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Utilities in the Dominican Republic.
The Dominican Republic is probably the Latin American nation with the most
advanced telecommunications system. Cellular phone service is offered by
Verizon, Centennial and Orange (France Telecom), while other companies are
looking to enter the Dominican market. The intense competition, and
multi-million investments of these companies, has allowed the DR to stay at the
vanguard of technological developments, and continuously implement aggressive
marketing programs to introduce new products and services to the Dominican
market.
If you already have a cell phone you can activate it here, depending on whether
your phone is activated by one of the major cellular service providers, Orange
GSM, Centennial CDMA, and Verizon CDMA.
If you have a GSM phone, you can go to any number of Orange outlets and for a
small fee, they will activate your phone, and you can either purchase pre-paid
phone cards or a phone plan. If you have a CDMA phone, you can go to any number
of Verizon or Centennial outlets and purchase a plan.
LAN line telephone service is also available. Tricom and Verizon (Codetel) are
the two main telephone companies in the DR. Both offer good service at
reasonable prices.
Recently, Tricom has begun to offer a new telephone plan where customers in the
Dominican Republic can call New York or anywhere in the US, and be charged at
local dialing rates. This development is a clear indicator of the progress of
telecommunications in the Dominican Republic.
High-speed internet availability varies throughout the country, but is available
in most of the major areas. The major DSL providers are Tricom and Verizon, with
the Aster communications company moving into this sector recently. These
services are available in many different areas of the country, and you can check
their availability in your area by visiting their websites.
Wireless Internet is available in the DR. In Santo Domingo you can find it at
PUCMM, INTEC, and UNIBE Universities, and also at the Acropolis Mall.
At beaches like Boca Chica, Playa Vista beach bar and El Caucho Hotel and
Restaurant provide wireless service.
In Sosua wifi can be found at Rocky’s bar, Eddy’s Sports Bar, The NY Shark Bar,
and La Roca Restaurant. In Samana wifi can be found at Hotel Moorea. And in
Santiago wifi can be found at Cosa Nostra Restaurant and at the main PUCMM
campus.
Cable services in the DR are provided by a variety of companies. These companies
offer both English and Spanish language television, plus a range of channels in
other languages. Also, the channels are from not only the Dominican Republic,
but also the United States and Europe.
The main service provider in the DR is Telecable from Tricom. Aster is
concentrated in Santo Domingo, but is expanding its service throughout the
Dominican Republic. There are also smaller distributors that provide cable
service like Cable Net and ExitoVision.
If you can afford the service there is also satellite television available from
Direct TV, which is distributed by Caribe Dish System, for example. Once you
purchase the satellite dish, the vendor will provide you with details on
installation and maintenance.
Water is an important utility. Tap water in the DR is safe to use for cooking,
washing clothes, bathing, or brushing your teeth, but large consumption of tap
water can be dangerous. This is why you should boil your water, or buy a water
bubbler. Bubblers range in price, and can cost between RD$4,000 and RD$8,000,
and the refilled tanks cost about RD$40. Also, water purifiers can be cheap
alternative to the water situation.
Power service in the DR is provided by two private companies, Distribuidora del
Este (AES), responsible for the east side of Santo Domingo and eastern
provinces, and Distribuidora del Sur (EDESUR) and Distribuidora del Norte
(EDENORTE), responsible for the south and southwestern parts of the city and
northern and central provinces. There are also independent electricity providers
like Distribuidora Del Este (EDEESTE), Itabo, CEPM, and CEB.
Private generators are responsible for about 50% of the power generated, and the
government retains the control over hydroelectric generating plants and the
transmission lines.
While privatization has already begun (the power infrastructure operates under a
mixed government and private sector system), reliable power supply has not yet
been achieved and homes and companies still need to be able to rely on their own
back-up systems.
Power outages are extremely common in the Dominican Republic, and unfortunately
the high price of electricity doesn’t always guarantee the quality service you
would expect. This is the reason why many Dominicans, and foreigners who have
moved here, have invested in alternative power sources. Whether it be generators
or inverters, because of the unreliable nature of the electricity, it is better
to be safe, than left in the dark.
As an added assurance to the dilemma of power outages is to use gas stoves.
Stoves powered by electricity won’t work during power outages, so if you can,
buy a gas tank, and a gas stove. It is a cheaper and more reliable power source.
A 100 pound tank, for example, can cost around RD$4,000, and lasts for about
three months if used continuously.
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