Information Technology
No longer business as usual for Nothern Marianas
Competition as 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 applying for a link to the information superhighway.
"There have been times when we receive Internet connection applications from people who own a computer but don¹t actually have a modem," says Verizon Pacifica Webmaster Franco O. Mendoza. But Mendoza also recognizes the increasing use of 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.
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Mendoza traces the increase in the number of Web users to several factors: the Internet's increasing popularity; computers becoming more mainstream; falling prices of computers; charitable and corporate initiatives; and people's curiosity about the Web.Although still a new commodity in the Northern Marianas, information technology and electronic commerce are slowly growing and changing the economy of the Northern Marianas, 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 a majority of the 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.
