E-commerce
No Longer Business As Usual
Increasing Internet Competition as 10,000 Islanders Turn to the Web
Despite the rapid expansion of Internet use in the Northern Marianas, local Internet service providers still encounter people who barely know what a modem is when they apply for a link to the information superhighway.
“There have been times when we receive Internet connection applications from people who own a computer but don’t actually have a modem,” says Verizon Pacifica Webmaster Franco O. Mendoza. But Mendoza also recognizes the increasing use of the Internet in the Northern Marianas. Verizon Pacifica alone is providing Internet service to more than 3,000 subscribers on Saipan, Tinian and Rota. The telecommunications company reports Internet usage in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands is growing at a rate of more than 50 percent annually.
Mendoza traces the increase in the number of Web users to several factors: the Internet’s increasing popularity; computers becoming more commonplace; falling prices of computers; charitable and corporate initiatives; and, people’s curiosity about the Web.
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Although still a new commodity in the Northern Marianas, information technology and electronic commerce are slowly growing and changing the economy of the CNMI, Mendoza says. “The technology may push some companies that have been hesitating about buying or selling goods and services on-line off of the proverbial fence.”
But it’s not going to take long before local investors realize that the Internet as a technology has reduced the costs of computer power, data storage and connectivity, making the advantages of e-commerce and electronic business practices available to the small- and medium-sized firms — particularly as they face the challenge of competition of products from off-island Internet companies.
Verizon has come up with e-vzpacifica.net, an e-commerce exchange that is streamlining and automating the phone bill inquiry and payment process for Northern Marianas consumers. Through the on-line billing and on-line payment system, people can now handle every aspect of the transaction with ease — from receiving their monthly statement on-line to making payment using credit cards.
“Despite the obvious success of conducting business via the Internet, there are businesses that still resist the change, and the longer they conduct ‘business as usual,’ the longer it will take to make the necessary changes,” says Mendoza. “Knowing the goals of e-commerce is a key toward moving off center and into the new technology.”
CNMI-based businesses are also aiming to lure patronage from the local market through the Internet, since the more than 10,000 Web browsers in the CNMI have a daily on-line average of 1.5 hours for home users and 3.5 hours for office users.
Also, the emergence of Internet shopping is giving Northern Marianas-based brick and mortar businesses a run for their money as the new technology reshapes the way people buy the things they need and want, according to Northern Marianas College business instructor D. Rik Villegas.
The convenience of clicking a button in the computer monitor to buy an item, which is also available in the local market, is proving to be a fierce competitor for establishments operating in the CNMI. This convenience prompts customers to buy from the Internet even items that can be found at practically the same, or slightly higher, price in the local market. “Internet has changed the way people buy. With this new technology, it is easier to get practically everything and have it shipped here. Electronic commerce has emerged to be a strong competitor for our businesses here,” says Villegas.
Photo: Giff Johnson
