29488: Re: 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