Digicel, which recently acquired Cel*Star/U Mobile, plans to introduce prepaid roaming when it rolls out the full range of its cellular service here and will also offer per second billing.
Digicel’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tim Bahrani said in a recent interview with Stabroek News that it was a process which included making changes to the U Mobile network, switching, towers, coverage and the introduction of new promotions. “You are already seeing the differences. [However] in terms of when are we going to dress it up all in red and in Digicel colours that is going to be some time in the future,” the CEO said.
He likened Digicel’s position in Guyana to that of a bride getting ready for her wedding. “It is all about dressing up the bride because she has to be dressed properly before she goes to the wedding.” The company is seeking to expand coverage and ensure it has all the necessary logistics in place before making its full entry to the sector here. “When we are happy we have all the bells and whistles so that we can offer the customer like we are doing in other Caribbean countries and Latin America,” only then would the company state its readiness to roll out its service to the Guyanese public.
In order to reach its goal of providing an extensive and improved service to Guyanese the company has announced its intention to invest some US$60 million in the mobile telecommunications sector. “There is a lot of equipment that’s going to be coming. In fact they should be arriving now as we speak; lots of towers, switching, billing, and computer equipment. In fact the whole network currently being run by U Mobile is going to be changed over to Ericsson, which is one of the best providers in mobile telephone equipment,” Bahrani declared.
The CEO revealed one of the main reasons why Digicel has chosen to enter the local market is because the company has seen untapped avenues for growth. The company head observed, “I don’t care what other people say by throwing numbers around but there’s not more than 22 to 23% in terms of mobile market penetration.” He believes there are a lot of customers basically waiting for Digicel to come and offer them a very competitive service. The company has therefore been negotiating with the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) about the introduction of flexible and competitive tariffs in the market. “It’s all about definition,” said Bahrani, “I can assure you that there is one way I describe my subscribers; when I look at a subscriber who has actually done a phone call in the last 30 days. Other people look at the number of subscribers sitting on their switch or the number of SIM cards they have sold. So it’s all about definitions and I believe our definition is correct.”
The company is attempting to agree with the PUC a ceiling and a minimum and maximum rate. The CEO explained that the PUC is guaranteeing the customer that Digicel would not overprice but on the other hand giving it the flexibility of being able to come up with different promotions, price offerings and parcels for various segments of the market.
“We have been talking to the PUC. We believe we should be allowed to give the customers what they want by giving special offers, without having to go to the PUC every 90 days because it erodes competitiveness.”
Digicel in the Caribbean, Bahrani said, has been successful because it is offering the services the customer wants, for example, creative ways of topping up, special promotions on air time, very good pricing on handsets and accessories. “All of these things you can’t say Guyanese are not going to be excited about,” the CEO told Stabroek News. The company intends to tailor its services to the specific circumstances existing locally. Using a concrete example of special offers the CEO said that a student’s package in Haiti might be different from that which is offered in Guyana. While in terms of pricing cheap rates may start in Haiti at 5 pm, in Guyana they may start at 4 pm or at 6 pm, “so we tailor these things towards the local market.”
Among the other relatively new intended additions to Guyana’s cellular market by Digicel are per second billing and prepaid roaming. Digicel across the Caribbean has gone per second billing and as a practice it is one of the strongest things being done. It has been launched in all the markets the company has entered and is seen as part and parcel of the Digicel offerings to the consumer.
Guyanese can be assured also that handsets brought in by Digicel are going to be brand new straight from the manufacturer as well as affordable. “We believe that because of the state of the economy the biggest obstacle for people using a mobile phone is getting a handset and the one thing Digicel does is remove that obstacle for customers to make those calls and get the services.”
Bahrani observed that throughout the Caribbean it is very well known that Digicel provides roaming for prepaid subscribers. So a subscriber need not sign a contract, pay monthly or anything like that. They can take their prepaid phone and go to Barbados or T&T and use the prepaid phone, he said, adding, “I don’t know anybody else providing that service.”
