The first telephones were installed in The Bahamas in 1879. In 1906, the Bahamas House of Assembly passed an Act establishing a telephone system in New Providence. The Government of The Bahamas, by an Act of Parliament in 1966, created a statutory corporation, the Bahamas Telecommunications Corporation (BATELCO) to which the assets and the functions of the Telecommunications Board were transferred.

Over the years, provision of fixed line telephony and internet services improved steadily. In preparation for privatization, on 14 June 2001, a private company limited by shares was incorporated under the Companies Act as the Bahamas Telecommunications Company Limited (BTC). On 6 April 2011, BTC was privatized when Cable and Wireless Communications plc acquired 51% interest in the company. [By a Memorandum of Understanding dated the 22 day of January 2014, between the Government of The Bahamas and Cable and Wireless plc, it was agreed that 5,093,200 of the shares of BTC (to be designated as non-voting shares) would be transferred to a foundation to be known as the BTC Foundation. Cable and Wireless has and will continue to have management control of BTC.^[1]

BTC is the largest provider of electronic communications services in The Bahamas and operates fixed, mobile and broadband networks. In recent years BTC’s domestic  fibre optic (BSDN) and legacy copper line networks have been progressively upgraded.  In respect of international infrastructure,  BTC operates two networks: Bahamas II and BDSNi.

BTC currently operates a 2G mobile network, a 4G mobile network and a Next Generation fibre network. In February of 2014, BTC launched its 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) service for New Providence, Grand Bahama, Abaco and Eleuthera. This brings mobile service on par with telephony and broadband standards seen in major international markets. BTC has recently announced that it intends to launch a Pay-TV product within 12 months of March 2014. BTC is a designated Universal Service Provider for fixed telephony and dial-up internet under the Communications Act.

In the Bahamian market, BTC has been determined by URCA as having significant market power (SMP) in the fixed telephone, mobile services (voice and data). This means that BTC has the economic strength to behave independently of its competitors, consumers and subscribers in these markets.^[2].

Click here for BTC's website.