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| Belize Telecommunications Research |
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 Belize - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband
Executive summary
Belize is a small country with less than 350,000 inhabitants, the only English-speaking nation in Central America. The country has closer affinities with the Caribbean region than with its neighbours.
While Belize's GDP per capita is high for Central America, its telecoms services have attracted much dissatisfaction. Both fixed-line teledensity and mobile penetration are lower than in neighbouring countries.
The Belizean telecom market was officially liberalised in January 2003, yet the incumbent, Belize Telemedia Limited (BTL), continues to hold a virtual monopoly.
For many years, BTL was at the centre of ownership litigations and controversial business deals. In August 2009, the state moved to nationalise BTL, at the time controlled by Lord Ashcroft, after a change of government brought to light a questionable Accommodation Agreement between the previous administration and BTL. Besides requiring the government to subsidise the operator with public funds, the Agreement also effectively stifled telecom competition.
Although the rationale for the nationalisation was to improve conditions for consumers, BTL's prices remain high and competition remains marginal, except for a small number of ISPs. The government claims it must keep BTL profitable in order to attract private buyers. In the end, the Belizean consumer may be the loser while tycoons and governments argue.
SpeedNet launched purportedly competing mobile services branded Smart in March 2005. The operator is also majority owned by Lord Ashcroft.
Southern Cable Network (previously MirrorNet) began to compete with BTL in early 2008, operating a high-speed wireless network that does not rely on BTL for interconnection. Other competing services come from satellite Internet and cable modem broadband. These ISPs have been attracting people who wish to use Skype, since BTL blocks all VoIP signals on its network.
Key highlights:
The government is looking to resell its shares in BTL to Belizean investors or an international company, but the nationalisation process is attracting long drawn-out litigation.
The valuation of BTL is likely to be a contentious issue, the market value of BTL having been inflated by the Accommodation Agreement. The Supreme Court of Belize is expected to decide the cost of the buyout.
Compared with its other economic indicators, penetration is low in Belize for virtually all telecom services; therefore, once the country has a proper regulatory framework with transparent and fair competition, the telecom market, though small, could become promising for investors.
Last Update: 23 Jan 2010 Number of Pages: 22
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