ARTICLE - DIGICEL REFUSES NATCOM INTERCONNECTION

DIGICEL REFUSES THE INTERCONNECTION TO NATCOM
(Haiti Libre) -

The Senate Commission of Public Works, Transport and Communications, presided by Jean William Jeanty (Nippes) auditioned yesterday, the officials of the company Natcom [formerly Teleco], of which the Haitian state is a shareholder [40%], about the impossibility of customers from the Haitian-Vietnamese company to communicate with those of 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] of which the Haitian state is a shareholder, which finished making all its technical installations, and 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 an improvement in the service and costs. In this sense, we invited Natcom to explain to us in what condition it is, and what difficulties prevent the interconnection from being made..."

To Thanh N'Guyen Duc, Director General of Natcom, said that the Digicel officials refused to make operational the interconnection, although negotiations were launched last year.

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 will take their responsibility in this file [...] Conatel [National Council of Telecommunications] is the regulator and it is supposed to take all initiatives to facilitate the interconnection, which is an obligation. Therefore it is to Conatel that everyone must listen; to look at the figures and say exactly what needs to be done in the interest of all.

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

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, has made its success.