Haitian Telecom Voila Mobilizes Manpower, Equipment, Transportation and Supplies to Repair and Expand Cellular Network

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Jan 27, 2010, 06:30 ET

BELLEVUE, Wash., Jan. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Trilogy International Partners and its Haitian wireless company, Voila, are moving quickly to answer dramatically increased demands for communications services within Haiti and globally. The international long distance (ILD) capacity of the system will be doubled within a few days to handle unprecedented call volumes between Haiti and other countries. Meanwhile, work is under way in Port-au-Prince to restore coverage where cell sites have been damaged or destroyed.

This effort has called for round-the-clock commitment not only from Voila staff in Haiti but also from employees at its sister company, Viva, operating out of the Dominican Republic, and personnel in Trilogy's corporate headquarters in Bellevue, Wash., and its regional center in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

"We've engaged resources throughout Trilogy and its other operating companies to add their weight to our Haitian recovery effort," noted John Stanton, Chairman of the Board of Trilogy International Partners. "In addition, Voila is coordinating its activities with the other wireless carriers, the Haitian government, the US government, the United Nations and other major donors to ensure that our individual efforts contribute to the greater good."

Since the earthquake on January 12, Voila and its sister companies' technical engineering teams have visited all of Voila's cell sites in Haiti, working 24 hours a day to keep the network running and to improve capacity. Nearly 90 percent of cell sites are operational. Technical engineers have determined that many of the remaining sites can be repaired. For those sites that were destroyed by the earthquake, Voila is shipping in "cells on wheels" (COWs) — mobile cell towers. A number of COWs are already in use in Haiti, and Voila expects delivery this week of additional COWs and high-capacity generators donated to Voila by T-Mobile and Sprint.

"We've gone in and built networks after civil war in Croatia and military coups in Africa, and we've gone through debilitating hurricanes, but nothing has ever come close to this," said Brad Horwitz, President and CEO of Trilogy International Partners, who has been in Port-au-Prince since January 13. Trilogy, like every other organization with a major presence in Haiti, has had to mobilize quickly to put together a logistical system to move fuel, equipment, supplies and personnel. The company is working closely with the government of the United States to maintain access to fuel, the government of Haiti to increase spectrum, and the United Nations to move supplies across the critical land corridor from the Dominican Republic to Port-au-Prince. Additionally, Trilogy has received support from the US Navy, which transported immediate critical pieces of the network infrastructure from Florida to Haiti on an emergency aid ship.

Trilogy International Partners will be providing updates in the coming days and weeks as it returns the network to pre-earthquake capacity, as it increases communications capabilities, and as it adapts its services to meet the changing needs of the country.

About Trilogy International Partners, LLC

Trilogy International Partners, LLC ("Trilogy"), invests in wireless telecommunication operations in international markets that exhibit strong opportunities for significant growth. A privately held company, Trilogy's corporate headquarters are in Bellevue, Washington, USA. Trilogy also maintains a regional operations and switching facility in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA. In Washington, D.C., Trilogy has long relied on the services of KRL International LLC to assist it in building public-private partnerships.

Trilogy currently has controlling interests in mobile communications companies in Haiti, Bolivia, the Dominican Republic and New Zealand. Collectively, these businesses hold licenses to provide wireless services to over 31 million people. In addition to wireless services, the operating companies are also authorized to provide termination and origination of international long distance, public telephony, voice and data services. For more information on Trilogy, please see its website: www.trilogy-international.com.

About Voila

Voila is a leading mobile telecommunications operator in Haiti, providing high-quality, affordable wireless service. Since its inception 10 years ago, over US$200 million has been invested in Haiti. For more information on Voila, please see its website: www.familyinthe509.com.

Follow Voila on Facebook http://voila.ht/fr/home.php or http://www.facebook.com/pages/Petionville-Haiti/FONDATION-VOILA/78328880418 and Twitter http://twitter.com/Voilahaiti.

SOURCE Trilogy International Partners