AT&T comes to Ja US giant gets fourth cellular licence

[ramesh]

AT&T comes to Ja US giant gets fourth cellular licence
published: Thursday | February 26, 2004
By Howard Walker, Staff Reporter

AMERICAN TELECOM giant AT&T will be Jamaica's newest cellular provider after finally agreeing to a fee of $300 million.

AT&T was granted the cellular licence after negotiating with the Government for two years, and will become the island's fourth cellular provider, joining Cable & Wireless, Digicel and Oceanic Digital, formerly Centennial.

"I got the money that I wanted," Phillip Paulwell, Minister of Commerce, Science and Technology told The Gleaner in an interview.

"We have been arguing for two years. They wanted to give us $50 million, but I held out for two years," the Minister added.

"Next week their people will be coming to sign, it's a done deal," he said confidently.

According to Paulwell, AT&T was bought out by Cingular, the largest cellular company in the world and "with their combined strength, it's a major coup for Jamaica."

Combined, Cingular and AT&T Wireless will have 46 million subscribers, enough to leapfrog Verizon Wireless' market-leading customer base of 37.5 million. This is according to an Associated Press report last Wednesday.

AT&T is in large measure the history of the telephone in the United States. Its roots stretch back to 1875, with founder Alexander Graham Bell's invention of the telephone. During the 19th century, AT&T became the parent company of the Bell System, the American telephone monopoly.

The Bell System provided what was by all accounts the best telephone service in the world.

The system broke up into eight companies in 1984 by an agreement between AT&T and the U.S. Department of Justice. From 1984 until 1996, AT&T was an integrated telecommunications services and equipment company, succeeding in a newly competitive environment.

Today, AT&T is rapidly evolving from a company that handles mostly long-distance voice calls to a company that provides data and voice communications over any distance through its two operating units, AT&T Business and AT&T Consumer.

FULL LIBERALISATION

For years Cable & Wireless (C&WJ) monopolised the Jamaican market and in 1999, the Government, led by Paulwell, negotiated an end to monopoly status of the then communications giant. The move, Paulwell said, was to ensure the full liberalisation of the local telecommunications sector.

In April 2001, when Digicel launched their GSM mobile service in Jamaica, the Irish company anticipated reaching the 100,000-customer plateau by the end of its first year in operation. Instead, they hit the 100,000 mark a mere 100 days after launch.

The two major players, Digicel and C&WJ, have claimed their markets. Digicel claims to be the market leader with more than 850,000 subscribers, while C&WJ claims over 600,000 subscribers. Centennial is yet to make a significant mark.

[MiTcHiE]

Is Mr Phillip Paulwell trying to boast or summen?? Its almost like he wants to highlight the fact that he is finally doing some work. But did he handle this situation well??

I always go by the saying that Self Praise is No Praise at all.

[Nastrodamus]

Maybe I dreamt this up..... but isn't AT&T on the verge of being sold out?

Unless they have some really brilliant marketing schemes planned I don't this is a really good idea at this time.

[MiTcHiE]

According to Paulwell, AT&T was bought out by Cingular, the largest cellular company in the world and "with their combined strength, it's a major coup for Jamaica."

According to the article it has been sold Nas.

[Chris]

So what changes do you guys think that AT&T's entrance will make in the industry? Do you anticipate more competitive rates, packages, etc?

[ramesh]

One can only hope... Perhaps an increase in competition, new services, cheaper mobile phones, clearer reception, new technology...?

[Chris]

[quote author=Ramesh link=board=1;threadid=3150;start=0#msg29109 date=1077844410]... new technology...?[/quote]

I may be wrong on this, but I think that AT&T/Cingular has gone GSM in the US, so there may not be anything that new

[Skillachi]

Probably they are using EGSM, i have only read about this, i dont know if there are any huge changes or advantages to it though.
All this mean now is that it goin be even more expensive to call other cell phones cause digicel goin want to fight out them people ya and c&w goin want to fight dem out too. Bwoyyy everybody a cash in pan jamaica, but i wonder if jamaica willing to switch.
I am considering buying a centennial since they are the cheapest and they have good service now and they finally have nokia fones. Our telecommunications industry is very competitve for a little place like ours.

[MiTcHiE]

Lthough this is a good thing since competition is good but arent we jumping the gun here. I mean they might take up to a year to even start their services in Ja. Technology will no doubt change alot in that space of time. I honestly think that At&t will give the other 2 mobile companies a fight. They will no doubt have superior technology, and this is just because they are the biggest cellular company in the world (Cingular).

They should also be able to provide the Ja public with cheaper than the rest rates. When superior service and cheaper rates are combined, what is to stop them from taking over completely?
C&W and Digicel will have no choice but to reduce their rates to better compete. I see only positives for this new arrival to the Jamaican Cellular Market. Now what i want is a Landline Competitor for C&W.

[CKnight]

Actually, I think the largest cell service provider is Vodafone, though I'm prepared to be corrected.