29482: Leiderman: comment: yes to land line telephone systems (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

Stuart Leiderman <leiderman@mindspring.com>

11 November 2006

dear Readers:

I completely agree that Haiti should have a first-class land line telephone system.  cell phone transmission, even here in the U.S., has taken us all back to the Stone Age -- most of time I hear grunts and shuffles...some kind of cyber-Kreyol that has no biological basis, as far as I can tell.  in my opinion, cell phones are toys not worth conducting serious business or personal relationships; they are certainly not the communications backbone for nation-building.

as far as Haiti is concerned, I know people and organizations who refrain from committing funds and other resources for projects because of the lack of reliable telephone communications and staff who know how to maintain the infrastructure and manage the customer service.  there is absolutely no reason or excuse why working for Haiti and for Haitians should more often resemble setting up a space colony somewhere on the outer reaches of the solar system.  further, it is unconscionable to me that international banks and donors should send a dollar or euro that is not first dedicated to installing and maintaing a land line telephone system.  without giving at least that much, they are just pulling the wool over our touch-tones.

a ministry of the GOH should simply issue the proper request for proposals.  I bet they've never even gone that far.  a land line system should be entirely government-run for at least the first ten years; it would be a tremendous boost to Haitians ready to enter essential technology fields as well as all the field jobs involved in physically installing and maintaining systems.  this is how a government makes a good reputation for itself.

after telephones, of course, come narrow-gauge railroads...

thank you,

Stuart Leiderman
leiderman@mindspring.com