Business News Americas
Caribbean mobile telecoms provider Digicel has received regulatory approval from the governments of seven Caribbean nations to complete its acquisition of operations in those countries formerly owned by Cingular Wireless, Digicel said in a statement. Digicel is now free to acquire Cingular's assets in Bermuda, Anguilla, St Kitts & Nevis and Dominica, entering those markets for the first time.
Digicel was also given the go-ahead to acquire Cingular assets on the islands of Grenada, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines, which will complement Digicel's existing operations there.
Still pending is regulatory approval of the acquisition of Cingular operations in Barbados and the Cayman Islands, where Digicel already has a presence, and the new market of Antigua & Barbuda.
Digicel has also fully acquired Cingular's licenses in Jamaica as well as network assets in the Netherlands Antilles island of Curaçao where Digicel already operates following its acquisition of Curaçao Telecom in March 2005.
The acquisition also includes Cingular's licenses in the French West Indies islands of St Martin, Guadeloupe, Martinique and St Barts.
According to British market research firm Informa Telecoms & Media the Latin America and the Caribbean region ended the first quarter of 2005 with 11.5