Digicel opens New York office ahead of recruitment for US business

Denis O'Brien's Digicel group has set up a US arm of its operations with its headquarters in New York.

Digicel USA LLC has offices on Madison Avenue and has begun recruiting a wide range of staff and distributors as it prepares to enter the US market.

The company has hired a management team that includes a number of persons who helped set up the Virgin group's mobile phone operation in the US six years ago.

Digicel USA's website, (www.digicelusa.com), says it is "focused on bringing the group's success in prepaid, consumer-friendly wireless services to the American market".

"The management of Digicel USA founded Virgin Mobile USA in 2000, a company which now has over three million subscribers and $1 billion in revenues. Digicel USA was founded in 2005 and will begin expanding operations in the coming months."

Two weeks ago Mr O'Brien told a US newspaper that he intended to enter the prepaid market in the US in early 2007, saying he believed it was currently underserved.

A spokesman would not say if the entrepreneur planned to have Digicel enter the US market, or start up a new company.

The website lists a number of positions the company is seeking to fill, including the position of vice-president of product management.

Candidates for this position are expected to have marketing experience in at least one of a number of described areas, including "ethnic marketing to Hispanic, Caribbean, Asian and other subgroup communities in the United States".

It also invites people interested in becoming dealers or distributors for Digicel USA to get in contact.

Sources close to Mr O'Brien have said he intends floating Digicel on the New York Stock Exchange later this year.

The 48-year-old entrepreneur owns more than 87 per cent of the company, which has more than 2.5 million subscribers in the Caribbean region.

The Caribbean operation started five years ago in Jamaica and has spread out from there.

A system has been set up whereby persons in the US can purchase prepaid credit for Digicel customers in the Caribbean.

It is also possible for people in the US to buy handsets for friends or relatives in Haiti, where Digicel is growing its operations.

More recently Digicel has begun to spread its operations in the Pacific rim and in Latin and Central America. A sister operation has been established to grow the Pacific rim operations.

Denis O'Brien profile: Weekend Review