July 29, 2005
Blackberry Goes To The Caribbean
From PDA Blast! :
Digicel Group, a growing mobile telecommunications company in the Caribbean, and Research In Motion (RIM) announced plans to add BlackBerry to Digicel’s corporate customer offerings throughout the Caribbean. BlackBerry will be available in Aruba, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Curacao, Grenada, Jamaica, St Vincent & the Grenadines and St. Lucia on Digicel’s GSM/GPRS network."We are delighted to be working with RIM. We are increasing our voice and data offerings to our corporate customers, and so are pleased to enrich our portfolio of wireless services with BlackBerry," said Digicel Group Marketing Director Mr Ben Atherton. He went on to say, "Access on the move to corporate email and other applications is becoming just as important as receiving calls for this target. Our corporate customers will be able to enjoy easy-to-use and secure access to their information via the popular BlackBerry platform."
BlackBerry continues to be introduced on wireless networks around the world with over three million subscribers using BlackBerry services today.
July 28, 2005
C&W boss departs after nine months
From the Jamaica Observer:
JACQUELINE Holding yesterday parted ways with Cable & Wireless Jamaica after only nine months as chief executive officer, and the company named a Jamaican to replace her as its fourth CEO in only six years.
The replacement, Rodney Davis, has been for the past year, the chief financial officer of Cable & Wireless Barbados. His appointment becomes effective tomorrow, the company announced yesterday.
July 27, 2005
Centennial's Books Draw New Looks
From TheStreet.com:
Centennial Communications (CYCL:Nasdaq - commentary - research) CEO Mike Small likes to say his company has a unique approach to selling wireless service in the Caribbean.
Now, though, some observers are starting to wonder if the approach isn't a little too unique.
Shares of the Wall, N.J.-based telco have nearly tripled in the past year, largely on the strength of Centennial's offshore wireless performance. In Puerto Rico, where the company is the No. 1 cell-phone service provider, Centennial has enjoyed nearly two years of 20% annual subscriber growth.
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Digicel Sharpens Focus on Corporate Clients
Latest Offerings Help Increase Workplace Efficiency to Support Growing Caribbean Business Community
KINGSTON, JAMAICA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 07/12/2005 -- Digicel Group, the fastest growing mobile telecommunications operator in the Caribbean, today announced that it is adding BlackBerry, a leading wireless platform, to its growing portfolio of corporate services, an indication of the positive business environment throughout the Caribbean, which is an economy at a "cross roads" according to a new World Bank report.
The report, which draws on a survey of 159 firms operating in the region, argues that to improve the investment climate, Caribbean countries must improve their performance in the areas of infrastructure, policy and legal environment, and taxation and customs. http://www.worldbank.org/
"To support the growing Caribbean business community, we have developed our Digicel Corporate offering, a bundling of several innovative services on a single platform that is easy to manage for our growing number of business customers," said Ben Atherton, Digicel Group Marketing Director. "Over the last four years, we have continuously transformed the personal mobile telecommunications market, and we are bringing the same level of cutting edge technology to our corporate customers."
The Digicel Corporate offering enables pre-paid and post-paid customers to access a suite of services including closed user groups; mobile web; international roaming; texting; Faxmail, where fax can be received on mobile phones and forwarded to a fax machine; and Digicel's signature per-second billing. Services exclusive to post-paid customers include rollover minutes which Digicel was first to offer in its markets. Additionally, Digicel Corporate has more that 200 roaming partners around the world, presenting clients with widespread accessibility.
Digicel Corporate has made significant gains in the market by winning major clients in mining, tourism, banking, manufacturing, distribution and retail with its unique closed user group service, where post and pre-paid customers can make free calls to the members of their group.
"Digicel's corporate services add value and enable us to communicate more often with our employees in the field so we can run our business more efficiently," said Frank Flowers, Managing Director of the Flowers Group, which owns businesses across a range of industries and is one of the most prominent family-run businesses in the Cayman Islands. "Communication is the lifeblood of our business. Our team feels confident, knowing that we are always connected to handle any situation as it arises."
In addition, the new BlackBerry service enables Digicel subscribers to easily access a wide range of vital communications functions including e-mail, a calendar function and corporate data applications from a single, integrated device, thereby enhancing productivity and efficiency for individuals and entire companies.
These enhanced service offerings are made even more attractive by the recent addition of GPRS roaming capabilities. Post-paid customers are able to seamlessly access services such as the Internet and WAP on their laptops or mobile phones while travelling in the United States, United Kingdom amongst other countries, thereby staying in touch with friends, family and colleagues. Over the next few months, the GPRS roaming service continues to expand to other countries, networks and devices.
ABOUT DIGICEL
Since its launch in 2001, Digicel has become the fastest growing mobile telecommunications operator in the Caribbean. In four years, Digicel has become renowned for competitive rates, unbeatable coverage, superior customer care, a wide variety of products and services, and state-of-the-art handsets.
By offering innovative mobile services and community support, Digicel has become a leading brand in the Caribbean and has placed the region at the cutting edge of mobile communications.
Digicel is incorporated in Bermuda and operates in nine countries including Aruba, Barbados, Curaçao, The Cayman Islands, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad & Tobago. Digicel's agreement to acquire Cingular Wireless Caribbean, subject to regulatory approval will expand its network to Bermuda, Anguilla, St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, and Dominica as well as strengthening Digicel's market share in The Cayman Islands, Grenada, St. Lucia, Barbados and St. Vincent & the Grenadines, where Cingular's customer base will transition to Digicel.
It is the largest GSM mobile operator in the region and plans to extend its footprint into other Caribbean countries.
The company is the lead sponsor of Caribbean sports teams including the West Indies Cricket Team, Special Olympics teams across the Caribbean and is title sponsor of the Digicel Caribbean Football Union Cup, which involves over 30 Caribbean countries and is an important qualifier towards the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Visit www.digicelgroup.com for more information on Digicel.
Buyout shakes up telecommunications market
From Cayman Netnews:
The pending sale of the Caribbean arm of the international telecoms firm to another leading name in the business, Digicel has raised questions on how the different technologies and other infrastructure from both companies will affect existing customers. The announcement that Digicel was buying Cingular’s operations in five countries in the Caribbean has sent ripples throughout telecommunications market as major companies like Cable & Wireless, Digicel and Cingular compete for the mobile market.
The deal is pending approval by each regulatory body in each country including Bermuda, Anguilla, St Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica. The details of the deal for the Cayman Islands have yet to be submitted to the Information and Communication Technology Authority (ICTA) for approval, but it is anticipated to take a couple of weeks once it is approved.
