Digicel tweaks TT market

Although not giving specific figures in terms of how much customers it has been able to pull under its wings, Delves said the numbers in four months have already exceeded its first year target.

“Digicel has experienced a tremendous response since our launch in Trinidad and Tobago where mobile customers have embraced freedom of choice. As a result we have already met our first-year customer acquisition target within a matter of months. The response has just simply been phenomenal,” said Delves who is based in Jamaica.

Although declining to give figures on their customer base in Trinidad and Tobago, Delves gave a broader hint into the growth of its mobile business in the twin-island Republic and Haiti, one of their latest acquisitions as he compares them to start up business in Jamaica in April 2001 which signalled Digicel’s entry into the Caribbean.

“Within the first 100 days of operation (in Jamaica), we acquired 100,000 customers achieving its one year target in 100 days. Our launches in Trinidad and Tobago and Haiti are exceeding this record, with even more customers and we expect these markets to reach positive EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation) within 12 to 18 months of initial launch, “Delves told Business Day.

Digicel has also been increasing its investments in both the Trinidad and Tobago and Haitian markets to meet surging demand and recently raised US$ 150 million in capital through a corporate bond offering in the major international markets to further support continued growth strategy and rapid expansion efforts in these two key markets.

Sales have been strong as customers in Trinidad and Tobago responded well to the range of cutting edge phones that it offers. There has also been robust sales in particular for the more high end handsets, the Digicel CEO said.

“ It is interesting also to note that of the new customers joining the Digicel network, almost half never had a mobile phone before. This comes down to the fact that we have made mobile telecommunications more and more accessible to more people through our network, our retail and top up channel as well as high value propositions,” he observed.

“We have custom built the infrastructure to provide the best network coverage throughout Trinidad and Tobago bringing mobile service to rural communities that never before had a viable option with the incumbent providers. Tobago was particularly neglected by the incumbent and we’ve completely changed people’s experience in Tobago of mobile telecommunications.”

Delves described the feedback from customers as “overwhelmingly positive” as they enjoy competitive rates and plans in the market place and the widest, most cutting-edge range of mobile phones from top brands such as Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, Siemens, Sony Ericsson and BlackBerry.

“The best feedback we get is about our network, we get told everyday that the crystal clear quality and extensive coverage is far superior to what was available before in Trinidad and Tobago and people can now make calls where they never could before. There is less dropped calls and much clearer quality, “Delves added.

“Once Digicel’s imminent arrival into Trinidad and Tobago was announced, prices that customers have been charged have dropped dramatically as customers were overcharged for years. We get thanked a lot for bringing down the prices. Less than a year ago Saturday calls from prepaid did not benefit from weekend rates. In addition Digicel’s arrival has even impacted fixed line pricing as per second billing has been introduced on fixed line calls to international. This was previously charged at per minute rates.”

Customers were also expressing their satisfaction with the 24/7 Customer Care service which Delves described as an unprecedented experience in the country.

Digicel’s quest to offer the best valued and best quality services among its competition has led to significant investment.

In Trinidad and Tobago the company invested close to US$200 million before its official launch in building out its operation and recently raised US$150 million in capital through a corporate bond offering in the major international markets.

“In each of our markets we’ve seen that if customers have been under serviced for many decades by the incumbent who felt second best was good enough for their customers, then they will embrace a new entrant like Digicel, who raises the bar in terms of coverage, quality and value,” said Delves.

“Digicel has gone into the market and very quickly, because of people’s experience with the incumbent, customers have moved to Digicel or have made the choice for the first time ever to access mobile telecommunications technology. And the reason why they have chosen Digicel is because for years they have had very bad networks, they were charged exorbitant prices for calls, international calls and local calls, poor customer care and under investment in technology,” he said adding that Digicel has changed that completely.

“If people for years have been over charged and have bad service, they vote with their fingers and that happens in every market which Digicel has entered, so even though the incumbent in every single case tries to stop Digicel coming into the market, people switched in droves.

That’s like putting a finger into a hole in a dam the inevitable will happen and is happening in Trinidad and Tobago.”

He said apart from having a wide range of different cutting-edge handsets, underpinning the operation is a better network, a 24/7 customer care, widest distribution network with more than 200 retail stores nationwide, 10,000 top up locations and the best network coverage.

Delves said much of Digicel’s success can also be attributed to a business model based on the unique demographics of each individual country where it operates, he said.

In the case of Trinidad and Tobago which has a very vibrant culture with an exciting mix of ethnicity, Digicel supports a wide range of sporting and cultural programmes which cross all ethnic groups.

With its business growth and stability sitting solid in Trinidad and Tobago, Digicel doesn’t concern itself too much with what TSTT is doing, according to Delves.

“We find that most of their actions are just reactions to our business strategy and advertising campaigns,” he added.

Caribbean-wide, he also said Digicel is experiencing strong growth across all 20 existing markets.

“We continue to maintain our position as the fastest growing telecommunications company in the Caribbean with a compound annualised growth rate of approximately 60 percent. This record growth rate is unrivaled among the world’s other mobile phone providers,” he said.

With new acquisitions and launches, Digicel Group subscriber numbers stand at 2.6 million. Digicel is also predicting sales of US$1 billion within two years or thereafter.

Trinidad and Tobago, no doubt will feature significantly in Digicel’s booming sales and profits.