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“We are very excited by this acquisition. At Digicel, we understand the vital role that a robust communications infrastructure plays in driving economic growth in a country and this acquisition shows our commitment to achieving that end”

General Manager, Digicel Turks and Caicos E Jay Saunders speaking on the acquisition of WIV Cable TV and TCT on April 1st 2014

Digicel it seems is on another Caribbean buying Spree and on no less an auspicious date as April 1st 2014!! Not bad for Digicel on an island so small, you have to go on a boat to have a private conversation!

Jokes aside, this time Digicel in a Tag-team with Telemedia has purchased the WIV Cable TV along with her sister company TCT, operators of the Broadband Cable service TCExpress. Effectively, Digicel has purchased a Triple Play Provider that has been operating in the Turks and Caicos Islands for the past 30 years! Via this acquisition, Digicel is now spreading its wings into:

  • Cable TV
  • Fiber Optic BackHaul for their 4G LTE Network
  • Cable Internet Service Provider

This purchase for an undisclosed sum, took placed in on April Fool’s Day, finally letting in the Turks and Caicos people in on the act. By doing this, Digicel has acquired one of their Major competitors in Broadband Internet on an island where they’d just launched 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) Wireless Broadband nearly 1 year ago after narrowly beating LIME to get two (2) 12 MHz Bands of 700 MHz Spectrum.

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Digicel_logo-red

But what caught my little All Seeing Eye was this strange mention of a Fiber Optic Network and the provision of a Cable Internet Service by General Manager of Digicel Turks and Caicos E Jay Saunders, quote: “Through this purchase, we now have the most extensive fiber-optic network in the country, which we will utilise to ensure that our customers continue to benefit from our commitment to delivering best value, best service, and the best network. We would like to thank the management and staff of WIV and TCT for the tremendous job that they have done over the years and we would like to officially welcome them into the Digicel family”.

Simply put, it suggests that Digicel will be looking to utilize the Fiber Optic Backhaul of Broadband Cable service TCExpress to improve their 4G LTE Service to offer Streaming Video content from WIV Cable TV.

Thus, Digicel may be using the Turks and Caicos islands as a test run for the Idea of a Streaming Television Service, much in the same way they used the Pacific Islands as a test run for Digicel TV, which is a DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcast – Handheld) DTT (Digital Terrestrial Television) Service.

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Possibly Digicel may be expanding the idea of Streaming Digital Television from the Pacific Islands to the rest of the Caribbean? Already since the year has started, Digicel has previous purchased a Cable Service Provider in the small island of Dominica. This second purchase in Turks and Caicos indicates that Digicel seems to have a sweet tooth, especially for established Cable Providers with a dedicated Fiber Optic Network that they can utilize to support their 4G efforts

Stay tuned for more on this interesting development, as Streaming Television may be a VAS (Value Added Service) that Digicel may bundle when they launch their 4G LTE Network in Jamaica in the Next 18 months from now as explained in my article Jamaica goes 4G LTE as Minister Paulwell prepares Third Data Telecom Provider entrant. This will be a completely different concept from their attempt at Mobile TV that failed miserably back in 2007!

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