The capital, it said, financed a state-of-the-art network that "offers coverage to many Surina-mese communities for the first time ever", in addition to 28 stores and 5,000 recharge outlets.

Digicel Suriname, which is run by Philip van Dalsen also employs 150 staff, but says another 1,000 jobs were created through its local dealers and partnerships.

Mobile penetration in that country of 500,000 is about 55 per cent. Suriname only recently opened its telecom's market to competition, giving Digicel a deeper foothold of South Ameri-can markets, having previously entered Guyana and French Guiana.

The Suriname operation represents Digicel Group's 23rd regional market.

The group's customer base now tops 5.7 million across all markets.

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