The mobile phone group Digicel has attracted one million customers and is planning to expand outside its Caribbean base, the firm's founder and chairman, Mr Denis O'Brien, said yesterday.

The company, which operates in five Caribbean states and holds a further three licences in the area, competes against Cable & Wireless in the region by providing mobile phone services.

Mr O'Brien said Digicel had invested some $420 million (€355 million) already. About $300 million of this was used to invest in its Jamaican operation and a further $120 million is invested in the remaining states in the Caribbean, he added.

He said the company was generating average revenue per user of about $23 per month, which would translate into annual revenues of $276 million per year.

In some Caribbean markets Digicel has won market share of almost 70 per cent against Cable & Wireless, said Mr O'Brien, who denies that he will sell the firm.

"We don't have an exit strategy for Digicel. We are not interested in selling, it's a long-term hold," said Mr O'Brien. He would not comment on recent media speculation that Digicel had been unsuccessful in winning a mobile phone licence in Iraq.

Meanwhile, Mr O'Brien is also an investor in small technology firms in the Republic and currently has a portfolio of close to 20 firms in which he holds an stake. These include the Dublin-based technology firms Cardbase, Eontec and Norkom.

Mr O'Brien said he would be more selective in future about his Irish investments. He would also tend to buy a controlling stake in any ventures that he was interested in.