RA: 91% Of Residents Have Internet Service

October 17, 2013

91% of residents have home internet access, Logic/North Rock has 75% of the internet service market and 0.3% of residents are still using dial-up, according to a recent survey released by the Regulatory Authority.

In an effort to plan the future of communications technology in Bermuda, the island’s Regulatory Authority has begun collecting data, with the results from the first survey now available.

Titled “The Bermuda Broadband Market Study,” the survey’s objectives were to provide benchmark measures among the population of the following metrics:

  • Internet usage and device ownership
  • Internet access and service provider market share
  • Internet download speeds
  • Average monthly expenditure on internet services

The survey indicated that most residents have an internet-ready device in their home, with 82% with a laptop
computer, 56% have a tablet, 54% have a desktop computer, while 7% have a netbook.

The report showed that Logic/North Rock has 75% of the market share, Digicel/Transact has 15%, while TBI has 7%. The average monthly expenditure on Internet access and service is $121.93, and the majority of residents [71%] think that the cost of Internet access and service in Bermuda is expensive.

The Regulatory Authority’s next survey will explore issues related to mobile telephone services on the island.

The Bermuda Broadband Market Study is below [PDF here]:

Read More About

Category: All, Business, News, technology

Comments (32)

Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed

  1. sage says:

    100% of subscribers are overcharged but 20% couldn’t care less.

    • Good Stuff says:

      +1 Beat me to it.

      Surprised to see only 71% believe it is expensive…

      • Micro says:

        While I agree it is expensive compared to elsewhere, given our population size the cost is actually fair; the level and quality of service however is far off.

        • Toodle-oo says:

          Well , if the level and quality of service is way off then the cost IS NOT fair regardless of our population size !

          How many people would be willing to shell out for a Rolls Royce but settle for a Subaru ?

  2. Seriously? says:

    Not sure that tesing a sample of 400 people is really representative…only approx 0.615% of the population (based on estimate of 60,000 people)

    • 1minute says:

      You need to go on the number of residences, not the population.

      • Seriously? says:

        Very true, good point. Any idea on what the number of residences is in Bermuda?

        • real says:

          As the Dept. of Statistics about the census.Have they even collected all of the data?

  3. Drew says:

    Ask all these people if they are getting the correct speed that they are paying for. I have been upping my speed and now and currently on 8 megs… When I did my speed check I was getting .46 megs… The companies never told me that I had to up my modem or router… Weeks of hassle and no help from the local companies. I finally youtubed it and did it myself…

  4. somuchless says:

    Renmember cellone is going to join the Internet market soon so that’s another entrant that could help lower the prices.

    • 1minute says:

      If their internet service is the same as their cell phone service, I’ll pass…

    • Copy Cat says:

      That dosen’t matter because Cablevision, BTC, Cellone, Logic/Northrock and all KeyTech companies. They will not compete with each other.

      • Northrock Wireless is Gahbagge says:

        This is it. We really need a provider to step up that has no affiliation with KeyTech whatsoever to challenge CV & BTC to provide better pricing and more importantly better service. Hoping Link Bermuda ticks those boxes when they enter residential. Funny. A company sits on their hands not listening to what their customers have to say, then b!tch and complain when new innovations arrive to wipe them out(Magic Jack BTC???) They should keep that in mind.

  5. Malachi says:

    Based on those numbers, I’m guessing that there are several homeless people with a Tablet!

  6. Ride says:

    I must say that it is refreshing to finally see a survey conducted on this island that does not have race as one of the analysed categories.

    Ride

    • sonso says:

      i agree, it is quite refreshing to view a survey that does not include that specific category.

      on another note, i am hopeful that the RA can actually accomplish something and not be all talk. i currently pay for 8mb northrock wireless, and most nights i am not even breaking 2mb. go on at 8oclock in the morning however, and i get close to the 8mb that i pay for, go figure.

      • Northrock Wireless is Gahbagge says:

        Very true about Northrock wireless. Give them a call and it will be decent for about two nights or so. Then back to gahbagge it goes.

        • sonso says:

          does did call them, and they told me to unhook my router and make sure i am doing the speedtest hooked directly up to the black box, as routers slow down internet speed. i did this with a minimal increase in speed, not even half a meg. but at the end of day, the average home has more than one device that connects to the internet, so that reason is bogus.

          and that was the only help i got from the lady on the phone, nothing else!

      • Drew says:

        Have you set your router to PPTP? I had a war with my providers cause neither of them change my router from PPOE to PPTP. You can check that out on you tube. Very easy bust still took me a few tries. Then contact whoever you are with and they will have to change you to PPTP on their side.

        • George says:

          Good point Drew I went through the exact same scenario with Cablevision and Digicel/Transact. Neither company told me that to take greatest advantage of the 6MB+ they were quick to upgrade/sell me on that I would have to switch to a new router and have that router and my account reconfigured to PPTP. It was only after complaining incessantly for a long period of time about the poor and inconsistent quality of service that the Cablevision data engineer told me this was the case. This is where the Regulatory Authority need to step in and force all providers to advertise these requirements. The Energy Commission force BELCO to do it for any changes to their service the RA need to do the same for the ICOL license holders! For all those concerned about the quality of your service you can get a rough idea of the quality of your data service by testing it at http://www.pingtest.net. If your service is consistently less than a B rating i.e. C, D, F I would call your provider Cablevision/BTC and make a complaint. “There are a lot of people using the service at those times of the day” is not an excuse you should take. Paying for 4/5/6MB download and getting less than 1MB is not acceptable!

          • Silver Lining says:

            I had the same exact issue. Transact assured me I was getting the full speed from them and it turned out that Cablevision needed to switch me to PPTP. They said there were too many heavy users in my area on PPPoE so that was the reason my internet was going sooooo slow. Once Cablevision fixed their problem, I got close to full speed (8 Mb) again.

        • sonso says:

          did you notice that much of an increase in speed?

          • Drew says:

            Oh yes. I am with transact and was at 6mbs for the longest time, never checking my speed test. Then I went up to 8mbs after finding out they dropped the prices. I was paying way too much for 6mbs and now pay way less for 8mbs. Two weeks of going back and forth through Cable Vision and Transact. Each of them saying it was the others fault. Now that I reprogramed my router to PPTP and had Cable Vision change me over in their system to PPTP, well I get nothing less that7.46mbs… Now it is like living in heaven… Trust me go through all that. You may pull at your hair sometimes, but it is easy to do. Watch the you tube video. It helps a lot…

            • George says:

              What’s the quality of the line like though Drew? Have you done a PING TEST on the new PPTP connection to determine the quality of the line? Would be interested to hear your results!

          • George says:

            The short answer is – its too early to tell. I will need to do some more testing to know for sure. The problem is getting consistent data service – with no Jitter, Packet Loss etc. etc. on the line. Your ISP could be providing your subscribed bandwidth 90% of the time but if your data provider has problems with an over subscribed network or other frequent network issues you are never going to get the service you are paying for.

  7. haha says:

    BOTTOM LINE: I DON’T CARE if it’s expensive, just let me get what I’m paying for!!! Make the speeds faster!

  8. I'm just sayin... says:

    0.001% of suscribers are actually getting the speeds they pay for!

  9. Bermyman says:

    Bring on Logic TV!

  10. Time Shall Tell says:

    Internet service as well as cellular service needs to be stepped up on this island badly. When you cross reference what you’re paying for to what you actually get as well as factoring the bad customer service provided, hidden charges & the rates charged. Bermuda has a long way to go…

    • Time Shall Tell says:

      While we’re at it, Belco, Cablevision & WOW should also be added to the list…

  11. Observer says:

    The RA need to conduct a survey and spot test the ISPs for speed and consistency as we as customers are paying for a service that is contracted. So the provider is breaking the contract and can be held to task.
    Step it up ISPs.

    • Silver Lining says:

      To be honest, I think the RA really needs to focus on the broadband providers. Like the other comments above, I was furious with my slow speeds but it wasn’t my ISP’s fault… Cablevision needed to switch me over to PPTP… once they did, I got close to full speeds again.