"Verizon is not interested in extending their red alambrico as celulars net in much higher profit."
I would agree with this if Verizon had cell service available for LG, but they don't. I also think they are not too pleased that Orange got in ahead of them. I do know that Samana's 538 exchange is basically full and with only 300 numbers originally allocated to Las Galeras, it didn't take long for those to be assigned. It's been more than a few years that no more numbers were available. To expand the service, a new exchange will have to be added once sufficient demand is present. Also, until power poles are fully in place along all the area's roads, there is no place to string phone cable. That (and low demand) is why landline phone service is not available in many rural communities. However, rural satellite cell service is now widely available throughout the Samana peninsula and the rest of the DR. These self-standing units with a sat dish and a solar panel may be readily seen, even in the most remote communities.