Belize is a country in the Central part of America situated on the eastern coast, with English as its official language. However, Belizeans also speak Spanish and Belizean Creole. The country’s society is diverse, comprising of several different languages and cultures. Tourism in Belize has seen significant growth in recent years, and has now become the 2nd largest industry of the country. The country’s Prime Minister took steps to make use of tourism to fight poverty all through the country. Also, the growth of Tourism industry in Belize has had a positive influence on various other industries of the country, including finance, commercial, construction and agriculture. In the year 2012, the country attracted an overwhelming 1 million tourists for the very first time, making the outcome of its tourism driven economy much more significant.
A blend of various natural elements like the Belize Barrier Reef, climate, more than 450 offshore islands, boating, fishing, snorkeling, scuba diving, kayaking, rafting, and several wildlife reserves for bird watching, hiking, helicopter touring, etc. make Belize one of the most preferred locations in the Central America for vacationing, among tourists. This makes it evident that thousands and thousands of people visit the country each year, which makes us to think about the level of internet access in the country.
Internet in Belize
Internet coverage in Belize is pretty good, as the country has various Internet Service Providers (ISPs) who offer a wide range of services. Therefore, if you are an expat who is about to visit Belize and have to stay there for quite some time, or if you are just a tourist wishing to stay in touch with your friends and family abroad, you will be able to connect to the internet in Belize easily and obtain access. More than 25 percent of the country’s population is found to use the internet, and Speed Net, BTL, etc. happen to be some of the most popular ISPs in the country.
The ISPs in the country offer several different types of internet connections to the users. If you will be using a Personal Computer (PC) during your visit to Belize, you can select between a broad band connection and narrow band connection. On the other hand, if you will be accessing the internet on your laptop, you can choose to have a wireless connection. However, the most widely used type of connection in the nation happens to be broadband, with over 10,000 users subscribed to it. The numbers of users of wireless connection seem to increase every year, especially with more and more tourists visiting the country. In addition, you will also be able to find several attractive subscription packages for using internet on your mobile phone.
Internet Surveillance and Censorship in Belize
In Belize, there are few restrictions by the government when it comes to users accessing the internet. Howbeit, there are no reliable reports about internet chats and emails being monitored by the government. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services is being blocked by the telecommunications firm that is owned by the Belizean government. Microsoft’s MSN Messenger and Google Talk are few of such services blocked by the country’s government. These censorship practices have alarmed academics, consumer groups, and leading firms like Yahoo Inc. and Google. Such companies argue that if internet restrictions of this kind are not monitored carefully, they may affect public opinions and restrain voices.
Political leaders and government agencies around the world, especially those in countries with strict internet censorship practices, claim that they impose such restrictions mainly to safeguard their country’s internet users from privacy incursions, online abuses, and other potential dangers, which happens to be true to a certain extent. Despite all these reasons, blocking of VoIP in Belize will remain an unacceptable factor for tourists and business people traveling to the country. If you are one such traveler, then all you need is a Belize VPN.
Belize VPN for Comprehensive Internet Access
Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a service that is being used by most of the internet users around the world, and is especially popular among those users who are located in countries with strong internet restrictions. The service helps a user to bypass internet censorships, get around geographic restrictions imposed by different websites and web services, and also obtain complete security, privacy and anonymity when surfing the internet and transferring files.
In the case of people visiting Belize, signing up with a Belize VPN can help them unblock VoIP services and stay in touch with their family and friends in their home country. The concept works this way: when you are about to visit Belize, obtain a subscription for the services of a Belize VPN service provider. Once you are subscribed, the provider will provide you with the options to connect your network with several VPN servers located all across the globe. You can choose to connect with one of those servers, present in any country of your choice. In order to access VoIP services in Belize, it would be better if you chose to connect to a server located in any other region other than Belize itself. This is because, Belize ISPs block access to VoIP services to the country’s internet users by tracking down their IP address, a unique number that helps in the determination of a user’s location. However, when you use a VoIP service through a VPN server located in a different region, your Belizean IP address would be replaced by an IP address from the server’s location, making the country’s ISPs believe that you are accessing VoIP services from a different country. Thus, a Belize VPN can help you in a number of different ways with respect to the online activities you perform.
Best Belize VPN Services
Following are the top five Belize VPN service providers you can rely on for all your online needs:
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