The news media, particularly with paid advertisements in newspapers, were the site of a war of words between the public relations departments of the Compania Dominicana de Telefonos (CODETEL) and its main competitor, TRICOM. The two companies have an “interconnection agreement” which allows TRICOM and its users to utilize cables owned by CODETEL. On 7 May, CODETEL published a warning, in a paid full page advertisement in the national newspapers, that it would disconnect the line to TRICOM because of a debt of over RD$1,500,000. The next day, TRICOM responded with its own paid advertisement claiming that before CODETEL’s public statement, it had paid the money it owed. It was unclear who was correct; TRICOM claimed it was unethical of CODETEL to publish the original threat to disconnect its cables before negotiating a solution to the problem, while CODETEL responded by saying that it had waited for the longest time possible before going public over the issue. So far, TRICOM subscribers have not reported any disconnecting of their telephones. The agreement between the two companies has been in effect since 1990.
17-23 May 1996