IT Usage
IT Stimulus
Prior to 1991 Venezuela was far behind much of the world with regard to telecommunications usage. Their infrastructure was unreliable and old, and since telecommunications was run by the government, no incentive existed to change. After 1991, things changed very quickly. All aspects of telecommunications, except basic telephone services were opened by the government. This was the first stimulus for IT growth. Telecommunications became the fastest growing industry in all of Venezuela after the liberalization of 1991.
The current stimulus for IT growth in Venezuela is the oil and petrochemical industry growth. Many international companies are moving into Venezuela in order to take advantage of their natural resources. These companies need telecommunications to be successful, so they are assisting in financing the infrastructure needed to advance Venezuela.
Major Customers
There are three main groups of customer’s telecommunications services can be broken into in Venezuela; Government, Business and industrial users and Individual users.
Government
The majority of the government is struggling to keep up with technology. There is no efficient infrastructure to link all of the agencies and departments together. A project to create a network is under construction; the project is named "Platinum". Although this project was due to be completed in 1996, it is progressing slowly and is said to still be in the implementation phase (1997 National Trade Data Bank. pg. 16).
The government has other projects in rural and remote areas which will concentrate on education and health. Since many of the areas needed to be reached are hard to reach by wire, satellites are being considered to complete the networks. When these projects are completed significant improvements to the overall infrastructure would be achieved.
There is one big exception to the struggling government infrastructure, PDVSA (Petroleos de Venezuela), the agency that controls the petroleum industry. PDVSA holds three operating companies, and many subsidiaries. PDVSA has the largest private network using state of the art technology.
Business/Industrial Users
The privatization of the telecommunications industry was a big relief to businesses operating in Venezuela. Before 1991 they were stuck with unreliable, inefficient systems that did not supply them with what they needed. Although things are much improved since 1991, the infrastructure is still not where it needs to be to satisfy private businesses.
Many businesses are opting for the use of satellites instead of waiting for CANTV to cover the areas they need. Not all businesses can afford to pick this option, satellites are being used mainly by oil, petrochemical, manufacturing and financial institutions.
Many small and medium sized companies can not afford satellites, and are awaiting new technologies or more competition to bring the prices down. Once the new technologies are available, a training process will need to take place within the small and medium sized companies. They will need to gain a real understanding of the role that modern technology can play in the competitive business environment. How this new technology can give them a competitive advantage in the world of global business.
Individual Users
Venezuelans like and enjoy new technologies such as cellular phones and the Internet, they are considered a status symbol. If the prices continue to fall with better technology and increased competition, the bigger this market will become (1997 National Trade Data Bank. pg. 20).
A challenge to increasing the usage of the individual user is the lack of general technological knowledge in the area. Many advanced telecommunications items have been unavailable, and unknown to the people of Venezuela. The end-users will need to be educated on how to integrate telecommunications into their lives.
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