Telecom in DR - for report

J

jearod

New member
Jan 29, 2009
7
0
0
Hello all,
I am currently in my last semester of my Management Information Systems degree and I'm taking an international telecommunications class. Our main project is a "country report" in which I have to choose a country and complete an intensive study of the telecommunications industry. The past summer, my family visited Punta Cana for a week and I absolutely loved the country. So much so, I am choosing the DR as my country since it is "considered one of the countries with the most advanced telecommunications infrastructures in Latin America."

One of the main parts of the project is interviewing at least 1 person that has lived in the country for some extended period of time. Although I haven?t gotten too deep into my report yet (hence no specific questions yet), the questions will pertain to telecommunications customs, product preferences, buying habits, types of telecommunications services and equipment used, etc. in the DR.
If anyone is willing to allow me to ?interview? them via PM or E-mail and has lived in the DR at some time, PLEASE let me know. This is the most difficult part of the assignment as I don?t personally know anyone from DR.

With that being said, I will post some questions on here from time to time for everyone to discuss (hopefully).

When we visited Punta Cana, I noticed my phone connected mainly to Claro. I know there are many others such as Orange and Verizon, but what seems to be the choice of the population?
Also, penetration of broadband in DR looks fairly high, how do most of you living there receive it and about how much does it cost? DR appears to be putting a lot of effort into WiMax, will that be the future of broadband access there?
These questions are just to get the ball rolling so please don't hesitate to ponder on other aspects of telecom.
Thanks everyone, any thoughts are appreciated!
Jearod
 
bienamor

bienamor

Kansas redneck an proud of it
Apr 23, 2004
5,050
458
83
ok

jearod said:
Hello all,
I am currently in my last semester of my Management Information Systems degree and I'm taking an international telecommunications class. Our main project is a "country report" in which I have to choose a country and complete an intensive study of the telecommunications industry. The past summer, my family visited Punta Cana for a week and I absolutely loved the country. So much so, I am choosing the DR as my country since it is "considered one of the countries with the most advanced telecommunications infrastructures in Latin America."

One of the main parts of the project is interviewing at least 1 person that has lived in the country for some extended period of time. Although I haven’t gotten too deep into my report yet (hence no specific questions yet), the questions will pertain to telecommunications customs, product preferences, buying habits, types of telecommunications services and equipment used, etc. in the DR.
If anyone is willing to allow me to “interview” them via PM or E-mail and has lived in the DR at some time, PLEASE let me know. This is the most difficult part of the assignment as I don’t personally know anyone from DR.

With that being said, I will post some questions on here from time to time for everyone to discuss (hopefully).

When we visited Punta Cana, I noticed my phone connected mainly to Claro. I know there are many others such as Orange and Verizon, but what seems to be the choice of the population?
Also, penetration of broadband in DR looks fairly high, how do most of you living there receive it and about how much does it cost? DR appears to be putting a lot of effort into WiMax, will that be the future of broadband access there?
These questions are just to get the ball rolling so please don't hesitate to ponder on other aspects of telecom.
Thanks everyone, any thoughts are appreciated!
Jearod
Click to expand...

Claro/CODETEL is the Old Verizon company went back to its old name after Carlos Slim bought it.
Current wire line company's are CODETEL and TRICOM.
Main wireless are Claro, Orange, Viva, TRICOM.
rankings are the same order.
70+% of the cell phones on the island are prepaid.
will let somebody else speak to the broadband question.
Would say that about any telcomm service avaiable in the US you can find here. Verizon/GTE usually brought the company here along with any inovations they had in the US.
 
J

jearod

New member
Jan 29, 2009
7
0
0
Thanks for the reply! In some further research I found what you had mentioned on Verizon being changed to CODETEL and Claro.

I'm having a problem coming up with sources on the history of telecommunications in DR. I by no means can read spanish and when I translate the history section of the INDOTEL website it only produces broken english.
If anyone knows of a website with information in this area, could you please direct me towards it? Even if I have to translate it, I need the sources/information.

Also, I still haven't found anyone to interview that has at least lived in the DR for a period of time. As the due date for my report approaches (April 20) I am scrambling to find someone. If anyone is interested in helping me with an interview (probably just filling out a questionnaire I make up) I would be willing to send $10 via paypal. It would pertain to cultural changes that have risen from increased telephone/internet usage, buying habits, and other subjective information. PM me if interested. I would greatly appreciate the help.
 
bienamor

bienamor

Kansas redneck an proud of it
Apr 23, 2004
5,050
458
83
history

jearod said:
Thanks for the reply! In some further research I found what you had mentioned on Verizon being changed to CODETEL and Claro.

I'm having a problem coming up with sources on the history of telecommunications in DR. I by no means can read spanish and when I translate the history section of the INDOTEL website it only produces broken english.
If anyone knows of a website with information in this area, could you please direct me towards it? Even if I have to translate it, I need the sources/information.

Also, I still haven't found anyone to interview that has at least lived in the DR for a period of time. As the due date for my report approaches (April 20) I am scrambling to find someone. If anyone is interested in helping me with an interview (probably just filling out a questionnaire I make up) I would be willing to send $10 via paypal. It would pertain to cultural changes that have risen from increased telephone/internet usage, buying habits, and other subjective information. PM me if interested. I would greatly appreciate the help.
Click to expand...

your still going to have to be able to read spanish but this may help
http://www.codetel.com.do/pdf/historia.pdf
post the web address you mentioned for INDOTEL history
 
L

l_th

New member
Jun 4, 2004
57
0
0
www.809k.com
A little bit late but try to see if there an english version of the a book released by UNDC on Telecomunications in the DR. I think I still have a copy but its in spanish

Lots of stats and charts of info on the DR
 
P

pkaide1

Bronze
Aug 10, 2005
539
40
48
l_th said:
A little bit late but try to see if there an english version of the a book released by UNDC on Telecomunications in the DR. I think I still have a copy but its in spanish

Lots of stats and charts of info on the DR
Click to expand...

If Codetel call themselves La Compa??a Dominicana de Tel?fonos (CODETEL), how come it never have had a Dominican as the president of the company. Just wondering.
 
Tamborista

Tamborista

hasta la tambora
Apr 4, 2005
11,747
1,343
113
pkaide1 said:
If Codetel call themselves La Compa??a Dominicana de Tel?fonos (CODETEL), how come it never have had a Dominican as the president of the company. Just wondering.
Click to expand...

The parent company, Am?rica M?vil is Mexican.
 
bienamor

bienamor

Kansas redneck an proud of it
Apr 23, 2004
5,050
458
83
well

pkaide1 said:
If Codetel call themselves La Compa??a Dominicana de Tel?fonos (CODETEL), how come it never have had a Dominican as the president of the company. Just wondering.
Click to expand...

As far as I know CODETEL has never been a Dominican owned company when it was started in the 30's it was a subsidiary of Qubec Tel in Canada. Qubec Tel was bought by GTE, thereby becoming the owner of CODETEL until the sale to American Movil (carlos), in 2005. American Movil did not take over operation until 2006 due to tax disputes with the Gov. Names have been CODETEL, VERIZON, CODETEL. Claro is the wireless arm.
 
J

jearod

New member
Jan 29, 2009
7
0
0
Hey quick question for you guys. What is your opinion on whether government control in the DR has helped or hindered the development of television, telephone, internet, etc.?

Would you agree that; given the intense political background of the country, that during the 1900's (with many presidents turning towards virtual dictatorships) that government control has indeed hindered the development of telecommunications. That is, until recently in '98 when INDOTEL was formed and put forth many efforts to advance telecommunications...?

That is how I perceive it but its still all gray area to me.

Thnks the responses in advance!
 
bienamor

bienamor

Kansas redneck an proud of it
Apr 23, 2004
5,050
458
83
Not Really

jearod said:
Hey quick question for you guys. What is your opinion on whether government control in the DR has helped or hindered the development of television, telephone, internet, etc.?

Would you agree that; given the intense political background of the country, that during the 1900's (with many presidents turning towards virtual dictatorships) that government control has indeed hindered the development of telecommunications. That is, until recently in '98 when INDOTEL was formed and put forth many efforts to advance telecommunications...?

That is how I perceive it but its still all gray area to me.

Thnks the responses in advance!
Click to expand...

Dont think gov control has had that much affect on the development other than the fact that CODETEL was a monopoly until it opened up in 1988? for TRICOM. Fast followed by Orange, then VIVA. As far as the wireline business this has normally been the most advanced operation in the Caribbean or South America. do have to say that GTE did do a good job of keeping the infrastructure updated. But it was also a Cash Cow for them. keeping it updated kept the money flowing.
 
J

jearod

New member
Jan 29, 2009
7
0
0
quick question guys: I'm having trouble finding information on the type of wireless service that CODETEL, TRICOM, or any other wireless provider uses (e.g. cdma, gsm, etc.) One article I found says that Orange (France Telecom) is the only provider in the country that uses GSM, but it is rather dated.

If you know the technology any of these providers uses or could point me in the direction to find that information it would be greatly appreciated.

bienamor, I'll have my questions written up by this afternoon. Sorry for the delay, it's been hectic.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom