According to published information late last Friday it was revealed that the Jamaican Government has outlined specific terms and conditions under which approval was granted for the merger of telecommunications firms, Digicel and Claro.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Digicel, Colm Delves.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding – who has portfolio responsibility for telecommunications  has apparently written to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Digicel, Colm Delves informing him that the approval has been granted to Digicel to acquire control of Claro’s operations, and its telecommunications and spectrum licences.

What is however not clear is if Digicel will be required to continue with Claro as a separate operation as opposed to a merged business going forward. The prime minister is reported to have said that under the arrangement, Digicel will be required to honor all terms and conditions of the licence held by Claro. This includes Claro’s obligation to provide 90 per cent population coverage throughout Jamaica within five years of the original grant of the licence.

In an August 3 letter, Golding had informed Digicel that the Claro licence would not be automatically transferred to Digicel.

He also said consideration would be given to an interim allocation of Claro’s spectrum for a period not exceeding nine months pending the submission of a build-out plan to the Spectrum Management Authority.

Since the announcement of the Digicel-Claro merger, stakeholders including telecoms firm LIME, have expressed fear that the move could lead to the establishment of a monopoly.

Under the deal with America Movil, Digicel will acquire its Claro business in Jamaica, and sell America Movil its businesses in El Salvador and Honduras.

source

http://go-jamaica.com/news/read_article.php?id=31382