Digicel plans further J$4b investment in Jamaica

(Jamaica Gleaner) Digicel Jamaica said Tuesday that it plans to invest another J$4 billion to improve its network and customer care delivery.

The move comes amid strong customer growth across all business segments, according to Digicel, with a record level of customers within the group.

The capital expenditure plans comes behind Digicel’s launch into the fixed line market through its new wireless product DigiHome.

“We are starting another investment project of J$4 billion to improve our networks, building on the J$7 billion investment over the last two years, plus recruiting an additional 200 customer care agents,” according to a company release quoting Barry O’Brien, CEO of Digicel Jamaica.

Digicicel said in response to Wednesday Business queries that the J$4b will be spent on expanding its 4G mobile network and upgrading its 2G network, and that the customer care improvements will represent additional spend.

“In June, we recorded our highest sale of handsets in one day, and things have been increasingly positive since then,” O’Brien said in the release.

The Digicel CEO was also upbeat about gains made in data services.

“We are seeing a big jump in data usage, as more and more of our customers acquire smart phones and experience Jamaica’s only nationwide 4G Mobile network. We understand that data is the future, so we will continue to ensure we offer a superior experience in this area,” he said.

The company sidestepped queries about the level of usage of its 4G mobile services, saying only that subscription was “twice as many” as last year.

Digicel Jamaica claims a subscriber base of more than two million across the network.

The company said it aims to replicate its performance in the mobile market, which it entered 12 years ago, in the newly entered fixed line market segment.