The Senior Advisor of the President of the Republic, Laurent Lamothe presided on behalf of President Martelly, a meeting between the National Telecommunications Council (CONATEL), telephone operators and representatives of justice.

The purpose of the meeting was to brainstorm with the justice to see how it is possible to stop to put an end to the activities of piracy on international calls, what is called "bypassing (1)" in the language of telecommunications.

"At least USD$12 million are made under the table," said a statement from the Office of Communication of the Presidency.

"The Head of State is searching with the phone operators of a way to deter and catch the schemers," the statement added.

In addition to being a deficit of 12 million, this also affects the National Fund for Education (FNE) https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-3034-haiti-education-launch-of-the-national-fund-for-education-fne-by-martelly-update-1h03pm.html which is funded in part by a tariff surplus of 5 cents levied on incoming calls, said the Head of State on social networks.

(1) Bypass Example

For example a call via a legitimate route would normally cost $0.8 with an initiation fee of $0.5 in country A and a termination fee of $0.3 in country B.

In the case of a bypass through VoIP (Voice over IP) the initiation fee is $0.15 and the termination fee is $0.05. The mobile operator in country B loses $0.25 (0.3-0.05) in termination fees, which results in an 83% loss, so the state also loses income (tax). There are also bypass via GSM technology (GSM Gateway), Bypass can also be national, incoming or outgoing. Bypassing interconnect points via cheaper routes such as the Internet.

HL/ HaitiLibre