DIGICEL REMAINS FIRST-TO-MARKET LEADER WITH INTRODUCTION OF
NEW MOBILE TECHNOLOGY AND SERVICES
Leading Pan-Caribbean Operator Continues to Greatly Expand its Product Portfolio and Customer Offerings; Company Continues to Introduce Many First-to- Market Innovations
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| Mr. Colm Delves-CEO Digicel Group of Companies |
KINGSTON, JAMAICA – October 29, 2007 – Digicel Group, the fastest-growing mobile telecommunications provider in the Caribbean and new entrant to Central American market, today announced that it continues to greatly expand its product portfolio and customer offerings with the introduction of first-to-market mobile technology innovations and services across the region.
"Digicel is not only the Caribbean’s leading mobile service provider, but also an innovator in the region. We strive to provide our customers unique and affordable mobile services they can’t get anywhere else,” said Colm Delves, Digicel Group CEO. “By consistently being first to market on a regular basis, Digicel remains the number one brand that truly connects with its customers.”
In recent months, Digicel has been first-to-market with the launch of several new, exciting products and services, including:
Blackberry Curve
Digicel is the first mobile operator in the Caribbean, Bermuda and El Salvador to offer the Blackberry Curve, with Bermuda being the first of Digicel's markets to make the impressive new smartphone available to customers.
The BlackBerry Curve is the smallest and lightest full QWERTY BlackBerry smartphone, yet it delivers the full, renowned BlackBerry e-mail and messaging experience with premium phone features, powerful web browsing and advanced multimedia capabilities. The smartphone includes RIM's intuitive trackball navigation system, two mega-pixel camera, enhanced media player and high-performance browser in a smooth and friendly design.
Vehicle Tracking in Jamaica
In June 2007, Digicel launched in Jamaica the "Digicel Vehicle Tracking" system, an easy to install GPS device for fleet management companies that tracks the location of vehicles on urban, regional and national travel routes. Developed in partnership with KingAlarm Systems, Jamaica's largest electronic security service company, the Digicel Vehicle Tracking system is a web application service that runs on Digicel's nationwide GPRS/GSM network.
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| Digicel Launching Personal Broadband in Cayman Island |
The new service not only tracks the location of the vehicle anywhere across the country on a 24/7 basis but also provides monthly travel history reports of each installed vehicle and e-mail alerts to notify fleet managers of excessive speeding, ignition on/off, location and arrival and departure times.
Diaspora Services
Significant inroads were made in 2007 in offering services that allow the Caribbean Diaspora to send airtime credit and purchase phones for family and friends in the Caribbean. Digicel’s CaribFlex allows the purchase of airtime credit in the UK, Canada and the US for prepaid customers in Jamaica, Haiti, Trinidad, Guyana and OECS markets. Credit is instantly applied to the prepaid customers account and the beneficiary notified via text message. To facilitate this service and the sale of phones for Haiti, Digicel has signed partnership agreements with leading money transfer companies including Caribbean Air Mail (CAM) and UniTransfer.
CDMA Roaming in Caribbean
Digicel, in partnership with Huawei Technologies, became the first GSM operator in the region to simultaneously offer GSM and CDMA on its mobile network. CDMA roaming is available in five of Digicel’s 22 markets, namely Jamaica, Bermuda, Aruba, Cayman Islands and Barbados. Digicel’s CDMA roaming allows customers traveling to the Caribbean to roam on the company’s seamless mobile network. The company has roaming agreements with 275 partners in 150 countries worldwide.
WiMAX Wireless Broadband
With its successful launch of its Personal Broadband Service in the Cayman Islands on September 27th, 2007 Digicel is pioneering a true IEEE Standard 802.16e ready Mobile WiMAX™ network in the Caribbean. Mobile WiMAX™ is the next generation wireless broadband service which will allow individuals to access the Internet on their terms from anywhere within the coverage area. This alternative technology will revolutionize the way we all access and share information via the Internet and at a cost point to enable mass market adoption. Digicel has been providing this experience to corporate customers In Jamaica and Cayman via our fixed WiMAX™ broadband services since 2006. The company will continue rolling out Personal Broadband Services in other markets deemed viable in the near future.
“Other product highlights of the year to date include the launch of Any Voucher Any Where (where customers can purchase and use local top up vouchers in any of Digicel’s Eastern Caribbean markets), Call Conferencing Services, Credit Me/Credit U (credit can be requested and sent from one phone to another), Dual accounts (simultaneously pre- and postpaid), Pan Caribbean Closed User Groups and Push-to-Talk. And last but not least, we also have the widest selection of top-up methods available in the region,” said Ralf Ohlhausen, Group Products Director.
ABOUT DIGICEL
Since its launch in 2001, Digicel has become the fastest-growing wireless telecommunications operator in the Caribbean. After six years, Digicel is renowned for competitive rates, unbeatable coverage, superior customer care, a wide variety of products and services, and state-of-the-art handsets. It is the largest GSM operator in the region.
By offering innovative wireless services and community support, Digicel has become a leading brand in the Caribbean and has placed the region at the cutting edge of wireless communications.
Digicel is incorporated in Bermuda and has operations in twenty-two markets including Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Bermuda, Bonaire, Curaçao, The Cayman Islands, Dominica, El Salvador, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago and Turks & Caicos as well as coverage in St. Martin and St. Barths. Digicel expects to launch in Suriname in the near future.
The company is the lead sponsor of Caribbean sports teams including the West Indies Cricket Team, Special Olympics teams across the Caribbean and is title sponsor of the Digicel Caribbean Football Union Cup and the Copa De Naciones, the Caribbean and Central American qualifiers to the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
