Digicel boosts pan-Caribbean network with Tres deal
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Digicel boosts pan-Caribbean network with Tres deal

The Digicel Group has boosted its presence in the Caribbean with the 100% acquisition of Tres Networks, which operates in Curacao.

The Digicel Group has boosted its presence in the Caribbean with the 100% acquisition of Tres Networks, which operates in Curacao.

Digicel, which has operations in 32 markets in the Caribbean, Central America and Asia-Pacific, has acquired Tres Networks for an undisclosed sum.

“The acquisition of Tres Networks will enable us to invest further to build out our state-of-the-art fibre network across the island to deliver superior experience and position Curacao at the forefront of technology in Caribbean,” Sten van der Ham, CEO of Digicel Curacao, told the Curacao Chronicle.

Digicel already offers mobile services in Curacao but buying Tres Networks enhances its pan-Caribbean network and enables it to tap into fixed and international long distance services to its portfolio, as well as high-speed internet and TV. Tres Networks connects business and residential customers via its all-fibre optic network.

Frank de Frémery, CEO of Tres Networks, added that Digicel will “not only bring a high level of expertise to the operations of Tres, but will also bring considerable market power that will enable Tres to quickly expand its network reach on the island, enhance its services and above all, reach its considerable potential”.

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Digicel’s head of legal and regulatory, David Geary, spoke to Capacity at the time of this month’s Capacity Latam 2016 event and stressed Digicel’s intention to move from a pure telecoms operator to that of a communications and entertainment provider.

“Highlights of this transformation have been the continuous growth of our business, the launch of our pan-Caribbean and global connectivity network (Digicel Global Connect) with 24 PoPs in the region and 1,000’s of global drop off points; the development of our Global Carrier Services business which sits within Digicel Business; the exceptional growth in enterprise fixed telephony and early success in our cloud services offering and  lastly achieving leading vendor accreditations across all areas,” Geary said to Capacity.

Digicel is set to work with Tres Networks’ existing management team to bring enhanced services to Curacao customers.

The deal is pending Government approval.

Digicel’s recent pan-Caribbean developments

Digicel has been busy this year and the Tres deal comes after February’s announcement that Digicel Play surpassed the 10,000 subscriber mark in Jamaica, following its launch the month before. The operator’s cable TV, broadband and home phone arm claims to provide customers with the region’s fastest fibre and access to content across multiple devices. Next deployment stop for Digcel Play is in Portmore, Jamaica.

At the start of the year, Digicel became Vanuatu’s first LTE service provider with the launch of a 4G LTE network in the country. At the time it envisaged those in its coverage area to be able to access the internet up to 10 times faster than existing speeds.

Digicel’s presence and capabilities have surged in the region over recent years. Most notably, the 2014 acquisition with Guadeloupe-based Loret Group and with Caribbean Fibre Holdings to acquire a submarine fibre network across the Caribbean region.

This month has also seen Digicel appoint a new CEO, Selorm Adadevoh, for its Haitian operations.

Digicel’s 2016 strategic priorities

Geary informed Capacity that its strategic priorities for the region in 2016 are “to continue to bring choice and global technology solutions in terms of connectivity, cloud, telephony, M2M and managed services to our end customers and carriers serving end customers in the region. We will also be deploying network capability to support our strategic objectives through partnering and strategic relationship development”.





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