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Digicel prepares for WiMax deployments in 2006(BNamericas.com Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)Caribbean mobile operator Digicel plans to roll out WiMax in many of the markets where it has operations, as part of its 2006 development plan, the company said in a statement. Digicel made its first WiMax deployment in the Cayman Islands in 2005, a year in which the company invested US$1bn. "Our growth strategy for next year [2006] is built on the tremendous success and momentum developed during 2005," said Colm Delves, CEO of Digicel Group. The Cayman Island's deployment is just the beginning of the spread of WiMax across the Caribbean headed up by both Digicel and its archrival Cable & Wireless (C&W) , Jose Otero, president of Signals Consulting, told BNamericas. "Digicel has licenses to offer fixed line telephony in both the Cayman Islands and Jamaica and the company is using the Caymans as a testing ground before requesting similar licenses in other markets in the Caribbean to complement growth in the markets where it already has mobile operations," Otero said. Besides the Cayman Islands and Jamaica (and Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago where Digicel recently-acquired licenses to start up operations), Digicel's most important market for launching innovative services is Barbados, Otero said adding that as many of the Caribbean markets have reached mobile saturation, there is a market for new services. Otero added that C&W is due to soon announce the launch of UMTS/WCDMA third generation mobile technology in the Cayman Islands to compete with existing EVDO technology in that market. C&W will then launch similar technology in Barbados. Digicel ended 2005 on a high, winning concession licenses for Trinidad & Tobago and Haiti. The company also acquired Curaao Telecom and the assets of Cingular Wireless in various Caribbean markets giving Digicel a footprint spanning 15 countries and 14 million inhabitants. Digicel also raised US$300mn in a successful bond offering to finance expansion plans. |