SubscribeWhen you think of Jamaica, you usually think of the beaches, the Jamaican smile, Bob Marley and reggae music, Blue Mountain Coffee and the fastest man in the world, Asafa Powell.
But now here's one more thing to think about when you think of Jamaica - it's connected! With a mobile saturation of almost 90%, Jamaica is amongst the leaders in mobile connectivity in the world. And Digicel, the Irish based company that chose Jamaica just five years ago as its home has no regrets as since its entry into Jamaica in 2001 it has become the fastest growing wireless telecom operator in the Caribbean.
In fact Digicel founder Dennis O'Brien is convinced that Jamaica is the company's golden goose. "We think so highly of Jamaica as an investment location that we decided in 2003 to locate our Caribbean Headquarters in Kingston having evaluated a number of regional locations including Miami. This was the right decision for our Group and we have benefited hugely from centring all our Group corporate activities in Jamaica," says O'Brien.
It all began in April 2001 when Irish billionaire, Dennis O'Brien launched Digicel, the mobile telecommunications company that as of March 2006 boasts a US$600-M sales figure, up from US$100-M in 2002 and directly employing 1500 persons across the region as at 2005.
And with the expectation of reaching the US$1-B milestone within the next two years, Digicel has proven to the world that Jamaica, with its skilled and resourceful labour force, pro-investor government policies, a fast improving infrastructure and a good economic forecast, is the ideal investment location. "I could not recommend a better place for any foreign investor than Jamaica given its key location as a crossing point between North America and South America.
And we have been welcomed with open arms by the Government and by Jamaica Trade & Invest (JAMPRO) - the island's promotion agency, in helping us establish our mobile phone company," O'Brien reveals. "Not only did Digicel receive a true Jamaican welcome with our best resources (both human and otherwise) made available to the company, but Jamaica has been the successful launch pad for Digicel's regional expansion." With a total regional investment of US$1.2-B, Digicel is now the Digicel Group, with over 20 regional subsidiaries and it is the fastest growing wireless telecommunications operator in the Caribbean. Two of the Group's latest additions are Digicel Trinidad & Tobago, launched in April 2006 and Digicel Haiti, launched in May 2006.
Incidentally, Digicel's launch in Haiti brings an investment of over US$130 million to that country, the largest corporate investment ever made in Haiti by an international company. Additionally, a significant number of Jamaican employees from its Jamaican operation are now working in Haiti, and several of Digicel's Jamaican suppliers and distributors have followed them to Haiti.
Also in May of this year, the Digicel Group extended its pan-Caribbean network by completing its acquisition of Bouygues Telecom Caraibe, the wholly owned subsidiary of Bouygues Telecom with assets in Martinique, Guadeloupe and French Guiana.
In as many as 21 Caribbean markets which include: Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Bermuda, Bonaire, Curaçao, the Cayman Islands, Dominica, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad & Tobago, St. Martin and St. Barts, Digicel can be considered as the fastest growing of the Caribbean's select band of regional companies - thanks to Jamaica, its exciting starting point! Plus, with more than 2,500 employees, Digicel is one of the region's largest employers.
And of the Jamaican employees O'Brien had this to say: "Our 1200 staff in Jamaica are outstanding professionals. They bring great enthusiasm to the task of growing the Digicel business in Jamaica and throughout the Caribbean."
He also discloses that Digicel recently introduced a company wide share option scheme for all full time and part time staff in recognition of their key role in Digicel's regionwide growth.
As Seamus Lynch, Digicel's first CEO announced back in 2001, Jamaica seemed the perfect country for O'Brien's investment plans. Our political stability, friendly nature, willingness to facilitate businesses, both local and international and our positive future economic prospects were quickly identified by O'Brien and his team as good indicators for investment.
And as the successful five years have shown, Jamaica's bold, vibrant and creative energy matches that of Digicel. Fact is they could not have chosen a better home than Jamaica. We exemplify Digicel's work hard and play hard persona. Plus, it doesn't hurt to be associated with one of the top brands of the world - Brand Jamaica! SUCCESS IN THE INTERNATIONAL BOND MARKET, THANKS TO JAMAICA In 2005, Digicel raised US$300-M from international investors in an extremely successful inaugural bond offering led by Citigroup and J.P. Morgan at a yield of 9.25% maturing in September 2012. Digicel was originally seeking to raise only US$250-M, but the offering was oversubscribed and attracted more than US$3-B in orders.
At the time of the offering, the majority of Digicel's revenues and the vast majority of its earnings before interest taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), came from its Jamaican operations. Encouraged by the mostly unexpected bond market success, Digicel has since used the proceeds from the 2005 offering in financing major expansion plans. HOW IT ALL STARTED O'Brien had previously founded the Irish company ESAT Telecom, which was listed on the U.S. Nasdaq and the Irish Stock Exchange in partnership with European based Telenor.
After a hostile takeover bid by his partner, Mr. O'Brien brought in British Telecom (BT) as a white knight, thus selling out his stake to BT at the top of the telecommunications boom in March 2000. A serial entrepreneur who pursues long term value, Mr. O'Brien used part of the proceeds from ESAT to build a new mobile telecommunications business in the Caribbean -Digicel, headquartered in Jamaica. DIGICEL + JAMAICA = SUCCESS With the introduction of Digicel to Jamaica's telecommunication landscape, mobile penetration rates rose from 4% in 2001 (Digicel's launch year) to 86% in 2006 - making it one of the most highly penetrated countries in the world and driving a grassroots level ICT development across Jamaica. Of the less than 2.8 million local population, Digicel Jamaica has 1.5 million customers, representing a 65% market share.
Additionally, scores of small entrepreneurs owe their successes to a reliance on their Digicel phone, especially in areas where there were no previous mobile signals by the competition. Larger bodies within the Jamaican private sector have also given Digicel the thumbs up.
Now a prominent and influential member of all Jamaica's leading private sector organisations including the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) and the centuries old Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC), Digicel Jamaica was recently awarded with the inaugural PSOJ award for Outstanding Innovation and Creativity. For the second time in three years, Digicel has also won the Entrepreneurial Award from the JCC for top performance in successful marketing, business expansion and innovative business practices. JAMAICA - GATEWAY TO THE AMERICAS Digicel whose recent new licences include South America - Guyana and Suriname - and now Central America through its recent acquisition in El Salvador, continues to pursue an aggressive growth strategy from its group head office in Jamaica.
In fact, they see an opportunity to enter another 15 markets in the region in the near future and 25 markets within 2007 - all this thanks to Jamaica! And here's what O'Brien says; "I would strongly recommend any foreign investor to look at Jamaica and what it has to offer as an investment location."