By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Mobile data subscribers increased more than six-fold within one year following the launch of services by the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC), it was revealed yesterday, with fixed-line Internet’s market penetration also enjoying a 22 per cent increase.

Releasing its 2012 annual report, the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) disclosed that the Bahamas had gone from ‘the bottom of the pack’ in 2011, with just 18,000 mobile data subscribers, to more than 110,000 by end-2012.

It also noted that the Bahamas had reversed “a slight fall-off” in fixed broadband Internet market penetration between 2009 and 2011, growing subscriber numbers to 22 per 100 persons in 2012, up from 18 per 100 persons the previous year.

URCA attributed the increased market penetration, and usage, to growing competition in the fixed Internet market, with “new packages and promotions” introduced in 2012. BTC, in particular, has been extremely active in trying to win back broadband Internet market share from Cable Bahamas.

Apart from the communications industry itself, the increased mobile and fixed broadband Internet penetration also augurs well for the wider Bahamian economy’s prospects.

Given this nation’s attempts to position itself as a services-based international business centre, widespread data usage will be vital to the Bahamas’ growth and competitiveness, especially in a knowledge-based world.

In what could also be interpreted as a nod to the benefits flowing from BTC’s 2011 privatisation, URCA noted that the Bahamas had gone from ‘zero’ market penetration by mobile data that year to 31 subscribers per 100 inhabitants the following year.

Putting into context just how far the Bahamas had come within one year, URCA said: “In terms of mobile broadband data services, the Bahamas was the only country compared to regions with similar offshore financial centres still without such services, as at the end of 2011.

“This placed the Bahamas far behind our regional neighbours and at the bottom of international rankings.”

And the communications industry regulator added: “The mobile data offerings in the Bahamas at the end of 2011 were limited to General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) technology, and the total number of subscribers was approximately 18,000.

“The launch of mobile broadband services by BTC in 2012 led to immediate and substantial growth in mobile data penetration within its first year, and the number of subscribers at the end of 2012 exceeded 110,000, for a penetration rate of approximately 31 subscribers per 100 population.”

While mobile data growth rates will likely level-off following the initial 2012 explosion, URCA’s annual report indicated the positive trends were not just confined to this market segment.

The regulator said fixed Internet broadband had seen “significant growth” in 2012, due to the intensifying competition for market share between BTC, Cable Bahamas and other smaller, niche players.

“URCA’s initial estimates predict growth of more than 25 per cent in subscriber numbers over 2011,” the report said.

“Based on figures received from key stakeholders in this market segment, URCA estimates fixed broadband penetration in the Bahamas by the end of 2012 to be at least 22 subscribers per 100 inhabitants, up from 18 subscribers per 100 inhabitants at the end of 2011.”

The regulator noted that fixed broadband penetration had “remained fairly static” following the start of the global recession, with subscriber numbers falling from 19 subscribers per 100 persons in 2009 and 2010 to 18 subscribers per 100 persons in 2011.

URCA added that the last census of Internet users, conducted in 2012, showed that 65 per cent of Bahamians used the Worldwide Web - placing this nation 41st in the world, and 12th among developing nations.

Elsewhere, URCA projected that total revenues generated by the Bahamian communications industry had increased by 3-4 per cent in 2012, exceeding $460 million.

This, though, did not correspond to an increase in sector employment, which URCA projected to have fallen from 1,350 in 2011 to 1,300 last year - a drop of 50.

With Cable Bahamas having entered the fixed-line voice telephone market in 2011, the URCA annual report noted that total subscriber numbers grew 2.56 per cent in 2012 - rising from 127,726 to more than 131,000.

“This brings the Bahamas’ penetration rate as at the end of 2012 up to 37 subscribers per 100 persons (increasing from 36 at the end of 2011),” URCA said.

“In comparison to fixed penetration rates elsewhere, including the world’s global average, the Bahamas has fared well.”

As for cellular voice services, URCA reiterated that BTC’s continuing monopoly in this market - which is set to expire in April 2014 - was “not optimal for encouragement of growth”.

“Mobile (voice) penetration in the Bahamas decreased from 102 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in 2009 to 84 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in 2011, representing a decrease of more than 90,000 in the total number of subscriptions,” the regulator’s annual report said.

“URCA’s information indicates that much of this decrease has come about as a result of more effective and aggressive treatment of dormant prepaid accounts and significant improvements in the accuracy of reported information.”
And URCA added: “In 2012, mobile subscriptions resumed an upward trend, increasing to approximately 86 subscribers per 100 inhabitants, growing by approximately 2.3 per cent.

“The total number of mobile subscriptions in the Bahamas as at the end of 2012 was 302,786. In 2011, the Bahamas’ mobile penetration rate (84) was just below the global average of 85.7 per 100 inhabitants, although still ahead of Africa and Asia and the Pacific region.”

As for pay-TV, URCA said its penetration continued to static, having risen slightly from 22.89 subscribers per 100 inhabitants in 2011 to 23 per 100 inhabitants in 2012.