14 DAY TRIAL // Things are settling down in Haiti after the devastating earthquake that ravaged the country, but after the initial rescue efforts and emergency response, the country is now left with the prospect of years of rebuilding. Already the poorest state in the region, the cost to rebuild will be a huge burden even with international support. Twitter has proved very important in the aftermath of the earthquake, both in providing information to and from the country but also in raising support and donations. Now, the San Francisco-based company is announcing that it has reached an agreement with Digicel Haiti, the largest operator in the state, to offer free SMS tweets there.
"Kevin Thau and our mobile team have recently arranged free SMS tweets for Digicel Haiti customers. To activate the service, mobile phone users in Haiti can text follow @oxfam to 40404. Accounts are created on the fly and any account can be followed this way," Twitter cofounder Biz Stone announced.
"If you have been following the events in Haiti since the devastating quake last month, then you know of the initial bursts of compassion. International dialogue now shifts from lifesaving relief to long term restoration. Officials are saying this may take ten years at a cost of billions," he added on the current situation in Haiti.
Twitter has been available in the country through the carrier but, as in most places, users paid every time they sent out a tweet by SMS. Now, $0.08 per tweet may not seem like much in some places but in Haiti, it's not exactly insignificant, which makes the move all the more important. And, again, while Twitter may seem like an entertaining distraction at best for most people, the service could prove very important as a fast, reliable and now free way of spreading information to a lot of people at once. Twitter has been signing similar deals with operators in other countries in an effort o make the service more popular in places where Internet access isn't widespread or reliable.