SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 2003


Many Internet cafes provide other services in order to stay in business.

In the Internet cafe business, it's clearly a surfer's market

BY LARRY SCHWARZ

All around Tegucigalpa, from the Multiplaza Mall to Boulevard Morazán, Internet cafes are a common sight. Since most residents don't own a home computer, let alone have the money to afford a high-speed connection, the demand for public Internet service is incredibly high. As a result, there is an overabundance of places to use the Internet, and many owners are only able to stay afloat by providing other services.

Javier Barahona, 38, opened Conexion Digital Internet Cafe in Colonia Argentina four months ago. He works in his store twelve hours a day, six days a week trying to turn a profit in this extremely competitive industry.

"I got into this business for two reasons," he said while speaking over a Carpenters CD playing in the background. "I like computers, and I do publicity work that involves graphic design."

On another side of town, Angelina Williams has been running La Red Cyber Cafe in Colonia La Reforma for two months. Her husband sells computers and installs cable internet connections. That made the decision to open an Internet cafe a virtual no-brainer.

"My husband is contracted by Multivision," she said, referring to the largest cable provider in Tegucigalpa, "so he was able to install everything himself."

Unfortunately, Mr. Barahona didn't have any expertise in that field, so he had to pay a total of US$450 for installation of his entire system. Every month he pays $40 for the service - not much less than he'd pay in the United States. The four computers he owns are all brand new IBM clones.

Honduras is reputedly one of the most expensive countries in the world to place an international phone call. Nearly all Internet cafes capitalize on this problem by offering inexpensive PC-phone calls anywhere in the world, utilizing a popular software product called Phoneserve. Cafe operators buy pre-paid minutes and make a profit by charging a higher rate for the phone calls. Mr. Barahona charges 2.50 lempiras ($0.14) per minute to call the United States; Ms. Williams charges 2 lempiras ($0.12).

Hondutel, the national telephone company, may not be happy about the encroachment, but there isn't much they can do.

"The phone company doesn't have a legal basis to fight the Internet cafes that provide phone service to other countries," said Mr. Barahona. "Their issue is with companies offering a fixed line to IP (Internet Protocol) numbers."

Someone who has never visited Honduras might falsely assume that all computers in this country use outdated operating systems such as Windows 95. Truthfully, most Internet cafes use Windows XP, and have installed the latest virus software as well.

"I use Norton AntiVirus and PC-cillin," said Mr. Barahona, "but the anti-virus software doesn't always recognize the virus, so there have been times when I've had to reformat all the computers."

Specially designed Internet cafe software is becoming more commonly used by owners to control what users can and can't do with a store's computers. Customers generally dislike the software because of the harsh restrictions. Internet cafe owners, however, are compelled to install it because it only takes one careless or malicious person to wreck an entire system.

"I don't use Internet cafe software," Mr. Barahona said, "but it can be a problem because people have the ability to change the settings."

With or without Internet cafe software, the viewing of pornography on public computers continues to plague cafe operators. It's not uncommon for customers to shamelessly surf pornographic sites despite having no privacy whatsoever.

"There is no way we can control it," said Ms. Williams, who has installed wooden barriers between the computers.

"One time a little girl came in," she said. "A man had left pornographic images on the screen, and she wanted to know what they were. Now we erase everything when people are finished."

"This is a public place," said Mr. Barahona, who has posted a sign politely asking people not to access pages that may be considered objectionable. "It's not convenient that people view pornography out in the open. It's a big problem because there are children, teens, and women sitting next to them, but there is nothing I can do."

All Internet cafes are required by law to be registered with the Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (Conatel). The cost: 150 lempiras ($7.19) every two years. Mr. Barahona's registration is prominently displayed on one of the walls, but in many establishments it's not always so easy to find.

To advertise his business, Mr. Barahona passes flyers around the neighborhood. Also helpful is the large banner screaming "INTERNET" located near the entrance.

Business isn't exactly brisk. Both Mr. Barahona and Ms. Williams calculated that only about twenty people come in on an average day. The customers' age range is estimated to be between 15 and 30-years-old, and the busiest time of day is usually between 4:00 and 9:00pm. He guesses that about 60% of his customers are foreigners.

The hourly charges for Internet access vary considerably. Mr. Barahona charges 17 lempiras ($0.98) for a half hour and 30 lempiras ($1.73) per hour; Ms. Williams charges 15 lempiras ($0.87) per hour in the morning and 20 lempiras ($1.16) in the afternoon. Prices are lower at her location due to neighborhood saturation.

"There are four other Internet cafes that are in the area," she said. "Competition is tough. The others lower their prices, so we have to lower ours."

In remote locations of Honduras, the price for Internet access is often higher. One woman who had recently returned from Utila reported that the cost for an hour's access on the island was 70 lempiras ($4.03). In the mountain community of Santa Lucia, visitors complained that the connection speed was absolute torture.

One of the odd things about Internet Cafes is that many of them use the word "cafe" to describe themselves, but they aren't the true definition of a cafe. La Red Cyber Cafe had beverages, but the hamburgers and hot dogs they normally offer weren't available. Conexion Digital Internet Cafe had a very small selection of snacks and no beverages for sale. Selling food isn't really a priority anyway.

"My biggest concerns," said Mr. Barahona, "are fixed costs, such as electricity, rent, and the monthly cost of Internet access. Right now I am breaking even."

"Our costs are low," said Ms. Williams, "so now our major concern is to bring people in."

Still, Mr. Barahona prefers to work for himself, and wouldn't have it any other way.

"Everything is very difficult in this country," he said, "but the reality is I really like the business I'm in."