & Wireless Jamaica (C&WJ) and the Jamaican Government.
Since the liberalisation process began, around 370 telecom licences have been issued, although to date C&WJ remains the dominant player in the market.
The island has a fairly advanced telecom infrastructure, including a hybrid mix of wireless and wired technologies.
The mobile market is served by three digital networks, with a penetration rate of around 59%, the highest in Latin America after Chile.
A fourth mobile operator was licensed in March 2004.
Internet access is offered by more than 15 ISPs, the largest being C&WJ and InfoChannel.
Both the mobile and Internet markets have experienced strong growth in the liberalised market.Mexico: Although behind the USA in infrastructure and investment, the Mexican telecom industry is developing rapidly and has enormous growth potential, making it one of the most interesting telecom markets in the world.
The year 2004 marked the highest increase in the telecom sector since 2000.
The industry grew 22.6%, 5.1 times more than the Mexican economy as a whole.
Mexico occupies the second place in Latin America, after Brazil, in both mobile and Internet markets.
Driven by a GSM explosion (yearly increase of 221% in 2004), the mobile industry is growing at a rate of 28% annually.
There have been complaints that, despite liberalisation, the fixed line sector is still dominated by Telmex, and the mobile sector by Telmex’s sister company Telcel.
New regulations issued in 2004 and 2005 aim to spur competition and reduce consumer prices.
Despite the limitations caused by widespread poverty and low PC penetration, Internet users are growing by around 20% a year.
Though still in its infancy, broadband is quickly gaining a foothold.
In 2004, the number of ADSL subscribers skyrocketed by around 200%, placing Mexico first in Latin America and second in the world in terms of broadband growth.
In March 2005, the first Triple Play services in Mexico, combining cable TV, Internet and basic telephony, were launched by fixed-line provider Maxcom and local cable operator SIT.Puerto Rico: With one of the most advanced and fastest-growing telecom markets in the region, Puerto Rico is among the leading countries in Latin America in terms of both fixed-line and mobile penetration.
However, the local call market still remains heavily dominated by the Puerto Rico Telephone Company (PRTC).
Centennial de Puerto Rico is PRTC’s main competitor, but it holds a negligible share of the local market, focusing instead on broadband, cable TV and mobile services.
The long-distance market, on the other hand, is extremely competitive, and the island’s low long-distance call rates are attributed to market competition.
Puerto Rico has one of the highest Internet penetration rates in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Almost one third of the population has access to the Internet, including most sectors of society.