Digicel Central America Holdings has won a competitive bid process for a license to operate a GSM mobile network in Honduras. The auction took place yesterday, with Digicel bidding US$80.1 million. It is expected that the decision to grant the fourth operator license to Digicel Honduras will be approved by Congress in the coming weeks.
The company says that it plans significant investment in Honduras and operation that is set to stimulate growth in the mobile market by increasing mobile penetration within the next five years from approximately 38% to 75%. Honduras has a total population of close to 7.5 million.
Digicel also expects to contribute to the local Honduras economy, employing approximately 300 people directly in its operations and leading to the indirect employment of 7,000 people.
Speaking from Tegucigalpa, Donal O'Shaughnessy, Digicel Central America CEO, said, "Honduras is a very exciting win for us. There is huge potential for growth in this mobile market, and Digicel looks forward to becoming a strong competitor by delivering superior technology and being passionate about providing the best mobile phone service to customers."
Digicel Central America Holdings is owned by Denis O'Brien, as is Digicel Group and Digicel South Pacific.
Telefonica is the largest operator in Honduras with a market share of 70%, and 2.4 million customers according to figures from the Mobile World.
Posted to the site on 20th December 2007
Posted to: www.cellular-news.com/story/28215.php