Digicel, HSBC Sign PrePay Recharge Alliance

Irish-owned Caribbean and Central American mobile operator Digicel has signed a prepaid phone recharging agreement with UK banking group HSBC for Digicel's subscribers in El Salvador, Digicel said in a statement.

Users will be able to recharge at some 250 points of sale and can also recharge over the internet, HSBC's director of alternative channels Carlos Valenia said in the report.

Valenia estimates that some 200,000 people are likely to use the service.

Digicel users can currently recharge their prepaid cellular phones at Banco Cuscatlán, which belongs to Citi group. Digicel expects the HSBC agreement to be extended to Guatemala when Digicel launches operations there, Digicel Central America's marketing manager Sonia Villalta told BNamericas.

Digicel purchased a Central American operator, also called Digicel but unrelated, in October 2006, which had licenses for El Salvador and Guatemala.

Digicel has already installed wireless infrastructure in Guatemala but has not released a launch date, though it hopes it will be some time in 2008, Villalta said.

"We have a license for Guatemala and we are working to get coverage. The towers are up - before launching we ensure coverage is guaranteed and that we have the towers and necessary infrastructure to give good service," Villalta said.

Digicel currently has over 4.5mn users in the Caribbean but has not disclosed a figure for El Salvador, Villalta said.

When Digicel opens in a new country, the company projects to have 1mn users in the first year of operations. So far, the firm has only achieved its goal in Haiti, according to Villalta.

Since launching in El Salvador in April this year, Digicel has invested in expanding its infrastructure and adding new staff in the country, and has now fully rebranded the unit under the business model it uses for its Caribbean operations.

The company is bidding for licenses in Honduras and Panama.

Posted to the site on 3rd December 2007