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Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer, has selected Miami as the site for its new Latin American headquarters as it moves to leverage the south Florida city as its regional hub.

"The emerging markets represent growing volume for high-end products," said Robert Andersson, Nokia's executive vice-president for customer and market operations, at a press conference in Coral Gables.

The office, to be located in Miami's Enterprise Zone, will cover some 25,000 square feet and is slated to begin operations in November. It will employ about 100 persons.

The company has put its vice-president for export sales for Nokia Latin America, Olivier Puech, in charge of sales and marketing of its products in the Caribbean, a market he characterised as 'healthy'.

"Growth is healthy in the Caribbean and it is a market with great potential," Puech said in an interview, in which he acknowledged that there was a dearth of information on Nokia's Caribbean sales.

In Jamaica, the business flows from replacement phones, said the mobile salesman.

"It's a big help to us to be closer to our customers there with this new office and we will be working with the agents there to ensure the [prompt] shipping of our products," said Puech.

It is estimated that about 1.8 million Jamaicans are mobile users. However, unlike Barbados, which has an 85 per cent penetration rate with high-end users, Jamaicans are predominantly low-end users.

Prior to the launch of the office, Nokia's Americas headquarters in Texas was responsible for sales and marketing in the region.

Important growth markets

Latin America, with a population of some 551 million and average per capita income of US$4,008, according to 2005 World Bank data, is considered one of the most important growth markets in the mobile communications industry.

Jamaica's GNI is estimated by the World Bank at US$3,400.

The region accounted for €2.7 billion (US$2.12b), or eight per cent, of Nokia's global sales of €34.1 billion (US$26.83b) at the end of last year. The company has two manufacturing plants in Mexico and Brazil and up to June this year employed 4,500 in the region, representing seven per cent of the mobile company's 66,000 global employees.

Nokia, which has a local presence in almost a dozen Latin American countries, is the leading brand in the region.

"Our phones are reaching people whose monthly income is US$50-US$100 per month - we take a very human approach to technology, connecting people to what matters most to them," he said. The U.S. dollar is now valued at J$66.

In Jamaica, the Nokia brand retails as low as $2,500, tax included, while its high-end phones range as high as $70,000 for the Nokia slide. All three local cellular service providers, Digicel, Cable & Wireless Jamaica, MiPhone, and their agents, retail the brand.

Some two thirds of the world's six billion-plus population are currently mobile subscribers, and Nokia, whose tagline is 'connecting people', has ambitions to sell phones to a good portion of the remaining two billion.

Already, 800 million people, or 12 per cent of the global population, use a Nokia device on a daily basis, but Andersson conceded that, with the proliferation of new mobile products, it was increasingly "more difficult for Nokia to stand out in the crowd."

Senior vice-president for Latin America's customer and market operations, Maurizio Angelone, says mobile penetration in Latin America has surpassed 50 per cent of the population with the greatest usage in Chile (75 per cent), Columbia (66 per cent), and Argentina (62 per cent).

The regional market continues to grow, he said, with some 100 million new subscribers expected to sign up during the next two years.

"The majority of this growth [will come] form Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and Argentina," said the Nokia executive.

 

Digicel investing US$100 million more in Jamaica

Mobile giant Digicel says it plans to spend another US$100 million upgrading its infrastructure in Jamaica this year, pushing to more than US$600 million the Irish-owned firm's total investment in the island since entering the market in 2001.

"We're believers in the Jamaican story," said Digicel chairman Denis O'Brien. "We think that Jamaica is going through a renaissance similar to what Ireland went through in the late 1980s, and as a place to attract investors we think that Jamaica has one of the more outstanding opportunities in the Caribbean."

O'Brien gave as an example the investment now taking place in tourism, particularly the construction of large hotels by Spanish resort chains.

Late last year, Spain's ambassador to Jamaica, Jesus Silva, predicted that investments by Spanish companies in Jamaica's tourism sector would surpass US$1.3 billion this year.

The new resorts, he said, would create direct employment of 15,000 and roughly 50,000 indirect jobs. "When you look at all the different things you need as an investor," said O'Brien, "if you're into tourism you won't see anything like the beauty of Jamaica. particularly in the northern shores, obviously there's a lot of investment coming in from the Spanish companies, and they recognise that."

O'Brien also said he saw a lot of scope for investment in the service and manufacturing sectors, and suggested that "the economy is probably doing better than people realise".

"So that's the reason why we're continuing to invest," he said, adding that demand was also a determining factor.

"It's extraordinary," O'Brien told the Business Observer. "About 86 per cent of people in Jamaica now have a mobile phone, whereas five, six years ago that was maybe less than 10 per cent."

The US$100-million investment, interjected Colm Delves, Digicel's group chief executive officer, will see the firm upgrading switches, WiMAX, network facilities, training programmes and retail stores.

"You name it, it's like the Imelda Marcos shopping list," added O'Brien.

He argued that mobile telephony is, in many ways, the starting point for countries wishing to create a knowledge-based economy and develop a sort of ICT strategy because a mobile phone is the first device, aside from a television remote control, that most people would have held in their hands.

"We know there are plans to try and increase the penetration of computers in the country," said O'Brien. "We think that mobile phones are the sort of opening steps to setting up an ICT economy.

"Also, one of the things that we think is very positive is the fact that there are now fibre-optic submarine cables coming into Jamaica, so that monopoly has been broken and that, I think, is positive for companies that are setting up here and need communications links at low costs."

He predicted that that development would stimulate more investment "because submarine cables are like umbilical cords for transferring information. and if you have that kind of access, well, the whole world market opens up. So these are the kinds of things that we think are very positive about Jamaica right now".

Since setting up business in Jamaica five years ago, Digicel has been on an aggressive expansion drive in the Caribbean and Latin America and now serves 2.6 million subscribers in 20 countries.

Last week, it announced that it had entered into an agreement to acquire an unrelated firm named Digicel Holdings Limited that operates a GSM mobile telecommunications business in El Salvador.

That pending acquisition is in keeping with O'Brien's view that there are tremendous investment opportunities in the region.

"One of the key things is that there is an immense opportunity for companies like Digicel now to go down through Central America," he told the Business Observer. "There's another 10, 15 countries in this region where we're hopeful that we can launch our business. That will bring us up to 35 countries."

It's all happening very fast, but according to Delves, Digicel is coping.

"We're building as quickly as we can, but we're getting more and more licences, so our roll-out teams are in heavy demand at the moment," he said.

The Cell Islands Phone upstart Digicel has taken the Caribbean by storm. The company plans to make landfall on the U.S. next year

By KATHLEEN KINGSBURY

For most people in the corporate world, the Caribbean is the perfect spot for that next much needed vacation. Irish entrepreneur Denis O'Brien, however, eyed the island nations and saw just one thing: customers. In 2001, O'Brien had a bit of cash burning a hole in his pocket from the $2.46 billion sale of his first telecom venture, Esat Telecom Group PLC. By chance, he came upon a small notice from the government of Jamaica announcing that it was opening its local phone market--long monopolized by British telecom giant Cable & Wireless--to competition. At the time, Jamaicans had to wait an average 2.5 years for a landline, and only 4% of the population used cell phones because rates were exorbitant and coverage shoddy. O'Brien promptly plunked down nearly $50 million for a license, and the cell phone start-up Digicel was born.

Five years on, Digicel has taken Jamaica by storm. Introducing inexpensive rates and phones and improved service, the company signed on more than 100,000 subscribers within 100 days of setting up shop. Today, more than 82% of Jamaica's 2.7 million residents use cell phones, and 70% of them are Digicel customers.

What's more, O'Brien has done some island hopping. Digicel boasts 3 million subscribers in 22 countries throughout the Caribbean, Latin America and the South Pacific, as well as more than $600 million in revenues for the last fiscal year. In early 2007, he plans to establish Digicel in at least three new countries, including the one that might be overly ambitious, even for O'Brien: the U.S. and its $100 billion cell-phone market. O'Brien says he sees an underserved population, noting stats from the International Telecommunications Union that show only about 68 phones for every 100 Americans. "We're going to have to completely change how Americans view cell phones," says O'Brien. Exactly how he'll pull that off, he says, is "the kind of thing that if I told you, I'd have to kill you."

Still, it's doubtful he'll stray much from the recipe that has brought him so much success in the Caribbean. Take Haiti, for example. Digicel's due diligence consisted of ceo Colm Delves driving around the capital of Port-au-Prince for three hours. He concluded that the nation had a rich cash economy, and O'Brien quickly committed $130 million. That money went first to a massive marketing campaign. Next, Digicel began to sells its phones, all brand-name models, for less than half the price of its closest competitor. It even gave some away.

But an American approach modeled on Haiti could be Digicel's downfall, says Yankee Group analyst Wally Swain. The U.S. is a viciously competitive market filled with deep-pocketed, giant competitors. "All they've faced before are sleepy incumbents," Swain says. "The U.S. is a different animal. They should stick with what they do well."

That, of course, is what O'Brien says he's doing. Digicel will target American customers who are young, poor or immigrants-- groups that traditional operators eschew--with the type of prepaid, GSM service widespread outside the States. Even in that niche market, start-ups Virgin Mobile, TracFone and others will give Digicel a run for its money--a lot of money at that. Currently, O'Brien owns more than 80% of Digicel, its 2,000 employees hold an 8% stake, and the private-equity firm Blackstone Group has about 3%. But O'Brien hasn't ruled out an ipo to fund his American adventure, one that's expected to be worth an additional $2.5 billion. "I've launched a Tet offensive on every possible objection," O'Brien says, "because there's nobody who doesn't deserve a new phone."

Local phone rates may be lowered published: Thursday | January 25, 2007

Ross Sheil, Staff Reporter

The cost of phone calls within Jamaica could soon be lowered if the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) upholds a decision that would allow it to fix the cost of terminating calls to mobile phones.

OUR Director General, J. Paul Morgan, said an announcement would come within the next four weeks, following an appeal by telecommunications firm Digicel against the ruling which declared all cellular companies as 'dominant', thus allowing the OUR to intervene and fix the cost of calls.

However, Cable & Wireless wants the OUR to intervene, and MiPhone's Chief Operating Officer, Colin Webster, while supporting lowering all termination costs, said his company was cautious about further market intervention by the regulator.

Drive down the cost

"Once the declaration is made and effective then we will have the legal right to fix those termination charges ... it will drive down the cost of fixed line to mobile calling rates and it could also impact on the mobile to mobile calling rate," Mr. Morgan told The Gleaner yesterday.

Speaking yesterday at a press conference at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston, C&W top brass visiting Jamaica from the company's London headquarters - its second largest of 33 markets - said they had raised the issue with Government.

Perhaps confident that the OUR would uphold its decision, C&W said regulators in the Caribbean had a "duty" to end what they claim is the practice of "some mobile network operators ... holding costs artificially high."

Chris Hethrington, C&W chief executive for the Caribbean and the Americas, charged that 85 per cent of the charge levied on landline to mobile calls currently goes to the mobile operator - a figure confirmed by the OUR director general.

However, Digicel Chief Executive Officer, David Hall, responded that C&W were behaving like "cowboys" and were fighting to maintain their market share which has eroded since the liberalisation of the telecommunications industry in 2001.

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Is Cash Plus turning Jamaican investors barmy?

Al Edwards Friday, February 23, 2007

The investment entity Cash Plus has driven Jamaican investors into a paroxysm of frenzy with people queuing up with their hard-earned Jamaican dollars in the hope of making a 10 per cent return per month.

Yes, the testimonials are very positive, indeed reassuring, but questions need answering. Who is the lead principal of Cash Plus? What are his antecedents? What does Cash Plus invest in? Just how safe is investors' money? What is likely to happen if you should demand your money tomorrow?

It is of paramount importance that one knows who one is investing with and whether that organisation is credible and well established. Are the lead principals upstanding citizens or are they charlatans, carpetbaggers and get-quick-rich artists?

Speaking with investors in Cash Plus, it was patently clear that there were many who were unconcerned about who they were investing with, the character of the persons involved and just how they are able to make those cheques every month.

As far as Caribbean Business Report understands, the lead principal is one Carlos Hill, a former mortgage broker from an unknown company. Little is known about his educational achievements and professional career.

Cash Plus was founded in 2002 and comprises a diverse range of interests including real estate, telecommunications, entertainment, gaming and phone cards. The idea is that investors or rather punters stump up a minimum of J$100,000 and make a 10 per cent return a month. The model has certainly caught the attention of the investing public who are now pulling their savings from the traditional finance houses in the hope of making "a bag-o-money from the new money-makers" .Investors appear blithely unconcerned about what they are putting their money into, which speaks to the unsophisticated nature of Jamaican investors.

The fact is that with the Jamaican dollar devaluing daily, and a general election due some time this year, investors are likely to become skittish and may well form a run on Cash Plus. Can Hill honour all his commitments, considering he is taking short-term deposits and investing in assets that generally are tailored to a long-term return? This may well be weighing on his mind, as now Cash Plus insists that your money has to be with the "institution" for a minimum of three months.

Cash Plus or Hill has invested in a housing development scheme in Sunset, Cherry Gardens. The units are going for about US$1 million which, bearing in mind the perilous nature of the terrain they sit on, might not get many takers at that price.

Phone cards have exploded in Jamaica and taken on currency-like status. Cash Plus has taken a heavy position here, but is it sustainable and how quickly can it turn vast profits to pay out to its clients? Caribbean Business Report understands that phone card sub-distributors earn between half a per cent and one per cent. The retailer earns between 7 and 8.5 per cent but is not the end user. Now considering that Cash Plus was not recognised as one of Digicel's top five producers, just how many cards does it sell a month? If it sold 100 million cards a month, that would spell J$1 million a month in revenue, hardly enough to sate the appetite of its growing client base.