I agree with the comments made regarding the e-commerce issue.

My concern is fundamental in essence and maybe this forum can shed some light.

I have read as much of what has been made available by the Government regarding their e-commerce commitment. It seems sensible but is it really structured to compliment the academic and social structure of the Bahamian society which it would govern. There are areas of e-commerce that have paralized even the American computer industry. Outsourcing which once still meant within ones borders is now a nightmare to the employment base for the field. It has however increased the academic and performance level of those who compete for jobs and contracts. I think it goes further than where a website is designed, it touches the academic exposure of the young and old within the Bahamas to high level computer services. Sure i can sell my coconut tart over the internet but how much of each dollar collected will honestly stay in the Bahamas. If the bacbone services are foreign contracted.

I believe the Bahamian computer web designers should be encouraged to establich high level backbone services to get a jump on the sure to come impacts of e-commerce. We will need Certified Security Specialists, Computer Forensic Scientist's and the like. We will need data-mining services and database specialists, programmers and customer relationship centers.

If the attainment of these talents is encouraged I feel the salaries will come into line for the services offered.

At this time it would be useless to start a hosting company here in the bahamas, even if we had the money to do so, which by they way to do it properly you need ALOT of money (there are a couple already here). With power problems, bad ISPs, etc etc, sites hosted locally now are continuosly down, sure they may have generators, etc, but if the ISP they are using is down or if there is a problem from the ISP to the US, then so are their web sites. Hopefully things will change, but for now, us local web developers will never host a web site in the Bahamas. I pay $10 a month for hosting 150MB in the US, with all the advantages or high end equipment and support. If someone did do hosting here with a value ISP and great equipment setup, there still would be the issue of them charging alot more than $10 a month!

I don't think that businesses are either not getting the full concept of e-commerce or just not taking it to thier advantage. Lots more companies are placing the store on the internet, but its just info. I'm still waiting for someone to put their merchandise on-line so i can buy. Imagine the customer base you can have. This reminds me of the US in the roaring 1920s. Large department stores( macy's bloomingdales, sears-roebuck) invented the mail order catalog. This enabled the family in small distant towns and rural communities who are far away from the big city to buy the necesities and luxuries through the catalog. in earlier times, this would have taken several hours to get to the city.(i love american history!) Anyway. This can be translated to our time. The internet can alow people in the family islands to gain access to goods and services that they never would have had. The main idea of e-commerce is to actually sell over the internet. notice the word commerce?


im currently working on an application for a local electronic store, and with further talks they will hopefully go ahead.

At this time it would be useless to start a hosting company here in the bahamas, even if we had the money to do so, which by they way to do it properly you need ALOT of money (there are a couple already here). With power problems, bad ISPs, etc etc, sites hosted locally now are continuosly down, sure they may have generators, etc, but if the ISP they are using is down or if there is a problem from the ISP to the US, then so are their web sites. Hopefully things will change, but for now, us local web developers will never host a web site in the Bahamas. I pay $10 a month for hosting 150MB in the US, with all the advantages or high end equipment and support. If someone did do hosting here with a value ISP and great equipment setup, there still would be the issue of them charging alot more than $10 a month!
Your absolutly right Rory.
Diarra has some very good points but we need the backbone here in the Bahamas. I was thinking of starting an offshore hosting service but that idea has to be on hold until I start my own ISP and Electricity Company. ;)

Your absolutly right Rory.
Diarra has some very good points but we need the backbone here in the Bahamas. I was thinking of starting an offshore hosting service but that idea has to be on hold until I start my own ISP and Electricity Company. ;)


Yep, there are still no advantages to hosting in the Bahamas, first off its not more secure, 2ndly it costs more. Im not sure if there any tax free issues or not? Im not paying tax for my site hosted in the US.

The only way to do it properly here is to charge low like $10 a month basic packages (150MB 7 emails+, lots of ASP, PHP etc Components) to get international clients, with higher packages available. Have back up diesel generators, Large UPS's etc, like what they use in the server setups in the US. There is a host here called securehosting (i think) and his layout actually looks good. Draw back is it uses Cable, even if not directly still uses their line, and monthly cost is a factor. I also wonder if you can get a .com domain with a local based host?