It’s not that big of a
surprise that Haiti, the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, also has the hemisphere’s
worst telecommunications system. There are just 140,000 landlines and 540,000
cell phones in the country of more than 8 million people. (I wrote more about Haiti’s cell phone penetration here.)

Hopefully, that’s beginning
to change. Yesterday Digicel,
the largest mobile phone operator in the Caribbean, launched service in
the country. It will be Haiti’s first second GSM provider and the first to
offer service available
throughout the country. There’s no doubt that with such a low number of
mobile
phone users, Haiti could be a  very large potential market.
And Digicel sounds like a pretty good deal – it claims to offer an
improved
network and cheaper rates.

And to jump start its
service, Digicel is giving away free phones and activation to anyone who trades
in a cell phone they currently have with Comcel, currently the country’s
largest provider. The plan is working so far. In the capital Port au Prince and
reportedly throughout Haiti, people are lining up outside of Digicel buildings
to trade in phones and sign up for service.

At the very least, Digicel’s
entrance into Haiti will provide needed competition for Haiti’s current mobile providers, which are plagued by
user complaints. Also at $130 million, it’s a huge investment for a country that
notoriously lacks foreign investment. So big that Digicel says it’s “the
largest corporate investment in the country from an international company."

An improved mobile phone
system, especially one that offers services like text messaging more affordably,
will allow aid organizations and average Haitians to avoid some of the country’s
security risks and give them better access to information. And if it’s true
about a offering a reliable nationwide network, that will make communication
much easier considering that many towns in Haiti are pretty hard to travel to. 

Thanks to Matt from Haiti
Innovation for the picture – Digicel Rive, Digicel Has Arrived.