Telecommunications

Bonaire's Telecommunications and Internet infrastructure news

Sunday, August 26, 2007

The Wounded Warriors and Bonaire National Marine Park on TV

When the Wounded Warriors were on Bonaire a week ago, they worked with two film crews: the first of them, with Mr. Jay Cashmere, Weekends/AM Anchor and Reporter for WPTV, an NBC affiliate station in West Palm Beach, Florida.

They will be airing two stories.  The first will be on the Wounded Warriors and the second will be on Bonaire National Marine Park.  The schedule for airing is:  The “Warriors” will run next Wednesday, August 29th, at 5:00 PM on WPTV, and it will be part of their “Underwater Wednesday” segment and will be broadcast live underwater with Jay.  (Jay may be seen briefing the Warriors by clicking here.)

The second story on the Bonaire National Marine Park will run the following Wednesday, September 5th, also at 5:00 PM in the same format. Both stories will be posted immediately upon airtime on www.wptv.com, so everyone may have the opportunity to look at them. You can watch the stories right on-line with video streaming.

Lastly, WPTV will be forwarding the stories on the NBC and CNN feeds to all NBC/CNN affiliates.  For those who would like to reserve copies, they may do so by contacting WPTV’s dub service at 1-800-799-8881. (Source:  WPTV, West Palm Beach, Florida)

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Telbo Launches Prepaid High Speed Internet Access

Bonaire’s telecommunications company, Telbo, N.V., just announced that they have launched a new Internet service, which may be of interest to those visitors who need occasional access to the Internet while on the island.

With fourteen hotspots ranging from Flamingo Airport in the south to Playa Lechi in the north, those with laptops can now sit at the seaside, a restaurant, or in their rented apartment or villa to chat with family or check their email.

Internet service can be pre-purchased at the following rates:  FL 5.00 (USD $2.81) for one hour, FL 25.00 (USD $14.04) for six hours, or FL 50.00 (USD 28.09) for fifteen hours.  After receiving a card, scratch the layer to reveal the login number, open your browser, select your service type, enter your login number, enter access, and you are connected.

To view a demonstration on how the system works, click here.  For additional information, call 9212 when on Bonaire.  (Source:  Telbo, N.V.)

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Bonaire Telephone Company’s Mobile Business Changes Hands

Digicel, the fastest growing mobile telecommunications company in the Caribbean, announced last Friday that it has acquired the mobile business from Bonaire’s government owned phone company, Telbo. Digicel first opened up shop and started providing mobile service in July 2006 on Bonaire.

The financial terms of the purchase were not disclosed, but as part of the acquisition, Digicel acquired the number space for mobile phones operated by Telbo (the 78x-xxxx range), the radio spectrum licensed to Telbo, and Telbo’s base station.

The transition from Telbo’s on-island TelboCel & Chippie service has already begun. In discussions with officials from both Telbo and Digicel Bonaire, the Bonaire Insider has learned that through December 19th, current Telbo mobile phone clients need to visit the Centro di Bario in Antriol to get their Telbo SIM chip replaced with one from Digicel to retain their current cell phone number. From December 20th to the 23rd, this process will take place at the Centro di Bario in Rincon, and after that, at the Digicel offices on Kaya Grandi. Any balances on prepaid cards will need to be used before the transition to Digicel’s system takes place.

To compensate and incentivize mobile phones users to make the switch as soon as reasonable, Digicel is offering a NAF 90 usage credit upon completion of the conversion. NAF 30 will be issued on January 1st, and then NAF 10 credit per month will be issued for the next six months. Current Telbo SIM chips will cease to be functional after December 31, 2006, yet another reason to try and get ones SIM chips replaced by the end of the month.

So, how does this deal affect everyone?

For Telbo, it has been stated that this sale will allow them to focus on their core business, which we presume means land-line telephone services, as well as providing Internet service.

For Digicel, it knocks out a major competitor in the Bonaire market, leaving only MIO as competition and the sole alternative mobile phone provider.

For consumers, it’s unclear. Certainly, Digicel is a very aggressive company, and because operates in 22 markets (including Aruba and Curacao) and has partnerships with a vast number of other GSM carriers around the world, it is likely the company will continue to offer competitive rates and service in the near term, both for local subscribers as well as for those roaming on Bonaire from other parts of the world (both Cingular and T-Mobile GSM phones should work if international roaming is enabled). However, if Digicel keeps up buying up competition, they may become a monopoly, and monopolies tend not to have as aggressive pricing as companies in competitive circumstances. That is a potential concern, but only time will tell if it is a real issue. Certainly Digicel’s existing clients on Bonaire have been pleased with the service the company has provided in the five months of existing operation, based on feedback we have received.

For visitors to Bonaire, Digicel offers both roaming as an option as indicated above, as well as what they call “Visitor SIMs”, which can be purchased for a small fee and used with an unlocked phone to allow visitors to have a local phone number.

Digicel can be reached on Bonaire at 717-4400. (Sources: Digicel Press Release, Discussions with Telbo and Digicel representatives)

UPDATE (2007-01-04): A judge last week ordered that Telbo not continue with the transition of its customers to Digicel at the request of Curacao-based UTS, Telbo’s initial partner in its mobile phone efforts. Telbo mobile phones and chips continued to work this week, past the December 31st cut-off date of the transition as a result of the Court’s action. The future status of Telbo’s mobile phone users remains uncertain, and the Court will revisit the contractual aspects of this matter prior to the expiration of the injunction at the end of February.