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Services and transportation
Services and transportation
There are two transportation services in the Dominican Republic, one controlled by the government through the Oficina Técnica de Transito Terrestre (O.T.T.T.) and the Oficina Metropolitana de Servicios de Autobuses (OMSA), and the other controlled by private business, among them, Federación Nacional de Transporte La Nueva Opción (FENATRANO) and the Confederacion Nacional de Transporte (CONATRA).
The government transportation system covers large routes in metropolitan areas, such as Santo Domingo and Santiago, for very inexpensive prices.
In December 2006, the price was DOP$5.00(US$0.15), and air-conditioned bus rides were priced at DOP$10 (US$0.30).
It should be noted that most OMSA buses are currently in very poor condition, and OMSA has been criticized for its incapability to fully meet the people's needs.
FENATRANO and CONATRA offer their services with voladoras (vans) or conchos (cars), which have routes in most parts of the cities.
These cars have roofs painted in yellow or green in order to identify them.
The cars have scheduled days to work, depending on the color of the roof, and have been described as unsafe.
Communications
The Dominican Republic has a well developed telecommunications infrastructure, with extensive mobile phone services and landline services.
The telecommunications regulator in the country is INDOTEL, Instituto Dominicano de Telecomunicaciones.
The Dominican Republic offers cable internet and DSL in most parts of the country, and many ISPs provide 3G wireless internet service.
Projects to extend Wi-Fi hot spots have been made in Santo Domingo.
As of October 2007 a new service was introduced in the country via WiMax, by OneMax, Wind Telecom, Tricom, and the former Codetel, now Claro, that provides telephony over IP as well as nation-wide broadband services to both residential and commercial users.
In fact the DR is the only country in all Latin America to have this kind of service up to this date at a national level.
Numerous television channels are available, including digital cable Telecable Nacional, Aster and Wind Telecom.
Many other companies provide digital television services with channels from Latin America and the world.
The reported speeds are from 256 kbit/s /128 kbit/s for residential services and up to 4 MB / 2 MB for commercial and residential service.
(Each set of numbers denotes downstream/upstream speed.) .
The Dominican Republic's commercial radio stations and television stations are in the process of transferring to the digital spectrum via HD Radio and HDTV.
As of May 2008, there are six major communication companies: CODETEL, Orange, TRICOM, Trilogy Dominicana, Onemax, and Wind Telecom.
On February 1, 2007, Verizon changed the names of its wireless services to Claro and CODETEL.
The company has been owned since 2006 by Carlos Slim Helú's América Móvil.
Claro is now the official name of the Wireless Division, and CODETEL (the original Compañia Dominicana de Teléfonos) is the updated name for the Verizon Dominicana landline and broadband market.
Highways
The Dominican Republic has five major highways, which take travelers to every important town in the country.
The three major highways are Autopista Duarte, Autopista del Este, and Autopista del Sur, which go to the north, east, and western side of the country.
A new 106 kilometer toll road that connects Santo Domingo with the country’s northeastern peninsula is now operating.
Travelers may now arrive in the beautiful Samana Peninsula in less than two hours.
Most of routes interconnecting small towns in the country are unpaved but are improving.
Ports
The Port of Santo Domingo, with its location in the west of the Caribbean is well suited for flexible itinerary planning and has excellent support, road and airport infrastructure within the Santo Domingo region, which facilitate access and transfers.
The port is suitable for both turnaround and transit calls.
Electricity
Electrical services in the country have been a headache for the population, as well as the business and other areas for more than 40 years.
Due to the extreme corruption within the government, no administration has been able to cope with this problem.
In 1998, three regional electricity distribution systems were privatized via sale of 50% of shares to foreign operators; in an unexpected decision, the Mejía administration repurchased all foreign-owned shares in two of these systems in late 2003.
The third, serving the eastern provinces, is operated by U.S.
concerns and is 50% U.S.-owned.
Industry experts estimated distribution losses for 2006 surpassed 40%, primarily due to low collection rates, theft, and corruption.
At the close of 2006, the government had exceeded its budget for electricity subsidies, spending close to U.S.
$650 million.
Household and general electrical service is delivered at 110 volts alternating at 60 Hz; electrically powered items from the United States work with no modifications.
The majority of the country has access to electricity.
Still, in 2007 some areas have outages lasting as long as 20 hours a day.
Tourist areas tend to have more reliable power, as do business, travel, healthcare, and vital infrastructure.
The situation improved in 2006, with 200 circuits (40% of the total) providing permanent electricity, as 85% of electric demand overall was met and blackouts were reduced from 6.3 hours per day to 3.7.
Concentrated efforts were announced to increase efficiency of delivery to places where the collection rate reached 70%.
The electricity sector is highly politicized, and with 2008 presidential election campaigning already in motion the prospect of further effective reforms of the sector is poor.
Debts, including government debt, amount to more than U.S.
$500 million.
Some generating companies are undercapitalized and at times unable to purchase adequate fuel supplies.
Source: CIA Factbook, Wikipedia
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