Connecting to the internet in Belize

Whether you are visiting Belize or expatriating, Internet is no longer a luxury. It is a necessity. Unfortunately many years under a monopoly telecommunications company resulted in good coverage but poor service and high cost. That company has been nationalized, but competition has been allowed in, and things have improved. Still, Belize has the second slowest internet in the Caribbean. For example, unless you are lucky enough to live in one of the few areas with fiber optics, the fastest internet you can get is 16Mbps. And that just recently dropped from BZD700 to 400 per month.

Internet popularity is growing, though, and most young people have smart phones and use email, Facebook, and snapchat on their phones, and improvements are being made to bring higher speeds and lower costs.

Types of Connection

Belize has several Internet service providers offering different types of connection. There are satellite providers that primarily provide service to the rural areas. There is also DSL, cable, and just recently, fiber optics.

Mobile service providers also offer internet connection for mobile phones and smartphones. They also provide a small hotspot device called a mi-fi that uses cell phone signal to provide wi-fi signal to any wi-fi enabled device (phone, tablet, laptop, desktop). These are used not only on the go but also as an Internet solution in rural areas that have cell phone signal but not dsl or cable access.

Getting Started

To get your internet connection, visit any branch of the service provider of your choice and produce your identification documents. What you need to show will vary with the kind of service you want and whether you plan to do prepaid or postpaid. In general postpaid services will require a substantial deposit, especially if you are not a permanent resident. Do your research, and check in with neighbors and other expats about real speeds vs advertised speeds, slow times of day, etc.

Useful links:

Belize Telemedia Ltd www.belizetelemedia.net
Smart www.smart-bz.com
Centaur Cable www.centaurcablenetwork.com
Beeline www.beelinebelize.com
CBC cbc.bz/products/internet
NetKing netking.bz/

Wi-Fi and internet cafes

Wi-Fi is also quite accessible in Belize. You can have free or paid access at specific locations called hotspots, particularly in hotels, restaurants, and coffee shops. If you do not have a smartphone or a laptop, you can still surf the web in an internet cafe. You will find internet cafes in almost all Belizean cities. BTL also offers free wi-fi in all of their offices.