DIGICEL COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF
CINGULAR WIRELESS CAYMAN ISLANDS
NOVEMBER 15, 2005
Digicel, has completed the
acquisition of Cingular Wireless' operation in the Cayman
Islands. The company looks forward to receiving regulatory
approval in the remaining market of Barbados in the near
future which will mark the conclusion of Digicel's agreement
last June to acquire Cingular Wireless' Caribbean and Bermuda
operations.
Full integration plans between both companies are now underway
to ensure a smooth transition for Cingular customers in the
Cayman Islands. These plans will allow former Cingular
customers to soon have full access to Digicel's valued
offerings including comprehensive coverage, competitive rates,
innovative products, a growing suite of corporate services and
state-of-the-art handsets while continuing to enjoy their
current Cingular Wireless services. An additional roaming
agreement between Digicel and Cingular will also bring
favourable roaming rates to Digicel customers.
Digicel Cayman CEO, Mr JD Buckley commented, "We are
delighted to have reached this stage and wish to extend our
gratitude to people of the Cayman Islands for their continued
support of our business. Our acquisition of Cingular Wireless'
operation puts us undoubtedly in a stronger position to
continue to help drive telecommunications development and we
look forward to delivering the benefits to the people and
businesses of the Cayman Islands."
With a sharp focus on the business community, Digicel
corporate services for both post-paid and pre-paid customers
include BlackBerry, closed user groups; mobile web;
international roaming with over 180 operators; rollover
minutes, texting; and Digicel's signature per-second billing.
Digicel is continuously expanding its data roaming
capabilities to more countries, networks and devices.
Post-paid customers are able to seamlessly access the Internet
on their laptops or mobile phones while travelling in the
United States and the United Kingdom amongst other countries,
thereby staying in touch with friends, family and colleagues.
Digicel launched its operation in the Cayman Islands in March
2004 and since then the company has been a significant
contributor to the Cayman economy and an active member of the
local community. The company's character was tested in
September 2004 when Hurricane Ivan swept across the Cayman
Islands. Even before committing US$1 million for relief
efforts in the Cayman Islands, Digicel employees distributed
food, water, and clothes to the community after the storm,
while engineers and equipment were dispatched to sustain power
and service to customers.
With this acquisition of Cingular Wireless' Caribbean and
Bermuda operations, Digicel is now in a position to increase
the size of its pan-Caribbean GSM network to include Bermuda,
Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, St Kitts & Nevis and
Dominica and is near completion of the acquisition of
Cingular's operations on the islands of St Lucia and St
Vincent and the Grenadines.
With a vision to establish a seamless Pan-Caribbean wireless
network, Digicel Group's investments in the region have
exceeded $US600 million. The Company recently reached a
milestone of over 1,000 employees in its fourth year of
operation and anticipates a 30 percent increase in staff by
the end of 2006, due to subscriber growth and market
expansion.
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