DIGICEL WILL probably have to wait until the new year to find out if it can add the assets of Cingular Barbados to its list of regional acquisitions of that company.
Barbados remains the only island out of a total of 10 regional countries where the telecommunications service provider has not yet received regulatory approval to acquire Cingular's assets, and CEO of the Fair Trading Commission (FTC), Peggy Griffith, said the process was on schedule, but declined to say whether or not it could be finished before year end.
WAITING PROCESS
While not giving up on the possibility of a before year-end decision from the FTC, Digicel CEO, Kevin White said the company was working very closely with the FTC, and was hoping for an approval of the application sometime early in January 2006.
White said while Digicel's operations were not really affected by the waiting period for a decision from the FTC, it was the staff and management at Cingular Barbados that would really appreciate a quick end to the process.
"The sooner it happens, the better for the staff at Cingular. There is more uncertainty for Cingular's staff and customers, and it will be better to them to have the deal closed as soon as possible," White said.
THE WAY FOR INTEGRATION
He added that though Digicel was optimistic about the outcome of the FTC investigation into the Barbados merger application, the company was aware that the FTC had its job to do, and was prepared to accept its findings either way.
"Obviously, we hope that has been done in all the other islands, Barbados will approve also," White said. He explained that, should the FTC approve the merger, this would pave the way for the integration of the two companies in Barbados, whereas if the decision was in the negative, the likely response would be simply for the companies to continue operating as they do now.
White said the ability to integrate the two companies in Barbados, as elsewhere in the region, would not only increase the company's market share in every island, but would allow for a more efficient operation that would redound to the benefit of its customers.
