Big changes coming at Digicel
(Jamaica Observer) Major changes are coming to the operations of regional telecommunications giant Digicel, which has entered into a joint venture agreement in the French Caribbean and is reportedly considering selling its Papua New Guinea business.
These changes come at the Jamaicanbased telecoms provider, owned by Irish billionaire Denis O’Brien, appears to be buckling under massive debts, attempting to restructure US$1.6 billion of its estimated US$7-billion debt.
Yesterday, Digicel announced details of a network-sharing joint venture with lliad, which allows the French operator to access Digicel’s Radio Access Network capabilities in the French West Indies.
The agreement, which was initially announced by Digicel on February 25 at its third-quarter earnings call, will see the company “monetising its significant network assets across five countries in the French West Indies region — Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, St Martin and St Barts — while lliad benefits from a solution to launch its mobile services”.
The two companies will share future operational investments with the ambition of building one of the most extensive networks in the French West Indies by increasing the number of sites and providing further fibre connectivity for improved coverage and speed.
The agreement is subject to the required regulatory approvals.
Commenting on the agreement, Digicel Group CEO Jean-Yves Charlier says “a joint venture of this nature is a first for
Digicel and allows us to accelerate our digital ambitions. We are delighted to be partnering with a world-class telecom operator in Iliad and to be sharing a common vision of jointly building one of the most extensive networks across the French West Indies”.
He notes that as Digicel continues its journey towards becoming a digital operator, “we recognise that sharing infrastructure in a multi-operator marketplace provides the foundation to offer better network services to our customers, whilst reducing the cost structure”.
Speculation that mobile phone operator Digicel is considering selling the Papua New Guinea (PNG) business that is considered the jewel in the financially troubled telecoms empire has sparked some concern within the country over Beijing’s growing influence in PNG.
The Digicel conglomerate surprised many of its users in PNG by filing bankruptcy proceedings earlier this month in Bermuda and the US, where it owes billions of dollars to bond holders, who invested in the company some years ago.
The UK Guardian last week reported that for the 3.8 million Digicel users in Papua New Guinea there could be vast changes in the near future if the speculation that China Mobile will bid to buy Digicel Pacific’s assets is correct.