#3017: Replies on cell phone

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

>From rsauveur51@hotmail.com Tue Mar 28 07:34:23 2000

I would like to know if any type of cellulaire phone, bought in the U.S can 
get connected without any problem in Haiti.

Send response to : rsauveur51@hotmail.com

======================
From: Jepiem@aol.com

There's a company called Comcel whose representative hands you a pamphlet as 
you exit the customs area. They claim they do just that but I don't know if 
their office is right at the airport or not. Must not be very far. There are 
indeed people who have to resort to those private companies because of the 
incompetence an devil may care attitude of the Haitian Telephone company. You 
may be waiting for years to have a telephone line installed in your home or 
business and never get it. Telephone company employees reserve the few 
existing lines and sell them at very high price according may be to the old 
system of supply and demand. So there are now two private companies, ComCel 
being one and the other being HaiTel I believe who have installed their 
private satellite telephone communication system. It's even said that between 
the two of them they have more clients than the Teleco ( Haitian public 
company) who has been in existence for eons) but obviously aren't the least 
bit interested in increasing their clientele base. It's even said that the 
private companies had to pay a high toll to the people in charge of telephone 
communication in Haiti and of Teleco of course as the " cost of doing 
business". Furthermore, if a Teleco client calls a private company client on 
his line, he is assessed a per minute charge for the call, which of course 
discourages the use of Teleco lines to call private company customers and 
puts a limitation on the companies' ability to expand. As for the private 
company charges themselves, they are of course more expensive, like al 
cellular satellite systems. One of the companies, ComCel only sell cellular 
service while HaiTel sells home and cellular. For their home service, you buy 
a plug in battery charged system with a telephone much alike the home unit, 
with about a 60$ for a hudred minutes per month after which you have to buy a 
card much like the calling card system here and you call them to activate it. 
It's expensive and I would say a luxury which is a hardship on the middle 
class pocketbook. The rich of course even give one to their school age kids. 
Another example of the deep divide between rich and poor in this very poor 
and yet for some very rich country. However, from what I've been told and 
from what I've seen, you can't beat those private systems for efficiency. The 
comparison between them and Teleco is like between night and day. WHAT DO YOU 
THINK? PRIVATIZATION OR NO PRIVATIZATION?
                                                                              
Math Jerome.

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Here are phone # for ComCel one of the two companies that deal with cell 
phone service in Haiti, the other being HaiTel on which I have no info: 
At the airport: 244 1400 
  fax:              244 1467
Central office  256 3236    fax 256 3239
customer service: 401 5566 
 PS I don't have any financial interest in any of these companies. Just got 
the  numbers from a brochure that was handed to me at the airport over the 
week end
 Good Luck.
                         Math Jerome

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From: Judejb@aol.com

If you have an AT&T phone here it can be connected at the airport by Comcel and its a prepaid account.