*** A big caveat on this article - some people have quoted this in other blogs.  Any information listed below is not necessarily fact but is based on my perceptions at the point in time - including dollar values***

 

Last month I went to Haiti... twice.  The country is in a state of calm right now - it has been declassified to a "medium risk" country by most security experts.  I mean Jamaica does have a higher murder rate - but then again Jamaica has a higher murder rate than every country in the world.

 

Yes I know that it is generally wrong to talk about your work in the context of a blog - but I can't help it, this was a huge event globally that I don't think got enough fair press.  The company I work for invested $130M into Haiti - this is the largest foreign investment ever into the country.  People lined up for phones starting at 4am the night before our launch.  Line-ups were hours long at EVERY store in the country.  It is the first time affordable mobile phones have been available in Haiti.  The current provider charges:

i.  $50 USD to activate

ii.  cheapest phone = $60

iii.  You pay to make and receive calls

iv. Rates are per-minute

 

Our charges:

i.  $0 to activate

ii.  Three phones available for under $20

iii.  You only pay to make calls

iv. Rates are per-second

 

People cannot afford mobile telephony at the current rates - they can afford it now.  The number of mobile subscribers in the country could go from 3-4% to 60-80% (this is all speculation on my part).  Honestly - it is a bit of a revolution - there are no landline phone networks either so this is the first time many people in Haiti will ever have a phone! 

 

I know many people will argue that we are not in fact revolutionizing the country and that this is consumerism in its worst way.  I disagree for a number of reasons -

1.  the phones we market and push are the phones under $20 USD.

2.  We don't accept credit and we don't reduce the price of phones and force them to take long contracts (in the mass market) like you see in North America.  If a person wants to get an expensive phone they have to save up for it and in that case I think it is a legitimate spend.

3.  Phones are always a balance of style versus function.  In developing countries the large portion of the selection is based on price and function with style lagging behind that.

4. I have heard of a direct correlation between telecom growth and GDP growth in developing countries (not in the developed world).  I can't find anything strong that correlates it... but telecom is an enabler.  If teleco and technology improves communications improve which facilitates economic growth over all.  Yes I realize this is very glossy, high-level and weak.

 

In the end I hope this is a turning point in the Haitian economy and that this investment hopefully shows a successful business model which will be a catalyst for future development and investment.