HAITI Media and Telecoms Landscape Guide - Infoasaid

165Social Bakers reckoned that 41% of the Haiti’s internet users had signed up toFacebook.The ITU estimated that 8.4% of Haiti’s population used the internet to some extent in2010 – the equivalent of more than 800,000 people.Social Bakers’ calculation that the number of internet users had grown to about onemillion over the following two years is consistent with recent trends.Digicel and Natcom both offer internet access through their mobile networks.There are also six other main Internet Service Providers (ISP) in Haiti: CAN, AccessHaiti, Hainet, Haiti Digital Network (HDN), Multi link and Telecom.These offer subscriptions and tariff packages that start at around US$30 per month.However, the high-speed wireless connections which they offer are often disruptedby adverse weather conditions.During the passage of tropical storm Isaac in August 2012, Haiti was deprived ofquality Internet communications for practically four days.SMS and humanitarian operationsSMS usage in Haiti is limited by the country’s high rate of illiteracy. Only half theadult population can read and write.Nevertheless, text messages are popular as a cheaper alternative to voice calls.Following the 2010 earthquake, several aid agencies launched communicationsiniatives that used text messages to exchange information with affectedcommunities.The most ambitious of these was the Trilogy Emergency Response Application(TERA), set up by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red CrescentSocieties (IFRC) www.ifrc.org in partnership with Voilà.TERA was originally designed to help Haitians prepare for hurricanes bybroadcasting early warning alerts to people in high risk areas by SMS.165