Archive for the ‘Digicel’ category

LIME, Digicel claim victory in Supreme Court ruling

February 12th, 2010

ARCH-rivals LIME and Digicel have praised yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling in a dispute between the telecoms giants over international call circuits.

LIME (formerly Cable & Wireless Jamaica) claimed victory in the case after the Court ordered Digicel to restore all of LIME’s circuits to full capacity, while Digicel described it as “fantastic news”, saying that the issue centres on a systems upgrade that Digicel intended to carry out in January 2009 to improve the call quality on its network and identify and control illegal bypass operations — all for the good of its customers.

LIME, in a release on the ruling, said it “took legal action against Digicel after Digicel blocked traffic on LIME’s international call circuits in December 2008, during the crucial Christmas period and again in January 2009″.

» Read more: LIME, Digicel claim victory in Supreme Court ruling

Claro goes for Digicel’s jugular:Their attack ad campaigns goes up another notch

February 1st, 2010

oldcel1Jamaica’s not used to this style of advertising-Confrontational, use of a competitor’s colours and clear references. It’s more, well, American. In Jamaica we’ve grown used to the British, conservative, safe and frankly rather polite and boring way of advertising things. The market has now gotten a shake up as Claro the well heeled, mobile service provider newbie is doing things very differently. More

Number Portability looks likely whether Digicel likes it or not ?

January 27th, 2010

cellA Mobile number portability (MNP) service enables mobile phone users to change their service providers without changing their original number. Its purpose is to foster consumer choice and effective competition by enabling subscribers to switch between providers without the costs and inconvenience of changing telephone number. It can also be applied to fixed lines.

Yet, it’s the one thing Claro really wants, second only to overtaking Digicel this year in the marketplace. Digicel on the other hand, says “that the costs of implementing number portability are not outweighed by the benefits, based upon its experience in other markets.” Claro wants it badly; Digicel says it’s too expensive. It is, perhaps, tempting to assume that a newer market entrant would be welcoming MNP much more enthusiastically, mindful of an improved opportunity to grab customers from established rivals. So it’s not surprising then that challenging operators would take the aggressive stance, whereas dominant operators are initially more reluctant to push MNP. Hmmm! more

Digicel, Claro and LIME Face off on Fixed-Line Business in Jamaica

November 27th, 2009

Leading mobile telephone company Digicel has accused both LIME and Claro of colluding to gain a competitive advantage in the landline market and is calling on LIME to embrace competition which can only benefit the Jamaican consumer.

However, LIME is categorically refuting allegations made by Digicel that there is collusion between LIME and Claro in setting mobile prices. LIME Country Manager Geoff Houston dismissed the Digicel claim (which Digicel has lodged as a complaint to the Fair Trading Commission – FTC) as nothing more than a spurious attempt to keep inflated prices in the market and to distract the FTC from applying its energies to constraining Digicel’s anti-competitive practices. » Read more: Digicel, Claro and LIME Face off on Fixed-Line Business in Jamaica

Digicel eyes tax break

October 28th, 2009

Digicel_Bigger_Better_Logo_1Digicel Group yesterday announced plans to build its headquarters and offices for its Jamaican operations in downtown Kingston next year, a move that will see the telecommunications company benefit from what could work out to be a sizeable tax break.

The company would not give details on the estimated cost of the investment but said in a press statement issued yesterday that it would move its offices – currently located in two separate buildings in New Kingston – into a “brand new facility on the waterfront in downtown Kingston”.
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LIME hits Digicel with $100-m lawsuit

October 28th, 2009

time4lime1LIME filed a $100-million lawsuit against Digicel on Monday, claiming that the Irish-owned telecom unfairly priced its landline-to-mobile rates by as much as $2.48 per minute below the rate it charges LIME to terminate its landline calls.

But the amount now being sought by the British-owned telecom is dwarfed by the $3.9-billion lawsuit it brought against Digicel earlier this year – a case which is scheduled to be heard on Friday – only days after the current action was filed. More

Digicel tagged my private text messages with their promotions…how invasive !

October 26th, 2009

Digicel_Bigger_Better_Logo_1Digicel typically has many promotions and competitions to win things running at the same time. They usually promote it through the traditional media, on their website and also by sending a text message to you making you aware of the competition, if you are a prepaid customer when you check your credit status they tag it to the text message that comes back to you with the dollar value of credit left on your phone or if you call their customer service you hear the audio promotion before you are put through to an operator. They promote their stuff 360 degrees and hey that is why they are number uno in the Jamaican market- they are ubiquitous. » Read more: Digicel tagged my private text messages with their promotions…how invasive !

America Movil ( CLARO) Entrance DID Impact Digicel….

September 24th, 2009

mobile2.0On August 23, 2007, America Movil (AMX) announced the acquisition of Oceanic Digital Jamaica, which offered commercial mobile services under the MiPhone brand. The announcement sent shock-waves throughout the rest of the Caribbean with the two main questions being: How would the Mexico-based operator impact the Digicel Jamaica operation? Would other markets follow?

More than two years after the announcement, Digicel continues to be the largest mobile operator in Jamaica and AMX’ local subsidiary Claro has not been able to rapidly grow its subscriber base. However, this shouldn’t be misinterpreted as if the replacement of MiPhone by Claro didn’t have an impact on the market, and particularly Digicel. » Read more: America Movil ( CLARO) Entrance DID Impact Digicel….

Digicel’s Twin Towers Downtown,Kingston…Jamaica

September 14th, 2009

Digicel_Bigger_Better_Logo_1Our sources have told us that, yes Digicel Jamaica is the company that has promised the Jamaican government that they would build twin towers downtown and be part of what is turning out to be a serious effort this time to revitalise Downtown, Kingston. Downtown is home to the 7th largest harbour in the world and probably remains the only port worldwide of its kind that’s not a boom and bustle with commercial and residential activities. » Read more: Digicel’s Twin Towers Downtown,Kingston…Jamaica

Digicel, LIME agree on industry watchdog – Gov’t proposes single regulator

September 11th, 2009

Telecoms rivals Digicel and LIME may be poles apart on most issues, but in a rare moment of agreement, the fierce commercial adversaries have both thrown their support behind Government’s plan for a single regulator to police the information and communication technology (ICT) sector.

Digicel’s support for the proposed move, voiced by its legal representative, is hinged on the hope that the single regulator will be more focused on ICT as opposed to broader utilities regulation duties. However, LIME’s backing, coming from its Jamaica boss, is tied to the company’s long-standing beef over perceived unfair practices in the mobile market.