Stores Re-Opening; Aid, Technical Supplies and Resources Arriving in Port au Prince
Good progress is being made on restoring the Digicel network with over 80 percent of cell sites now back on air, enabling customers to make and receive calls, text messages, email and BlackBerry Messenger messages.
-- As the biggest and best network in Haiti, the Digicel network has
remained operational throughout and Digicel now has more cell sites on air
than any other provider. Coverage in the provinces continues to be good and
in Port au Prince it is improving rapidly with Haitians taking advantage of
the free credit of US$5 each (totaling US$10 million) that Digicel has
given them. International traffic on Monday showed a 250 percent increase
on normal daily levels.
-- Digicel is continuing to bring key technical people and equipment in to
Haiti to ensure that the network is returned to full strength as soon as
possible. In the last two days alone, six planes carrying Digicel network
equipment have landed in the capital.
-- As of yesterday (Monday 18th January), Digicel stores in provincial areas
mainly in the northern and southern parts of the country have started to
open -- and, importantly, Digicel stores in the metropolitan area of Port
au Prince will start to re-open today (Tuesday 19th January).
-- In an effort to ensure that as many customers as possible can purchase
credit, handsets and accessories like alternative energy mobile phone
chargers, one of Digicel's mobile stores will be open for business from 9am
until 4pm each day from tomorrow. The mobile store will be located in the
airport area of Port au Prince.
-- Supplementary charging stations will be placed in the Digicel stores to
ensure that customers can charge up their phone batteries and be able to
avail themselves of the US$5 free credit to stay connected with friends and
family.
-- And for people across the Diaspora wishing to send credit to friends and
family in Haiti, Digicel is giving Double Bubble to customers meaning that
they will receive double the value of the credit that they purchase for no
additional cost.
Colm Delves, Group CEO of Digicel, comments, "We are making good progress on returning our network to full strength with more and more cell sites coming back online and voice calls, text messaging, email and Blackberry Messenger available all across the country. Some customers may experience difficulties making and receiving calls at certain times largely due to the high volume of customers taking advantage of the US$10 million we have given them in free credit.
"We are doing everything we can to ensure our customers can stay connected with friends and family."
As the single largest investor in Haiti with a total investment of U$300 million since its launch in 2006, Digicel has over two million customers in Haiti and has announced a US$5 million donation to the Haiti relief efforts. This donation will go to NGOs like Concern and Medecins sans Frontieres.
ABOUT DIGICEL GROUP
After eight years of operation, Digicel has 8.8 million customers across its Caribbean and Central American markets and is renowned for competitive rates, unbeatable coverage, superior customer care, a wide variety of products and services and state-of-the-art handsets. By offering innovative wireless services and community support, Digicel has become a leading brand in the Caribbean and has placed the region at the cutting-edge of wireless communications -- the company is also a recent entrant to the Central American and Pacific markets.
Digicel is incorporated in Bermuda and now has operations in 32 markets world-wide. Its Caribbean and Central American markets comprise Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Bermuda, Bonaire, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Curacao, Dominica, El Salvador, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Panama, St Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago and Turks & Caicos. The Caribbean company also has coverage in St. Martin and St. Barths. Digicel Pacific comprises Fiji, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu.
In total, across its 32 markets, Digicel has 10.3 million subscribers.
Digicel is the lead sponsor of Caribbean and Central American sports teams, including the West Indies Cricket Team and Special Olympics teams throughout the region. Digicel is also title sponsor of the Digicel Caribbean Championships and the Copa de Naciones Digicel, which are the Caribbean and Central American qualifiers to the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Visit www.digicelgroup.com for more information on Digicel.