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MeneameThe deal closed between Vietnamese mobile operator Viettel and Haitian state telco Teleco and its majority owner, the central bank of Haiti (BRH), to create a new telecommunications firm in the Caribbean nation represents a benchmark that could be emulated in other areas, International Finance Corporation (IFC) investment officer Rostan Schwab told BNamericas.
The deal - structured by the IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group - was originally announced in May and reached closure on September 1, giving rise to a new telecoms operator, Natcom. Viettel provided an initial investment of US$59mn, with the commitment to invest an additional US$40mn over four years, for the construction of the nation's first fiber-optic cable network. In the newly formed company, Viettel has a 60% stake, while BRH, Teleco and affiliates will have the remaining 40%.
"Natcom has received the customer base of Teleco, they received the assets, they received US$59mn from Viettel in cash and equipment, and they start now operating with the new license," Schwab said.
"In Haiti this isn't seen as a mere telecoms transaction, it goes beyond that. This is a benchmark of what is possible in Haiti right now... People might say it would be difficult to invest in Haiti unless complete security and guarantees are given, to cover for the country weaknesses in the political turmoil," he added. "But Vietnam invested in Haiti - this is the largest investment since the earthquake - and they did so because they believe that the overall framework is sufficiently robust to allow for the investment."
Natcom is inheriting Teleco's customer base - some 100,000 fixed-line subscribers prior to the January earthquake that rocked the country. Even before the deal was fully closed, Viettel had people on the ground in Haiti to assist in restoring the telecoms network and rolled out part of the new network, Schwab noted.
The plan is to reach out to 1.5mn mobile subscribers in five years, bringing overall mobile voice penetration from today's 37% to 55%. Mobile tariffs are to be lowered to appeal to a larger base of subscribers, and the fiber optic backbone will allow for an unparalleled quality of service in the country. With the other existing mobile operators, data services are available on a 2G network.
"This is a huge network; it is three times the size of that which they were obligated to do according to their license," the IFC official said.
Even before the disastrous earthquake in January this year, which affected infrastructure, fixed-line penetration in Haiti reached 1.8%, mobile penetration was about 35% and internet penetration did not pass 1%.
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