Digicel Group announced yesterday that Justin Morin has resigned as chief executive officer (CEO) of Digicel Jamaica, to be replaced by another Jamaican Allison Cole Philbert, effective August 1, 2019.

Cole Philbert, who holds a Master of Business Administration from the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business, joined Digicel Jamaica earlier this year in February as Digital programme director. She has 20 years’ experience in the telecommunications and services industry.

Morin, the first Jamaican to hold this position, was in the position for two years. During his tenure as CEO he significantly improved net promoter scores (NPS) by rebuilding customer trust as well as propelled growth in the company’s LTE subscribers, home and entertainment and business solutions revenue and prepaid data traffic.

Morin also oversaw the successful expansion of LTE services beyond Kingston and Montego Bay to other key areas including Falmouth, Mandeville, Negril, Ocho Rios, Portmore and Spanish Town whilst continuing to roll out the most innovative fibre to home and business networks.

“I am proud of what we have been able to achieve during my tenure in returning the business to growth; today, our customers in Jamaica benefit from the leading data experience, leading home and entertainment services — as well as world-class business solutions,” Morin said via news release.

Morin has over 17 years’ experience and a solid track record spanning multiple industries including telecommunications, finance and manufacturing. The St George’s College old boy previously served as director of corporate strategy with Saudi Telecom in the Middle East where he spearheaded the successful development and execution of the company’s strategic growth plan with a focus on maximising opportunities in the converged technology and digital space.

He also spent seven years at GraceKennedy working in several roles in investment, manufacturing and operations before joining global consultancy firm Delta Partners, where he served as a senior principal.

In thanking Morin, Group CEO, Jean-Yves Charlier, said he had done a solid job in expanding Digicel’s high-speed networks throughout the country, invigorating customer relationships and laying the foundations for the company’s journey towards becoming a digital lifestyle partner for customers.

Cole Philbert spent 17 years in various senior positions at the American telecommunications company, Verizon Wireless and served four years as its vice-president of region operations for New England. According to Forbes, in 2018, more than 10,000 Verizon employees accepted a severance package to voluntarily leave the telecom giant. The move was an attempt by Verizon to slash about US$10 billion in operational costs as it focused on the rollout of their new 5G technology programme.

“As we go all-in on digital, we’re all about powering and empowering our customers by giving them access to everything they want in their digital world and enabling them to live their best digital lives,’ Cole Philbert said.

“I am thrilled to be given the opportunity to lead the talented and dynamic Digicel Jamaica team as we take this journey with our customers and reinvent our business for our digital future”

Commenting on her appointment, Jean-Yves Charlier said Cole Philbert brings a wealth of strong operational and digital experience to the role and has, in her short time with Digicel, made a hugely positive contribution to the company’s journey to become a digital lifestyle partner for its customers.