Digicel, whose principals are Irish, has made its prepaid customers automatically eligible and enrolled in the service with no additional cost or activity needed on their part.  Most of the company's 1.1 million customers are prepaid (calls are paid for in advance), as opposed to postpaid where the customer is billed monthly for the calls.

The company, in its press statement announcing the roaming service, noted that its prepaid customers roaming in the UK could accept calls from their home market without the worry of extra cost incurred by the calling party.  The caller pays the same as a local call, with the recipient paying the international rate.  Receiving text messages when roaming is free of charge for the Digicel prepaid customer David Hall, Digicel Jamaica's chief executive officer said that his company was the first in the Caribbean to provide this service to its customers.

"Roaming for prepaid customers is still a relatively new concept," he said.  "We are delighted to be taking the lead in the Caribbean by being the first mobile provider in our markets to offer roaming to the UK to our prepaid customers."

Hall added that the UK was "a popular destination for many of our Caribbean customers so this new offering is a testament to our ongoing commitment to bring them added value".

With the new service, Digicel prepaid customers can use their phones while travelling in the United Kingdom as well as within the Digicel markets of Aruba, Barbados, Cayman, Grenada, St Lucia, St Vincent & the Grenadines.

Earlier this year Digicel was the first mobile provider in the Caribbean to launch roaming for prepaid customers.

The company already has agreements with more than 200 roaming partners in more than 100 countries for its postpaid customers, twice as many as its nearest competitor.  Digicel says it plans to expand its prepaid roaming services to include additional countries in the near future.

When roaming, customers can make and receive calls, send and receive text messages and check their balance as they would at home.  Digicel says that before travelling, prepaid customers should 'top-up' their account or carry an extra digiFLEX card to ensure they have enough credit.  The 'top-up' capability is also available through Digicel webFLEX, a secure Internet-based offering on the Digicel Web site, which allows remote top-up via a credit card.

Since its launch in 2001, Digicel has become one of the fastest growing mobile telecom operators in the Caribbean.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/Business/html/20041214T200000-0500_71424_OBS_DIGICEL_BEGINS_PREPAID__ROAMING__TO_UK.asp