The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

CABLE Bahamas has attracted more than 17,000 subscribers to its ReVoice fixed-line service since it introduced the offering just over a year ago, its marketing head describing this level of market penetration as “pretty fantastic”.

David Burrows, head of marketing for the BISX-listed communications provider, said the company was looking to ensure those subscriber numbers increased dramatically.

“We have just over 17,000 ReVoice subscribers today. We’ve been in the market for just over a year and we have just over 17,000 subscribers. I think that is more than 20,000 lines. I think that’s a pretty good thing; being in the market for one year and being able to get that level of penetration is pretty fantastic. We have a lot of plans to ensure that we increase that dramatically,” said Mr Burrows.

He added that most of the subscribers to the ReVoice offering were ‘Triple Play’ customers, using Cable Bahamas’ TV and Internet offerings as well. “Just about every one of our ReVoice customers are Triple Play customers, which gives you an idea of how well the Triple Play is doing,” Mr Burrows said.

“One of the things we pride ourselves on is the philosophy of growing the customers and not the market. The fact that we have such a high level of penetration of our customer base and continually add more services is the same way our network is. We build an incredible network and add services on top of that and keep building.”

Cable Bahamas has announced a “quantum leap” forward in its broadband REVON offering, boasting a dramatic increase in speeds of more than 500 per cent. “Cable Bahamas has always been the market leader in Internet access, and that fact continues today,” said Mr Burrows who noted that the company has around 50,000 broadband subscribers.

Mr Burrows said Cable Bahamas has spent $350-$360 million on its broadband network over its 18-year history. “It was built to be scalable. We’re always expanding our services” he said.

He added that broadband speed and penetration could have a direct impact on a country’s gross domestic product (GDP).”We believe that these ordinary speed increases could have a direct impact on The Bahamas’ economy,” Mr Burrows said.

“Recently, the International Telecommunications Union reported that broadband availability and speed are strong drivers in an economy, and that doubling the broadband speed for the economy of an OECD country increased the GDP by 0.3 per cent. We estimate that for the Bahamas our new speed levels could represent a significant increase in GDP growth. Faster Internet speed is a factor that will help move the Bahamas into the lead position for average internet speeds in the region.”