CWC/Columbus: Deal good for prices, jobs, investment

Phil Bentley, CEO, Cable & Wireless Communications, left, and Brendon Paddick, CEO and chairman of Columbus Communication

Cable & Wireless Communications Columbus International have said that their proposed merger  will increase competition with Digicel, enhance customer choice and boost long-term investment and employment across the Caribbean.

In a statement on Friday in response to one issued by their fierce rival Digicel on Thursday, the two companies said: “We welcome Ectel’s commitment to understand fully the impact of this transaction. Naturally, in any large deal relating to operations in 42 Latin American and Caribbean countries, there will be concerns in the six markets where overlapping operations exist. 

“We are committed to ensuring that customer choice and competition are promoted by our transaction. Columbus and CWC senior management have been meeting with governments and regulators in those six countries affected by the merger—St Vincent & the Grenadines, Jamaica, T&T and Barbados this week—and we plan to visit St Lucia and Grenada next week, as well as to meet with the Ectel executive to address concerns raised.” MORE