Virgin Islands (British)
Power & telecom standards in Virgin Islands (British)
Connectivity Overview
Tempest Telecom offered satellite-only service in Virgin Islands (British). Iridium satellite Internet and Voice access was available for communications in rural areas without infrastructure.
Virgin Islands (British) uses 110V at 60Hz. Power outlets are type A, B and telephone jacks are RJ-11.
Dial-up Internet Access
Dial-up access was not available in Virgin Islands (British). Satellite Internet was the recommended alternative.
WiFi Hotspot Access
WiFi hotspot access was not available through Tempest in Virgin Islands (British).
Adapters & Power
North American (Type A/B) plugs are compatible. An adapter may not be needed for US travelers.
Standard RJ-11 jacks are used. Most international modems will connect without an adapter.
Virgin Islands (British) at a Glance
- Capital
- Road Town
- Phone Code
- +1-284
- Voltage
- 110V / 60Hz
- Power Plug
- A, B
- Phone Jack
- RJ-11
- Currency
- US Dollar
- Dial-up
- N/A
- WiFi
- N/A
About connectivity in Virgin Islands (British)
The British Virgin Islands uses 110V/60Hz with Type A and Type B outlets — despite British Overseas Territory status, the electrical standard matches the US-aligned Eastern Caribbean. The phone jack is RJ-11. The country code +1-284 is part of the North American Numbering Plan and the currency is the US Dollar (de facto, despite the British constitutional status). Flow BVI and CCT (Caribbean Cellular Telephone) operate the principal networks.
The BVI's economy is dominated by offshore financial services (the territory is one of the world's largest international business company registries) and tourism, particularly the yacht-charter industry across Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Jost Van Dyke, and Anegada. Commercial Internet adoption tracked the yacht-charter and offshore-services customer base from the late 1990s onward.
Tempest Telecom served the BVI through Caribbean regional dial-up coverage. The yacht-charter industry at Wickhams Cay (Tortola) and the high-end resort operations across Virgin Gorda and Necker Island were strong Iridium satellite phone customers for both vessels and shore-side concierge operations. The offshore-services client-travel customer base sustained metered Wi-Fi demand at the major hotel and conference venues.
Modern BVI has 4G LTE coverage and expanding FTTH in Road Town and the larger settlements; the 2017 Hurricane Irma substantially disrupted infrastructure that has since been rebuilt.
Tempest's services across Virgin Islands (British), 1997–2012
Tempest Telecommunications operated international connectivity services in Virgin Islands (British) between 1997 and 2012 under a unified prepaid account that absorbed multiple service types onto a single customer credential. Customers in Virgin Islands (British) drew from the same balance for pre-paid international voice calling, RADIUS-authenticated dial-up Internet roaming, metered Wi-Fi hotspot access, Iridium satellite voice, and Inmarsat BGAN data terminals. An attempted kiosk-payment federation (PATN, 1998) extended the same architecture to public Internet terminals but failed to reach scale.
Iridium satellite voice was available in Virgin Islands (British) from approximately 2001 (post-bankruptcy relaunch). Thuraya coverage did not extend to Virgin Islands (British); Inmarsat BGAN data terminals filled the broadband gap from late 2005.