telecommunication - Haiti Observer Blog

Telecommunications giant, Digicel, one of Haiti's mobile phone providers, won a Corporate Citizens of the Americas (CCA) award at a dinner in Washington D.C. The Trust for the Americas (The Trust), in partnership with the Organization of American States and the Inter-American Development Bank sponsors the CCA award. The honor was presented to Digicel CEO Sophia Stansky and Project Director, Rachel Pierre.

It was given to Digicel in the Vulnerable Communities division for its work in education. Digicel's foundation plans to construct 150 schools in the next year with 450-plus hours of teacher training, including mentoring and professional development, offered to 600 applicants.

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The internet industry in Haiti has yet to boom as many people are still unable to afford such services. Though the market has shown a lot of potential and advantages, Internet service providers must exert more efforts and initiatives to provide Internet connection at a more affordable price.

Most antennas that transmit signal for Internet connection in Haiti are located on a hill above Port-au-Prince. These antennas and transmitter cram the area, as Internet companies are forced to build their own towers. Unlike in other countries such as the United States, Haiti could still not allow tower-sharing, wherein multiple companies share a single internet infrastructure. The said infrastructure is operated by a third-party company. This makes it easier, cheaper and more efficient for service providers to operate their business. However, Haiti's telecommunication law, which has not been updated for 35 years, makes it impossible for companies to do the same in the country.

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Haiti Telecommunication International (Haitel) is now in receivership as a result of its tax problems with the government. General Tax Directorate (DGI) director general Jean Baptiste Clark Neptune announced that the request for Haitel's receivership was approved in order to continue the company's operations and protect its employees and shareholders. Neptune clarified that the measure was taken not to close the telecommunication company but to help it resume its operations.

It can be recalled that Haitel has been buried in debt. Since 2005, it has accumulated a debt of more than $80 million in government taxes from several institutions such as DGI, National Council of Telecommunications (CONATEL), BRH and BNC, among others. The total debt accounts for 40% of government taxes.
CONATEL director Jean Marie Guillaume, who held a meeting with the DGI director, said that Haitel could no longer keep up its operation. It does not have money to pay its employees and purchase fuel for its generations anymore. As a matter of fact, the director added, Haitel's employees have not received their salary for over five months.

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Voila, which was previously known as Communication Cellulaire d'Haiti, S.A. (Comcel) is a major telephone company that has been serving Haitians greatly for the past years. Though its operation was quite interrupted in 2010 due to a devastating earthquake, it pushed on and continued to provide its services to thousands of people who need them. Voila's success can be traced back to the year of 1998 when it received a license to build and operate a TDMA mobile communication network across the country. A year later, Voila, a subsidiary of American company Trilogy International Partners, started its commercial service in the capital of Port-au-Prince. Since that moment, it has continued an excellent operation until it achieved the largest mobile phone coverage in the country.

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Leopard Capital has inked a deal with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to set up the first private equity fund to re-energize Haitian small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs) wiped out by the 2010 earthquake.

With a goal of securing $40 to $75 million to re-capitalize Haitian businesses, the Leopard Haiti Fund (LHF) has attracted $20 million in funding from three development banks: IFC, LHF's senior partner, has invested $8.5 million; the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) $8.5 million; and Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) $3.0 million.

LHF will pour financing into four potential-growth areas: food manufacturing, sustainable energy, tourism, and low-income housing. The bulk of LHF's financial resources will help already-open businesses grow by re-capitalizing operations and restoring structural damage. A portion of LHF's investment funds will support SMEs and new businesses.

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