Digicel acquires rival business in Haiti (Jamaica)
The Caribbean mobile phone company Digicel Group says it’s acquired a rival business in Haiti, as reported by the Brsibane Times. The Jamaica-based private group said in a press release that it’s purchased Voila from its parent company, U.S.-based Trilogy International Partners, for an undisclosed amount.
Under the deal, the two companies will continue to run separately. Digicel opened its Haiti branch in 2005. It’s since become the country’s biggest employer and has 3.5 million customers. Its lone competitor is now Natcom, a joint venture created last year between Vietnam’s Viettel and the Haitian government to replace the state-run Teleco.
Natcom launches mobile services (Haiti)
Haiti based network operator Natcom, a joint venture between Vietnam’s Viettel and the Haitian government, has officially opened its services to the public. According to reports, Natcom claims to have already signed up 250,000 mobile subscribers in a one-month trial offer ahead of its commercial launch. Further, sources claim that the arrival of Natcom in the telecom market has caused a reduction of 20% in mobile tariffs.
As per reports, Nguyen Manh Hung , Viettel’s deputy CEO said at a launch ceremony that Natcom’s next goal is to expand the fibre network to every area of Haiti, whilst Haitian president, Michel Martelly declared that the 3,000km cable that Natcom developed will contribute to a revolution in the telecommunications sector in this country.
Mobile phones help target areas in need of disaster aid
A new study has revealed that scientists can map population movements based on location data from the mobile handsets. This information will allow organizations providing aid to channel relief supplies to the most affected areas.
This development was used to provide aid to victims of the 2010 Haitian earthquake. The impact of the earthquake caused many people to flee the capital, Port au Prince. Reports suggest that the data enables scientists and researchers to locate concentrations of displaced people on a map, which can then be forwarded to aid coordinators working in the field. This helps in verifying the number of evacuees as well as in arranging supplies for specific locations.
As per reports, since almost 86 per cent of the world uses mobile phones, this technology can be implemented almost everywhere, enabling quicker response to victims in the event of a crisis.
Dominican Republic to invest $333 million in 2011
The Dominican Republic subsidiary of Latin American mobile giant America Movil has announced that it expects to invest around US$333 million in 2011.
According to reports, the unit, which currently operates under both the Claro and Codetel Dominicana banners, also revealed that from April 2011 it would no longer use the Codetel moniker, instead switching solely to the Claro brand in line with its parent company’s overarching group strategy.
As per Oscar Pena, Claro Dominicana’s President, having donated around US$200 million to support Haiti’s reconstruction in 2010 following the earthquake there it also spent around US$241.61 million on its domestic operations that year. This years’ investment is expected to be directed towards the development of new technologies.
Haiti Mobile Operator Digicel Awarded $2.5 Million Prize
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the U.S. government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), announced today that Haitian mobile operator Digicel won a $2.5 million award from the Haiti Mobile Money Initiative (HMMI).
Digicel was recognized for being the first to launch a mobile money service in Haiti, Tcho Tcho Mobile that meets the competition’s stringent criteria. This award, presented to Digicel and its partner Scotia Bank at a U.S. Embassy event in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, is the first from HMMI, a $10 million incentive fund to jumpstart the introduction of mobile money for the Haitian people.
The devastating earthquake in January 2010 destroyed one-third of Haiti’s bank branches, further limiting access to financial systems that served only 10 percent of Haiti’s population before the earthquake. The HMMI, a partnership between the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and USAID, was established to help launch mobile money services in Haiti and enable Haitians to send, receive and store money using their mobile phones. It also lays the foundation for advanced banking services that could help millions of Haitians lift themselves out of extreme poverty.
Digicel’s mobile money service enables customers to use their mobile phones to make deposits and withdrawals at retail outlets, and transfer money between Tcho Tcho accounts. In addition to its current services, other mobile banking services will eventually include bill payments, payment for government services and international remittance transfers.
The U.S. government made significant achievements in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, and continues to implement its long-term assistance to help the Haitian people build back better,†said U.S. Ambassador to Haiti Kenneth H. Merten. The role of innovative companies like Digicel will be critical to ensuring the sustainability of our investments here.â€
The effectiveness of mobile money offerings like Tcho Tcho Mobile has been demonstrated by a similar service, M-PESA, in Kenya. Just three years after its launch, M-PESA has more than 13 million customers, is used by more than 70 percent of Kenya’s households, and does more transfers per year domestically than the money transfer company Western Union does globally. Research shows that Kenyan households who have access to M-PESA are better able to manage negative income shocks such as job loss, harvest or business.
As we have seen in other places around the world, mobile money can unlock the economic potential for millions of people,†said Sylvia Mathews Burwell, president of the Global Development Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Making mobile money services available to the poorest families in the developing world can be a first step to introducing a broader range of financial services, including savings accounts, helping people build financial security and productive lives.â€
This is the first award given by HMMI. The second operator to launch a mobile money service within 12 months will receive $1.5 million. Another $6 million will be awarded as the first 5 million transactions take place, divided accordingly among those that contributed to the total number of transactions.
The launch of mobile money is an encouraging achievement,†said USAID Haiti Mission Director Carleene Dei. The additional $6 million in scaling awards will help mobile money become sustainable in Haiti.â€
Natcom mobile network completes first international voice call (Haiti)
Vietnamese telco Viettel has revealed that its subsidiary in Haiti, National Telecom (Natcom) successfully completed its first international voice calls over its new Haitian mobile network so far with five active base stations with ‘international standard quality’ connectivity demonstrated in a link-up with Vietnam in late December 2010.
The news came less than four months after work began on launching a GSM/3G cellular network from scratch, whilst Natcom is also replacing and expanding the ruined fixed line network of the former Teleco to provide national services including DSL broadband access.
In its announcement the company added that Natcom had also made successful domestic test calls over both its new fixed fibre-optic and mobile networks. Natcom, which has yet to interconnect its new networks with Haiti’s other telecoms operators, expects to launch commercial mobile services over a network of 1,000 base stations later in 2011.
Digicel launches mobile money in Haiti
Digicel Haiti has launched a mobile money service in partnership with Scotiabank under the name ‘Tcho Tcho Mobile’, allowing Haitians to carry out cash withdrawals, deposits and transfers securely through their mobile phones without the need for a traditional bank account.
During its first three months, the programme will offer up to 20,000 users the ability to access Tcho Tcho’s services which include domestic money transfer to another mobile user and phone top-up purchasing. The service will eventually expand both its user capacity and its range of services.
Digicel is a mobile phone network provider covering parts of Oceania, Central America, and the Caribbean regions. The company is owned by Irishman Denis O’Brien, is incorporated in Bermuda, and based in Jamaica. It provides mobile services in 26 countries and territories throughout the Caribbean and Central America with more than six million wireless users.
Viettel & IFC to invest in Haiti’s telecom sector
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Vietnam’s largest mobile network operator, Viettel and World Bank’s IFC have signed a public-private partnership under which the operator will upgrade Haiti’s fixed line network in the country’s largest foreign direct investment after the earthquake.
US$59 million will be invested initially and upgrade services offered by fixed line operator T©l©communications d’Haiti (Teleco) and later an investment of an additional US$40 million over four years. A new company will be created for this purpose in which Viettel will hold a 60 percent stake and Banque de la R©publique d’Haiti (BRH), Teleco and their affiliates will control the remaining 40 percent.
Haitian government had IFC as an advisor while structuring the international bidding process for the partnership since June 2007. According to Lars Thunell, IFC Executive Vice President and CEO, agreement reflects the extraordinary commitment of the Government of Haiti and Viettel to ensuring a safer and more sustainable future for the Haitian people and Economic growth is easier to achieve when people have the basic tools they need to communicate and connect with the world.
Sprint waives call fees to Haiti
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Customers making call to Haiti in search of information on family and friends will have to pay less charge as Sprint has agreed to waive any long distance fees for calls made to the disaster stricken place.
Fees will be waived from January 12 through February 28 and the fees for messages have also been reduced.
Sending 2,000 phones to Haiti, contributing about $250,000 to various relief efforts and notes that its customers donated more than $5 million via text message are some of the actions taken by Sprint to make contribution to the relief work carried out in Haiti, which was hit by a massive earthquake on January 12 this year.
