Digicel has cell sites in Haiti working again

05.FEB.10

Major progress has been made in restoring the Digicel network in Haiti. With more than twice the number of cell sites of its nearest competitor, over 92 per cent of them are now fully operational and the company has significantly increased its international circuits to support the major increase in international traffic into and out of the country.{{more}}

Over the past two weeks, Digicel technicians have been working to restore the network following the earthquake on January 12. The update is as follows: New equipment to replace damaged cell sites being deployed; over 60 stores have reopened for business; 13 planes carrying 80,000 lbs of equipment, 90,000 lbs of supplies and 21,000 lbs of medical supplies and antibiotics have been sent to Haiti from Jamaica; Digicel office in Turgeau, Port-au-Prince, is operational and the majority of employees are back at work; T-Mobile has generously donated four Liberty Jeeps, 35 generators and 2,000 Motorola W160 phones and chargers to assist with the relief effort; Rise Again – Digicel’s collaboration with international reggae artist, Shaggy – is receiving air play right across the world. All proceeds raised from the sale of the song go directly to the Digicel Haiti Relief Fund.

Digicel Group CEO, Colm Delves, comments: “We have made excellent progress over the last two weeks in restoring the Digicel network in Haiti. With over 92 per cent of our cell sites fully operational, the remaining 8 per cent – which are destroyed rooftop sites – are being replaced with mobile cell sites, some of which have already been deployed with the remainder scheduled to be commissioned over the next few weeks.

“We have also increased our international circuits to support the significant increase in international traffic both into and out of Haiti, as our more than two million customers keep in contact with friends and family, and as a result of the high volume of aid workers who have traveled to Haiti to assist in the relief efforts. We are committed to ensuring that everyone in Haiti benefits from a network that offers them the best service and the best coverage right across the country.”

Digicel employees across the region have been taking part in a variety of initiatives to raise money for the Digicel Haiti Relief Fund. In Dominica, a Digicel-organized radiothon received pledges for over US$40,000 in just five hours; in Cayman, Digicel is sponsoring a concert on January 30th and all proceeds from the sale of food and drink at the event will be donated to the relief efforts; and in Jamaica, thousands of items of clothes and non-perishable food have been donated by friends, families and customers of Digicel and sent to NGOs in Haiti.

As the single largest investor in Haiti with a total investment of over U$300 million since its launch in 2006, Digicel has over two million customers in Haiti. The Digicel Haiti Relief Fund has donated US$5 million to NGOs in Haiti to support the relief efforts and over US$500,000 has been raised by Digicel customers across the Caribbean and Central America through a text and voice donation line. Digicel also gave each of its two million customers US$5 in free credit – totaling US$10 million.

In addition, over 60 video messages of support have been recorded by well known people such as the Fastest Man in the World, Usain Bolt; President Martinelli of Panama; West Indies legend, Sir Garfield Sobers; and many more. All videos are available to view on www.facebook.com/helphaiti.