KEY POINTS:
Irish-owned mobile operator Digicel is expected to wrap up its third deal in the Pacific in just over a year with the acquisition of Tongan internet company TonFon.
Digicel Pacific, the local arm of Caribbean-based Digicel Group owned by Irish tycoon Denis O'Brien, bought Telecom New Zealand's stake in Telecom Samoa last year and launched a network in Papua New Guinea in July.
O'Brien established Irish mobile operator Esat Telecom Group before selling it for US$2.9 billion ($3.7 billion) to BT in 2001. He is the second largest shareholder of Independent News & Media which has a controlling stake in Herald publisher APN.
Launching six years ago in Jamaica, Digicel has expanded rapidly into Central and Latin America.
Digicel Pacific chief executive Vanessa Slowey said it looked at global opportunities and found the Pacific was one of the last markets in the world "under the stranglehold of monopolies".
"If you look at the Caribbean six years ago it is a mirror-image of the Pacific today where you have poor-quality networks, high prices and poor services," said Slowey.
"It's not affordable for the everyday person to have access to mobile communications.
"Samoa is a great example of where competition is thriving. There are two operators and we've seen the mobile costs reduced by over 50 per cent. We've seen products and services that they've never had access to before," she said. "We're thriving there."
Slowey said the Papua New Guinea Government credited the arrival of the mobile market challenger for contributing to a nearly 1 per cent increase in GDP.
"Over the last six months we've invested US$150 million in Papua New Guinea, generating 300 direct jobs and then 4000 indirect jobs," said Slowey.
She said the company planned to invest a further US$340 million over the next three years, making Digicel the country's biggest non-mining investor said Slowey.
But the entrance into the Papua New Guinea market has not been without hurdles. A court injunction was taken out by the company after the Papua New Guinea Radio Communications and Telecommunication Technical Authority sought to revoke its mobile licensing, citing changes in Government IT policy and the detrimental effect the new entrant would have on incumbent Government-owned operator Telikom.
Digicel is currently lining up entry into the mobile market in Fiji, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.
Asked if it would look to expand into New Zealand, Slowey confirmed if the right opportunity existed Digicel would be interested.
"We have an appetite for all investments in the region but specifically we're looking at the Island nations at the moment."
