Alice Town, Bahamas

Alice Town: A Gateway on North Bimini

Alice Town, located on the island of North Bimini in the Bahamas, is a small community with a population of around 300, as recorded in the 2010 census. While modest in size, this town plays a unique role in the country's connectivity landscape, hosting the landing point for the Grand Bahama Bimini Submarine Cable.

The Grand Bahama Bimini Submarine Cable

The Grand Bahama Bimini Submarine Cable, operational since 2005, spans 117 km and connects Alice Town to Eight-Mile Rock on Grand Bahama Island. Unlike larger landing points in the Bahamas, such as Nassau or Hawksbill, which host multiple cables, Alice Town serves as the endpoint for a single domestic cable. This cable is exclusively focused on inter-island connectivity within the Bahamas, linking North Bimini to the larger and more developed Grand Bahama Island. It does not provide direct international access but plays an integral role in integrating Bimini into the broader Bahamian network.

A Strategic Link for North Bimini

Despite its solitary cable, Alice Town is far from insignificant. Bimini’s remote location makes this connection essential for tying the island into the Bahamian communications grid. The cable ensures that residents and businesses in Alice Town have access to reliable telecommunications, enabling everything from local commerce to digital communication with the rest of the Bahamas. Compared to regional peers like Nassau, which hosts three cables, or Eight-Mile Rock, which hosts two, Alice Town’s single cable might seem modest. However, it is sufficient to meet the needs of its small population and ensures that North Bimini remains connected to the larger islands of the Bahamas.

Latency Performance

GeoCables has conducted 12 latency tests from six source cities to Alice Town’s landing point. The average round-trip latency measured was 171 ms, with the best observed latency being 112 ms. These figures reflect the efficiency of the Grand Bahama Bimini Submarine Cable in maintaining stable and responsive communication links. While not as fast as international cables, this latency is more than adequate for domestic purposes.

A Quiet but Important Role

Alice Town’s role in the Bahamian submarine cable network may not be as prominent as Nassau or Hawksbill, but its connection to Eight-Mile Rock ensures that North Bimini remains part of the national conversation. For a town of just 300 people, this single cable is a reliable bridge to the rest of the country, supporting the island’s daily communications and its integration into the Bahamian economy.