Cable & Wireless British Virgin Islands

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When Cable & Wireless began operations in 1967 in the British Virgin Islands, there were only fifty telephones in the entire territory.

In 1960 the BVI depended solely on High Frequency radio communications in disasters. And, in some cases, even this required putting out thirty calls at scheduled hours to raise help. By 1961, the government installed a 20-line telephone system and later expanded it to a 100-line public telephone system, in conjunction with International Air Radio London, which supplied the technology. The subscribers had magneto telephones that when hand-cranked, generated ringing on the switchboard. This partnership eventually came to an end around 1966.

Cable & Wireless pioneered telecommunications in the nearby US Virgin Islands, and was the only company back then to respond to a BVI government invitation to provide telecommunications on a license basis. In those days, very few companies had either the means, or the desire, to invest money in the region. Yet we achieved - even surpassed, in some places Ò what government asked us to do.

Our goal, under the licensing agreement, was to build a telecommunications infrastructure Ò giving access to every citizen who wanted it.

Now, just 40 years later, the BVI has as many telephone lines, per capita, as any of the most developed countries in the world.

Today, we supply service to a total of 19 islands with Tortola having the most lines out of more than 15,000, in a combination of radio and optical fibre.

While change is inevitable, success is not. It takes vision to persevere and overcome the upheaval which often accompanies change. Today, the telecommunications industry is seeing change at a rapid rate, particularly in the areas of regulation, technology, customer needs and the everyday demands of doing business.

In response to these changes, Cable & Wireless is embarking upon a new vision.

Our vision is to build synergies across products and geographies so that we are the premiere value creators for customers through impeccable customer service and quality, competitive pricing, and efficient solutions.

It is only by maintaining our high values that Cable & Wireless will be able to retain its position as the preferred provider of choice not only in the British Virgin Islands, but across our international markets in which Cable & Wireless is the largest telecommunications provider, delivering providing 360? communications services for businesses and consumers.