Digicel drums up US$2.2 billion in revenues

Sees Blackberry business go up 138 per cent, adds 60,000 to Jamaican customer base

By Al Edwards

Friday, June 18, 2010

The Caribbean's largest mobile telephone service provider Digicel put in a creditable performance for the financial year ended 31 March 2010 which saw the Group posting revenues of US$2.2 billion, representing a 12 per cent gain year-on- year and a compound annual growth rate of 24 per cent from 2007 to 2010 when all Digicel markets are included.

Notably Digicel was able to increase its subscriber base by 15 per cent to 10.8 million across 32 markets.

Speaking exclusively with Caribbean Business Report, Digicel Group CEO, Colm Delves said: " When one factors in the currency depreciation I am very pleased with the growth that we have seen. Our Pacific operations went from being negative the year before to EBITDA profitability of over US$80 million in one year. We are in six markets there and the region is proving to be a revenue centre for us.

We recently acquired a licence in French Polynesia and there is potentially East Timor. We could double the number of markets we are in the Pacific over the next 36 months. What is of note in that region is that there is room for organic growth in the markets we are already in."

To underscore his point, Delves drew attention to the fact that in the Pacific, Digicel has gone from 1.2 million to 1.7 million customers in a year, with revenues going up by 53 per cent year-on year from all six markets.

Digicel is perhaps the fastest growing telecoms company in the world and it has been able to successfully replicate its model in territories large companies are reticent to enter. It really is a case of "Who Dares Wins". Less than a decade ago, Digicel began operations in Jamaica - today its in 32 countries across the world more specifically, the Pacific, the Caribbean and Central America.

The Group has done well in its Central American markets where it enjoys a presence in Honduras, Panama and El Salvador. Delves said that Honduras has proven challenging largely due to the economic situation there and also the coup there last year, though he notes that a degree of stability has returned. "Here we have grown our subscriber base by 46 per cent over the last 12 months going from 1.1 million to 1.6 million customers. We are beginning to see the green shoots appear in that market. where remittances are beginning to improve again .

"Panama is going great and we have over 600,000 customers there. Blackberry has been a huge success there. It is a bit like Manhattan with high rise buildings and a growing affluent professional class with a US dollar-based economy. We launched there five months ahead of America Movil and pushed data hard there. The fact that we have seen our Blackberry business grow by 138 per cent across the Group in a year has paid off particularly in Panama."

Closer to home in the Caribbean , 25 per cent of Digicel's additional subscribers are now post-paid customers." People are signing up to long term deals and packages which signals confidence in Digicel."

The Digicel boss announced that in Jamaica where it is miles ahead the leader with 2 million subscribers - it is still growing its customer base adding a further 60,000 over the last year.

" What we are finding in Jamaica is that customers are certainly not moving from us yet we are continuing to add to our base. We have done an analysis on customer-spend and we have discovered that we have by far the highest spend among the providers operating in Jamaica. We are undoubtedly the primary provider in Jamaica and intend on remaining so. We have a value proposition with our Gimmie 5 campaign which has been a resounding success. In Jamaica, Digicel has the widest coverage, the best customer care, we have the most top-up points and the widest retail outlets. We are shortly introducing 4G technology to Jamaica which will be a revolution in data speeds," proclaimed Delves from his corporate offices in New Kingston.

Digicel is renown for its corporate citizenry and in less than a decade is arguably the leader in this field. The recent downtown Kingston disturbances saw extensive damage done to the world-famous Coronation Market. Digicel has undertaken a restoration project to the tune of J$100 million. It must be stressed here that this is a straight Digicel initiative and the telecoms company is not part of a group of companies intent on restoring Coronation market. Digicel is unaware of a plan costing J$1 billion to rehabilitate Coronation and is focused on providing a new fruit and vegetable market, providing a new roof and guttering and has engaged the construction giant Kier to this end.

"We began in Jamaica and it is our home. It is extremely important to us. We will never give away customers there unlike other operators who see it as a dot on the map," declared the Digicel boss. Part II next week.

POST A COMMENT

You must first register and then login to be able to post a comment.

HOUSE RULES

1. We welcome reader comments on the top stories of the day. Some comments may be republished on the website or in the newspaper – email addresses will not be published.

2. Please understand that comments are moderated and it is not always possible to publish all that have been submitted. We will, however, try to publish comments that are representative of all received.

3. We ask that comments are civil and free of libellous or hateful material. Also please stick to the topic under discussion.

4. Please do not write in block capitals since this makes your comment hard to read.

5. Please don't use the comments to advertise. However, our advertising department can be more than accommodating if emailed: advertising@jamaicaobserver.com.

6. If readers wish to report offensive comments, suggest a correction or share a story then please email: community@jamaicaobserver.com.

7. Lastly, read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy, and before commenting you need to register, conveniently, by clicking the link above.

COMMENTS (5)

David Biles
6/21/2010

Ann Henry, my apologies to you regarding my earlier statements. I want to assure you that you were not in any way, the intended target of those statements, especially since I have come to realize that you are a trained psychologist and your severe use of Digicel is purely job related. Wait…..5 seconds of phone credit left….sorry Ann, I have to hang up now, but would love to continue the conversation so that you can psychoanalyze me some more. Can you call mi back please…mi run out a credit (incoming calls are free for me)!

critical thinker
6/19/2010

Another EU company strikes gold in Jamaica, collecting the baton from another such company Cable & Wireless. But why is Digicel and Co. bothering to do business with our 'homophobic' country? Oh, I get it, our homophobia is only an issue for Europe when its our turn to make some money via foreign markets (aka world-wide ban on our DJ artistes). Free trade (more like free ride) is really sweet, apparently Jamaica is everybody's horse in this WTO-run global village.

John Smith
6/19/2010

Thank Barack Obama for his obsessive use of his Blackberry... and Digi's enterpresing marketing, of course.

Ann Henry
6/18/2010

David you either have issues or a negative feeling for the Jamaicans or maybe you have no one who you talk to or maybe they don't wish to speak with you.FYI it is called business and second of all not everyone is the same so your assumption is not all true.There are people who knows the the value of communications between family,friends and loved ones.I also wonder where you are from telephone is a common thing but at least I see you had access to the internet.I'm happy for you,do it more often.

David Biles
6/18/2010

Good going Digicel! Continue to suck dry those Jamaicans who like to chat nonsense pon cell phone, at the expense of food and other necessities. I have never seen a set of people who chat silly things on cell phone and blow these meager resources. Call mi back..call mi back......mi credit done!

Did you watch American football's Super Bowl on Sunday?
	Yes, but just for the advertisements
	Yes, just for the game itself
	Yes, for both the game and advertisements
	No, I did not watch the Super Bowl.

View Results
Results published weekly in Sunday Finance

Username:
Password:

Stephen Marley wins Grammy

Digicel drums up US$2.2 billion in revenues