Digicel, a mobile phone firm founded by Mr Denis O'Brien in Jamaica, has won a licence that will enable it to expand into the fixed-line and internet markets. The company, which launched a mobile service in April, has been awarded a domestic carrier licence by the Jamaican government. This will enable Digicel to compete against the incumbent firm in Jamaica, Cable & Wireless (C&W), for fixed-line telecoms customers.
Telecoms experts said the new licence was good news for Digicel which would be able to offer integrated mobile and fixed services. "I think this is a good strategy," said one expert. "I've always felt the demerger of mobile and fixed telecoms doesn't make sense."
By using the newly awarded fixed-line licence, Digicel would be adopting a similar strategy to that used by Mr O'Brien's former telecoms venture, the Esat Group.
Mr Leslie Buckley, a former director of Esat, is a founding shareholder of Mossel Limited, the firm which established Digicel in Jamaica. Mr Osmand James Kilkenny, a senior partner in the firm of Chartered Accountants, O.J. Kilkenny & Company, is also a founding shareholder in Mossel.
Digicel claims to have signed up to 175,000 customers in its first six months of operation, in part, due to a public relations disaster by incumbent C&W.
C&W initially benefited from a rush of mobile subscribers when it launched during 2000. But just before Digicel launched, C&W's networks could not cope with demand causing many customers to switch to the Irish entrant. C&W now claims 330,000 customers. Further competition in the mobile market is expected before Christmas with the launch of a third company, Centennial.
Digicel plans to invest $170 million (€192 million) over the next two years in the Jamaican market.
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