Alternative Paths to Internet Infrastructure: The Case of Haiti

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3. Today's Internet service providers

There are currently four commercial Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Haiti, offering services in five cities to between 1,000 and 2,000 customers. (For comparison, there are roughly 40,000 working phone lines). Even with high costs to establish Internet service, the number of customers is growing.
Each of the four commercial Internet Service Providers is unique. They have different histories, objectives, resources, and market niches. Each is responding in a different way to the challenges of the Haitian environment, where the most recurring theme is the weakness of the telephone system. Their varied origins are representative of typical ISPs. Each ISP is described below.

3.1. Hintelfocus: the multinational telecom connection

MCI came to Haiti as a provider of telecommunications services for the U.S. armed forces and the U.S. embassy, without offering commercial services to Haitians. Once a company has established a satellite link for international communications, it is cost-effective to expand the capacity of that link and support other services. Eventually, an ISP called Hintelfocus was born which exploits this resource.

Hintelfocus offers Internet services through its point of presence in Port au Prince, which is collocated with MCI's international gateway. MCI carries the international traffic over a satellite connection. The connection with MCI gives Hintelfocus easy access to international communications capacity. In addition, although they would probably be more prosperous with additional telephone lines, they have considerably more lines than their competitors. Given their relatively good access to telecommunications capacity on both sides, they provide a typical Internet service based largely on dial-up access over the telephone system.
Hintelfocus prices would be competitive in many countries. There is a $30 set-up fee. Customers requiring access for less than 25 hours per month pay only $10 per month. Other packages are available for heavier users.

3.2. Alpha Communications Network: the Internet founder

Alpha Communications Network (ACN) became Haiti's first commercial ISP in 1993, and is still Haiti's largest ISP. ACN's history and orientation is very different from that of Hintelfocus. The original purpose of the system that has become ACN was to support the internal needs of a large Haitian company. They soon realized that could use the same equipment to provide telecommunications services for other businesses. Many ISPs around the world have similar origins. ACN now has its own international satellite link that it uses to carry Internet traffic and offer virtual private network services for many businesses that have offices in Haiti. As the ISP with the greatest international telecommunications capacity, ACN also provides the underlying communications services for other ISPs.

Although ACN has ample international capacity, it has few local telephone lines. Indeed, its access to telephone lines has actually declined. After accusations were made that ACN was allegedly providing international telephone services in violation of Teleco's monopoly, Teleco took back two-thirds of ACN's telephone lines. Although ACN denied the allegations, it still lost the majority of its dial-up customers as a result of the controversy.

ACN has responded to the scarcity of phone lines with an unusual strategy; it has deployed its own wireless infrastructure, circumventing the telephone system completely. Transmitters are installed on the premises of major customers, providing dedicated connections to the ISP. The principal technology is Lucent's WaveLan, which operates at 2.4 GHz using a spread spectrum to facilitate sharing. Although the WaveLan was developed for very different purposes, it has met the needs of ACN customers. Systems have been modified as needed to address local conditions. ACN has used this approach to serve customers up to 20 km from their point of presence. (This approach has probably reinforced the motivation to focus on customers within the capital city, but ACN has recently begun offering services in a second city.) Clearly, this approach makes spectrum management an important issue for Internet development.

With a business model based on dedicated wireless links, customers can expect good performance, but high initial costs for customer premises equipment, irrespective of monthly service charges. Internet connections to a single computer must cost in the neighborhood of a couple thousand dollars. Customers using their link to connect a bank of computers will pay several times that. Despite these heavy costs, ACN has a waiting list for new customers.

3.3. Companet: the expanding computer vendor

For years, Companet has been a growing vendor for computer equipment in Haiti. They also provide support for their customers. As a result, they already had technical expertise and established relationships with many potential Internet customers. This is another common and excellent springboard to becoming a commercial ISP.
Like ACN, Companet's access to phone lines for dial-up service is severely limited. They similarly rely heavily on dedicated wireless links using spread spectrum technology, with comparable costs.
Unlike ACN and Hintelfocus, Companet also lacks a license that would give it access to its own international satellite connection. Its application for such a license remains unanswered. Companet survives as an ISP by reselling communications services from ACN. This allows Companet to succeed as an ISP, and allows ACN to expand its market and compete more effectively with Hintelfocus. Resale among competitors is another important and unusual feature of the Haitian Internet sector.

3.4. Globelsud: serving the unserved

Like Companet, Globelsud provides Internet services by reselling the international capacity of ACN. It also uses both phone lines and dedicated spread spectrum wireless links. However, Globelsud differs significantly from Companet and the other providers because it targets a different market niche. Created just one year ago, Haiti's newest ISP has emphasized serving those who would otherwise be unserved. For example, Globelsud has vigorously promoted the creation of telecenters, where the public can come to use computers that are connected to the Internet. A customer can pay five US dollars to exchange e-mail with a relative living abroad from a telecenter, even if they don't have a computer or a phone line at home. Frequent users of the telecenters pay $35 to $50 per month.

Globelsud has also focused on providing rural Internet access -- an important mission in a country where 65% of the population is rural. While their competitors were still offering services only in Port au Prince, Globelsud was operating in five cities. This would be an impressive accomplishment in any developing country, and is more so in Haiti where 75% of the urban population is in Port au Prince. Globelsud has ambitious aspirations to serve many more secondary cities and rural areas in the future. Among their innovative projects is an effort to teach seniors in a Haitian school how to establish telecenters in rural areas.

To provide services cost-effectively, Globelsud has explored different technologies, and different levels of service. In many cases, they use store-and-forward systems that exchange information over domestic phone lines every hour. This is adequate for e-mail, or for downloading specific information, but is obviously not conducive to interactive Web browsing. Globelsud is also exploring a variety of alternative and innovative wireless technologies to make Internet connections to remote areas more cost-effective.

3.5. Possible future providers

Other Internet providers may be forthcoming. Plans are under way for the launch of a fifth commercial ISP, that would use both phone lines and wireless connections, and that would resell international capacity from either ACN or Hintelfocus. Other providers who do not require telephone lines are likely to begin offering Internet services as well.
The first will probably be the government's National Bank (Banque de la Republique d'Haiti), which plans to deploy a fiberoptic backbone, connecting to an international gateway. They will advance the nation's financial infrastructure by supporting banks, insurance companies, stock brokers, and other critical financial institutions. They also hope to include universities and schools. Customers will pay fees for these services, although this is a not-for-profit venture. What is probably most unusual about this state-owned Internet venture is that it is separate from the state-owned telephone company.
If and when the providers of cellular telephone service begin operating, they will also have the capability to bypass the telephone company to reach local customers. As such, they will have strong motivation to become full ISPs, or to make resale agreements with ACN or Hintelfocus.

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