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#3017: Replies on cell phone
>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.
==========================
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
==========================
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.