Reprinted from Caribbean Net News
caribbeannetnews.com

Technology: Will Digicel open a new battlefront in the French Caribbean?

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

by: Danik Ibrahim Zandwonis
Caribbean Net News Guadeloupe Correspondent
Email: danik@caribbeannetnews.com

POINTE À PITRE, Guadeloupe: This week, Digicel, the leading mobile operator in the English-speaking Caribbean, will replace Bouyghes Telecom Caraibes as the service provider for some 160,000 cellphones in Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Guyane, the French-speaking territories of the region.

In April, Digicel announced the purchase of Bouyghes Caraibes, which was at the time the second largest operator in the French territories of Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guyane.

The arrival of Digicel in this very competitive phone market could reverse the situation. In the French West Indies, Orange Caraibes has been until now the leading company in this market with some 300,000 customers.

Last December, a new operator, OOL (Overseas On Line - nicknamed “Only”), tried to break into the market. But the struggle still looks very hard. Recently Only managers complained about many acts of sabotage. Several times, OOL/Only antennas have been vandalised, but the local police have been unable to find the perpetrators.

Although accurate figures have remained secret, according to official French telecommunications sources, about 25,000 customers have so far subscribed to OOL/Only. These days in Guadeloupe and Martinique, more and more people have two or three cell phone subscriptions

Next week, on the occasion of its new venture in Guadeloupe, Guyane and Martinique, Digicel has organised a musical tour, with top Jamaican Reggae singer Shaggy. Guadeloupe’s dancehall star, Admiral T, and many others are also planned.

The arrival of Digicel in this market is perhaps an opportunity to facilitate all kinds of communications between the French- and English- speaking West Indies: the Caribbean united by its cellphones?

But it’s also the beginning of a new business struggle between the powerful Orange, number one in the French island market, Only and Digicel. The consumers, (and they are numerous in Guadeloupe, Martinique and Guyane) just hope that, after the battle, prices will be more attractive and the communications better and better.

Digicel enters the French-speaking Caribbean market at a time when technology is developing. Orange has just started testing its new “triple play” technology for Guadeloupe and Martinique.

Meanwhile, Guadeloupe is going to lay its own submarine cable from Puerto Rico in order to bring internet service at lower cost to all of the Eastern Caribbean islands. The telecommunications war is just beginning.

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