Barbados has licensed a third operator in a bid to introduce more competition to the market.
For years, Barbados has been a duopoly between Digicel and Flow. Speaking to Barbados Today, Clifford Bostic, Director of Digital Infrastructure at the Ministry of Industry, Innovation, Science and Technology (MIST), named the new provider as KW Telecommunications and confirmed that they were preparing to launch services.
Bostic also noted that the provider was readying a number portability offering, as both mobile number portability (MNP) and fixed number portability (FNP) are set to debut in Barbados this year. Acknowledging that Barbados was somewhat behind on this timeline, Bostic said: “We are learning from the errors and mistakes from all those countries who have implemented number portability, and when we come to the market in mid-2022, you will see both mobile as well as fixed services with number portability.”
TeleGeography reported that details are scarce on KW Telecommunications and its investors. Barbados’ previous third player Ozone Wireless shuttered in August 2019 after just two years of operating.
