Caribbean Regional Communications Infrastructure Program (CARCIP)

Overview

The Caribbean Regional Communications Infrastructure Program (CARCIP) is a short-haul submarine cable system spanning 225 kilometres in the eastern Caribbean. It connects Grenada and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, serving an intra-island corridor within the Lesser Antilles. Operated by Digicel, the cable became ready for service in 2019 and has been operational for seven years.

Route and Landings

In Grenada, the cable lands at two points: Carriacou and Conference.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines accounts for seven landing points along the system. These are Bequia, Canouan, Chateaubelair, Kingstown, Mustique, Owia, and Union Island. The breadth of landings across this island nation reflects the archipelagic geography of the Grenadines chain, where numerous small islands require individual connections to a shared cable system.

Ownership and Operators

CARCIP is owned and operated by Digicel, the telecommunications company with a substantial presence across Caribbean markets. As a single-owner system, the cable forms part of Digicel's regional infrastructure serving island communities in Grenada and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Status and Timeline

The cable entered service in 2019 and is currently in service, having accumulated seven years of operational life.

Regional Context

The eastern Caribbean corridor between Grenada and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is also served by the Southern Caribbean Fiber cable, which became ready for service in 2006 and spans 3,000 kilometres, and the Eastern Caribbean Fiber System (ECFS), which entered service in 1995 and extends 1,730 kilometres. Against these longer regional cables, CARCIP stands out for its compact 225-kilometre length, reflecting a design focused specifically on connecting the smaller islands of the Grenadines rather than spanning the broader Caribbean basin. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines hosts a total of seven cable landing points across three submarine systems, with the country's first cable having arrived in 1995.

Strategic Role

With nine landing points distributed across two countries—two in Grenada and seven across the islands of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines—CARCIP provides dedicated submarine connectivity to a collection of smaller island communities that might otherwise rely solely on longer regional cables with fewer local access points. The high concentration of landings in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, covering islands such as Mustique, Canouan, Bequia, and Union Island, enables direct undersea connections to communities spread across an extended island chain.