Communications in Bermuda
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Bermuda has five television stations, a small cable microwave system, three cellular services, three submarine cables, two satellite earth stations, and four Internet service providers.
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[edit] Telephone
- Calling code: 1 441
- Telephones - main lines in use: 48,000 (1995)
- Telephones - mobile cellular: 6,324 (1995)
- Telephone system:
- domestic: modern, fully automatic telephone system
- international: 3 submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)
Bermuda is often considered to be a Long-Distance, rather than an International, region by many telephone services in the United States of America.
[edit] Radio
There are two main broadcasting companies in Bermuda: the Bermuda Broadcasting Company (BBC, not to be confused with the British BBC) and DeFontes Broadcasting Ltd.. The BBC owns four radio stations, two with the callsign ZFB and two with the callsign ZBM. VSB owns a few radio stations with the VSB callsign.
Two new licenses were also given out by the government and were awarded to Inter-Island Communications and LLT Broadcasting. Inter-Island Communications now operates (what is deemed as the number 1 station in Bermuda) Hott 107.5, although when pronouncing the name, the point is usually left out. The callsign is WHT. LLT Broadcasting operates a Jazz station.
American satellite radio is also available.
[edit] Television
- Television broadcast stations: 3 (1997)
- Template of TV stations
- Televisions: 66,000 (1997)
There are two main broadcasting companies in Bermuda: the government-owned Bermuda Broadcasting Company (BBC, not to be confuse with the BBC in the UK) and DeFontes Broadcasting Ltd. (VSB). The BBC owns two television stations (an ABC and a CBS affiliate) and VSB owns one television station (an NBC affiliate). All three television stations are commercial - there is no equivalent to Canada's CBC/Radio-Canada, the US's PBS, and the UK's BBC in Bermuda. Even the state-run BBC, despite sharing the same initials as the UK's BBC, runs commercials. A new TV station, called Fresh Creations, is a pirate TV station and is weak in content. Another channel, called Look TV, is primarily a rolling calendar of events.
All five TV channels can theoretically be picked up over the air without the need of cable, but cable is actually necessary for reception purposes - without it reception of some channels like VSB in Hamilton is extremely bad. (See the "Media" section of Bermuda Online for details)
Recently, there has been talk [1][2][3] in the Bermudian government of creating its own TV station, saying that it is needed "to speak directly to the public 'in an unmediated and unedited fashion'"[4], while critics state that it will be no more than a propaganda exercise.
Satellite television is also used, but is unreliable, as the only satellites available are those mainly servicing the United States of America, Canada and Latin America, and is on the edge of the reception area. Digital cable is available, as is wireless.
[edit] Internet
- Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 4 (2002)
- Country codes: BM
The .bm code is controlled by the Bermuda Government's Department of Intellectual Property, a part of the Registry General and andministered by CSSD, the government's IT support group. The .bm domians are primarily granted to Licensed Businesses. Private accounts do exist, however.
[edit] Reference
Much of the material in this article is adapted from the CIA World Factbook 2000.
[edit] External links
- Bermuda 4U Guide to Bermuda's telephone system
- Bermuda Online - The Media in Bermuda
