Digicel knocks rivals for price paid for Columbus

Digicel, the Caribbean mobile company backed by Denis O'Brien, has attacked its biggest rival Cable & Wireless over the latter's recent deal to buy Columbus Communications, another Caribbean telco, for $3 billion.

Digicel confirmed it had also tried to buy Columbus, which is backed by the Irish-American billionaire John Malone, but said the company is worth "no more than $2 billion".

“While Digicel did take a look at Columbus, the simple fact is that C&W paid some $1 billion more for Columbus than in our view it is actually worth – a fact that should be of grave concern to its shareholders and the public alike,” said Colm Delves, Digicel’s chief executive.

‘Exorbitant price’

Mr Delves said the “exorbitant price” would be paid for by customers in the form of higher tariffs, and he also rejected criticism from C&W that Digicel was engaged in “sour grapes” over its failure to land Columbus.

The marriage of C&W with Columbus dramatically changes the competitive landscape in the region for Digicel, which is responsible for the bulk of the fortune attributed to the billionaire Mr O'Brien. The deal gives C&W immediate access to Columbus' extensive fibre network and pits Mr O'Brien against the enormously wealthy Mr Malone, who owns Liberty Global and is also currently snapping up hotel assets around Ireland.