Internet, Telecommunications Reform And Economic Development In Haiti

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Specific Policy Recommendations for the Haitian Government

Thus, broadly viewed, the telecommunications regulatory environment in Haiti has good potential. Specific improvements in discrete areas should produce recognizable gains, so long as the political will exists to make changes that will move this sector forward. Among the specific areas the government should address are:
New legislation addressing sector structural problems and accountability must be passed. Authority and jurisdiction of the Minister and Regulator should be clearly established and then widely published so that all interested parties are informed. The Regulator needs adequate authority to regulate the sector, including Teleco. Legislation should include a clear statement outlining a national telecom and information policy. It should include objectives for the Internet.

Even without legislation, to the extent possible, the Regulator should seek to make public decisions it makes affecting the sector; publish licenses issued; handle complaints in an open, transparent and expeditious manner; and develop open procedures to obtain authorization to act from the Minister and the Governor of Central Bank when necessary.
The Regulator must be accessible, and should provide transparent and consistent rules for obtaining licenses. The Regulator should establish transparent, fair and impartial rules for handling petitions or complaints among competitors and against Teleco. All decisions should be published, and should be impartial and technology-neutral.

With the advice of the Minister, the Regulator should have authority to impose roll-out and/or service requirements on Teleco, including penalties for failure to comply.
There should be clarity on concessions, (terms or license stating terms should be published) principals and various players in all sectors, e.g., cellular, Rectel, Comcel (US company), Haitel, Digicom.
License or regulatory fees should be published (transparent).
Where Teleco's revenues are going, how they are being spent must be examined and clarified. Subsidies of other sectors must be transparent.
Some portion of Teleco's earnings must be reinvested in Teleco for network expansion, maintenance, service improvement, training, etc., rather than being diverted into other sectors of the economy.
The Board of Teleco must be made to understand that better service on the part of Teleco will bring additional revenue to the company. Demand is high -- ISPs, cellular carriers, and private citizens and businesses eagerly await service and are willing to pay for it.

Increasing teledensity requires telecommunications infrastructure; network used to deploy Internet service extends the telecom infrastructure and furthers universal service goals. Thus, the government, through the Ministry and Conatel) should provide incentives for building data networks for Internet transport and support private sector efforts in this vein.
Like any state-owned firm, Teleco is unable to fully meet the existing demand for telecommunications services. Other network and service providers should have the opportunity to help close this gap. Thus, ISPs should be permitted to handle voice traffic via wireless and wireline means. For the latter, explore resale opportunities with Teleco.

Teleco should not compete with the private sector in providing Internet services.
Make private sector participation a formal part of the policy-making process.
Avoid exorbitant license fees for ISPs.
An independent body should administer domain names.
Haiti should seek to participate in the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Basic Telecommunications (GBT). The World Bank has provided substantial assistance in this area in the past to developing countries. Pledging reform through this process will give Haiti added credibility in international markets and with financial investors.

Programmatic Recommendations for USAID
Political conditions aside, the timing is now opportune for USAID in cooperation with other USG agencies to consider providing technical assistance to Haiti on regulatory reform, privatization/modernization and Internet applications for development especially in education and electronic commerce. (Note: there seems to be a widespread under-appreciation of the potential value of Internet in promoting economic and social development.) Telecommunications and Internet infrastructure development is better left to the private sector, which in any case seems to be the direction being taken by the GOH. The following recommendations, many of which were derived from experience in State/AID telecommunications projects in Africa, the Middle East and East Europe, should be considered in consultation with the World Bank:

Over the short term:
Send a U.S. spectrum management team to advise CONATEL and Teleco. Note: since spectrum is not controlled by Conatel exclusively, but by Teleco with the approval of Conatel, this team should incorporate discussions with Teleco, the Ministry and Conatel in this exercise with a view toward obtaining clear policy procedures for license, allocation and interference and dispute resolution on spectrum issues. Follow-up training for Haitian officials at the U.S. Telecommunications Training Institute should be considered.

Establish regulator-to-regulator relations between CONATEL and the FCC by funding travel for CONATEL senior authorities to visit the FCC and for the FCC to provide assistance to the GOH on the policy recommendations given above.
3- Send a small U.S. team to advise the GOH on the President’s initiative on electronic commerce (including domain name issues--a real problem for Haiti), and on the WTO agreement on basic telecom services, especially on the reference paper on regulatory principles.

Develop a bilateral mechanism for providing advice on a continuing basis to the GOH on its plans to restructure Conatel and privatize Teleco. For example, the FCC and other U.S. agencies could review the draft plan to reorganize CONATEL and provide comments to the GOH planning agency, CMEP, by e-mail or through the USAID mission. Send a small USAID team to investigate rural applications of the Internet for development.

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