Digicel Expands into Guyana

The Pan Caribbean operator, Digicel has acquired the Guyanese mobile operator U Mobile through the direct acquisition of its ultimate parent holding company. Following on the heels of the acquisition of El Salvador mobile operator, Digicel Holdings Limited (DHL), Digicel Group now has operations in 22 markets.

Expected to introduce increased competition to the Guyana mobile market, the acquisition of, U Mobile along with its employee base of 119 people, enables Digicel to expand its footprint into South America following the launch in French Guiana earlier this year. Guyana has a population of close to 800,000 people.

President of Guyana, his Excellency Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo, welcomed Digicel to Guyana noting, "Based on their hugely successful track record across the Caribbean region in making mobile communications more accessible to countries with low mobile penetration rates, we are confident that the presence of Digicel in Guyana will bring increased competition to the market. This will result in new and improved quality services allowing more Guyanese to avail of mobile technology."

Digicel's welcome into the country was echoed by Guyana Prime Minister, the Honorable Mr. Samuel Hinds: "We look forward to Digicel providing better coverage and better value to the Guyana mobile customer as well as being an active participant in our community."

Digicel Guyana's operation will be headed by Tim Bahrani, a senior executive who has more than 11 years experience in mobile telecommunications management. Prior to joining Digicel, he held senior management positions at Celtel, Africa's leading mobile operator, and Millicom International in Asia."

Posted to the site on 3rd November 2006