The Senate Commission of Public Works, Transport and Communications, presided by the Jean William Jeanty (Nippes) Senator has auditioned yesterday, the officials of the company Natcom [formerly Teleco], whose the Haitian state is a shareholder [40%], about the impossibility for the customers of the Haitian-Vietnamese company to communicate with those of the Digicel.

The President of the Commission explained "...there are four telephone companies in the country, today there is a problem, there is a company [Natcom] whose the Haitian state is a shareholder, who finished to make all its technical installations, which now needs to formally launch its services on September 7, but unfortunately it is not yet interconnected with other companies, [...] we are aware that when it will be on the market there will be a improvement in the service and costs, in this sense, we invited the Natcom to explain us in what condition it is, and what difficulties prevent that the interconnection is made..."

To Thanh N'Guyen Duc, Director General of the Natcom, these are the Digicel officials who refuse to make operational the interconnection, although negotiations were launched last year.

The Senator Jean William Jeanty clarified after the hearing "...they gave us all the information and details we needed, now we will meet all those concerned in order that they take their responsibility in this file [...] this is the Conatel [National Council of Telecommunications] which is the regulator and which is supposed to take all initiatives to facilitate the interconnection, which is an obligation Therefore it's to the Conatel to listen everyone, to look at the figures and say exactly what needs to be done in the interest of all.

We will meet the Conatel in order that they tell us exactly why this operation has not yet been made [...] they [Natcom] have also mentioned acts of sabotage that are made ​​around the country. We will analyze these information and meet with all those concerned so that we understand why it suffered such acts of sabotage [...] there are state funds in this company, ultimately it is the State of Haiti who lose money and also, us the consumers who do not receive a service of quality."

We might ask, if Digicel despite its dominant position in Haiti, does not fear the the arrival of a competitor such as Natcom, whose reputation of low prices in other countries, have made its success.

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-2036-haiti-telecommunications-first-successful-international-transmission.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/article-473-haiti-telecommunication-300-millions-de-dollars-d-investissement.html (in french)

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-1525-haiti-social-demonstration-of-ex-employees-of-teleco.html

BF/ HaitiLibre