TSTT, Digicel:

Digicel officials told Newsday that activity at its stores nationwide was a continuation of the pattern which started last week when the company opened its doors for business. They said lots of persons who previously signalled their intention to sign up with Digicel have done so along with scores of new customers.

Digicel officials said the feedback which they have received to date from their various outlets suggests that people are satisfied that they are getting their monies worth. Digicel (TT) CEO Stephen Brewer said “tens of thousands of people” have signed up with Digicel since last week but declined to give an exact number of persons who have done so or details of any revenues earned by Digicel from mobile phone sales over the last week.

They echoed statements made on Monday by Digicel Group chairman Denis O’Brien that TT could look forward to new and exciting promotional offers and dismissed TSTT advertisements claiming that Digicel rates were higher than TSTT’s exclusive of VAT. Through a series of ads, Digicel says its mobile phone rates are 30 cents per minute inclusive of VAT while TSTT claimed Digicel’s rates were $1.22 per minute without VAT.

The officials added that such strategies were expected as TSTT sought to hold on to its share of the market and increase its customer base.

In contrast, TSTT officials said its bmobile stores have been “swamped” since last week and the company added 100,000 new customers to its mobile network since then.

They denied reports that TSTT had countered Digicel’s $49 mobile phone offers with $39 mobile phone packages, but said persons interested in purchasing a mobile phone could expect to see some interesting offers in the near future.

O’Brien said he was confident that the Telecommunications Authority of TT’s arbitration panel would determine final interconnection rates on April 18 which should satisfy everyone. He also said Digicel is currently finalising the takeover of French company Bouygues Telecoms’ Caribbean operations which will give Digicel access to three new markets in the region, including Haiti, later this month.

Digicel is currently seeking to enter the mobile phone markets in the Bahamas, Costa Rica, Honduras, Suriname, Samoa and Fiji.