Quake Sets Back Haiti's Efforts to Improve Telecommunications

[wsj] The improvement in Haiti's communications in recent years suffered a severe blow from the earthquake, complicating relief efforts.

The country's new and only undersea fiber link, which carries voice and data traffic, suffered major damage from the earthquake, according to Marlon Johnson, vice president of marketing for Bahamas Telecommunications Co., which operates the link with a Haitian partner.

The base station in Port-au-Prince that links the undersea cable to the communications network in Haiti was "destroyed," Mr. Johnson said. The cable itself may still be in tact, he said, but the critical link to the network inside the country is no longer working.

That loss has made coordinating relief efforts even more difficult.

Quake Sets Back Haiti's Efforts to Improve Telecommunications