By Fay Simmons

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

THE Cable Bahamas Group of Companies has been named the fastest fixed network in the Caribbean - one of five awards it picked up at the Ookla awards.

Through its brands Aliv and AlivFibr, the company was awarded as the fastest mobile network in The Bahamas, best mobile gaming experience in The Bahamas, best fixed gaming experience in The Bahamas and best fixed network in the Caribbean for the first and second quarters of the year.

CEO Franklyn Butler said losing to BTC, which was awarded the Ookla Speedtest Award for best mobile coverage in The Bahamas during the 2024 first half, caused the company to do some “deep diving” into their network settings and seek assistance from Huawei to correct technical issues.

“Quite frankly, losing the last year caused us to do some dig deep in, some deep diving into our network settings, etc, which really want to thank Huawei and our technical teams, because losing really bruised our egos quite a bit. Now there’s no competition between us and our competitor, from that perspective,” said Mr Butler.

He said Aliv Fibr now has up to 27,000 consumers connected which also helped the company to secure the fixed network awards as only 10,000 consumers were connected in 2024.

“On the fixed side, which is home connections the challenge that we had a year ago was we were really new into our Aliv fiber role, so we would not have had as many customers on the platform,” said Mr Butler.

“The more customers we get onto the Aliv fiber network, the more strong our results are and consistent our results are. And I think that is really where the biggest difference is. A year ago, we probably had 10,000 customers on now we had 26,000 to 27,000 customers on our Aliv fiber network. So that’s really the big difference, in terms of why you would see us when the fixed awards.”

Wayde Watson, parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Economic Affairs, said Aliv securing regional awards demonstrates that The Bahamas is “emerging as a digital leader” in the Caribbean at a time when connectivity impacts national development and economic success.

“This level of achievement highlights the strategic vision and relentless innovation that defines this company. It reflects a deep commitment to quality and an unwavering focus on enhancing customer experience, which is vital in today’s fast paced digital ecosystem,” said Mr Watson.

“Moreover, this achievement signals something bigger, much bigger. The Bahamas is emerging as a digital leader within the Caribbean, and that’s due in no small part to the pioneering companies like Aliv and a AlivFibr.

“In a world where digital connectivity powers everything from education and business to healthcare and public safety, having a high-performance future ready network is critical not only to national development, but also to our collective economic and social progress.”