The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) intends to launch Internet Protocol television (IPTV) by March 2015.
BTC Chief Executive Officer Leon Williams confirmed the information at a business meet and greet event while he was talking about the updates to the telecommunications network. The company has previously only said it would begin trials by Christmas with a 2015 rollout.
"We are in the process of spending some $65 million this fiscal year - ending in March 2015 - to improve our cellular network as well as to deliver services like iMPLS (interprovider multiprotocol label switching) and MPLS (multiprotocol label switching) that gives the high-speed bandwidth that businesses need," he said.
"In addition to that, sometime between now and March, we hope to get into the business of television. We are launching our own IPTV network. Stay tuned. Coming soon."
IPTV takes advantage of the same "language" used by the Internet to allow information to be sent and received over any broadband or network connection. AT&T, one of the leading IPTV providers, says the technology is "a different, improved technology than 'traditional' cable or satellite TV, and it allows for more flexibility within the network."
IPTV enables two-way interactivity...The two-way IPTV network means viewers have more options to interact, personalize and control their viewing experience.
Multiprotocol label switching is a protocol for speeding up and shaping network traffic flow. It was created in the late 1990s to avoid having routers waste time by having to stop and look up routing tables.
Interprovider MPLS is an enhanced provider interconnect service that allows MPLS-based service providers to seamlessly extend IP virtual private network (IP VPN) service reach beyond their region. Based on leading industry standards and technology, iMPLS dramatically enhances a provider's time-to-market capability for serving out-of-region customers while minimizing the capital expense needed to build out an extended network and service infrastructure. Interprovider MPLS also grants service providers immediate access to Global Crossing's converged IP applications.
The Ingraham administration privatized BTC in 2011, selling 51 percent of the company to Cable and Wireless Communications over the vociferous objections of a significant number of people. It was a campaign pledge by the Christie PLP that, on assuming office, they would renegotiate in order to return majority ownership of BTC to "the Bahamian people".
At the gathering, an event sponsored by the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation to salute Carnival Corp. CEO Arnold Donald, Williams noted that in September, negotiations concluded and CWC transferred two percent of the company into a foundation designed to benefit the Bahamian people. The new arrangement means that CWC owns 49 percent of BTC, with the government of The Bahamas owning 49 percent and the foundation - which government officials refer to as "the people of The Bahamas" - owning two percent.
"I make the distinction between the Bahamas government, and the people of The Bahamas. The people of The Bahamas own 51 percent of the economic value of BTC," Williams said. "[That's a fact] we should be proud of."
Williams talked about the challenges of connectivity in The Bahamas, which he noted covered the same area as the entire Eastern Caribbean. He said there are five submarine cables - possibly more - connecting The Bahamas to the U.S. and the rest of the world.
"There are no other countries in the Caribbean as connected as The Bahamas," Williams said. "We've got both cellular networks, CDMA and GSM. So whether the tourist comes from the U.S. as a Verizon customer or as an AT&T customer, it makes no difference - their phone works while they are here."

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