Telecommunications giant Digicel spread its influence in the Pacific even further after launching in Tonga, flying in reggae star Shaggy all the way from Jamaica just for the occasion. JOHN SULLIVAN was at the launch.
My elderly mother asked me “Who is Shaggy and what is Digicel?”
Well Shaggy is a famous reggae singer and Digicel is the fastest growing mobile phone operator in the Caribbean and a new entrant into Central America, according to their website.
Launched in 2001 in the Caribbean they obviously see their success there as a marker that they can be successful in developing third world countries. So far in the Pacific, they’ve launched in Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu and Fiji are not far behind. They find themselves in a market of over eight million people with fast growing telecommunications requirements.
You may be asking ‘why didn’t Telecom New Zealand or Telstra Australia look at this market’? Perhaps it has something to do with their attitudes towards the Pacific countries?
Competition in the communications sector will be good for consumers and Tonga Communications Corp. (TCC) will need to upgrade to keep pace and I understand that this is already in the pipeline.
Cell phones and internet is Digicel’s “thing” but in buying the King of Tonga’s telecommunications company Tonfon, Digicel have also inherited a subscription based TV division. Tonfon TV has 7 channels with BBC, kids movies, 2 general audience movie channels, ABC Australia, a sports channel and Fox News (appropriately termed “Faux News” by a relative of mine).
At $T57.50 ($NZ37.00) per month, this is a value for money TV option for most households in the Kingdom, especially when you consider that Sky Pacific (the Fiji based / TV Tonga managed subscription alternative) offers it’s services for around a $1,500 upfront charge for installation and one year of fees.
Digicel is owned by an Irishman, Denis O’Brien. Their website lists him as a director, and from conversations I glean that he is the driving force. With a, “this is not a democracy”, style of management.
Nothing wrong with that. However they have come in to Tonga with an aggressive “in your face” management style.
Anyone who knows the Pacific know that Pacific people can find aggressive business attitudes offensive and it can make doing business more difficult than it needs to be.
I mentioned this to a friend of mine from NZ. He said “that’s the way Digicel do business in all countries, they’ve got a book to go buy and you basically follow that and don’t let anything get in your way”.
In fact my friend is supposed to have tried to tell the top man how he should do business in the Pacific and was told something to the effect of ‘I’m the multi billionaire here - we’ll do it my way’. And they do.
Which leads me to their launch. These guys do it big. The morning of launch day a multitude of huge billboards was unveiled, not to mention Digicel cars, Digicel utes, Digicel buses, and what appeared to be half the population wearing bright red Digicel t-shirts.
But the coup de grace was the concert they had planned for the evening. No less than a FREE Shaggy concert. Yes, Digicel had flown in Shaggy, the world famous reggae star, from Jamaica and invited the whole country to attend - for free!Lively Auckland based Polynesian band Spacifix was also flown in from New Zealand as the opening act.
A stage was set up on the waterfront, and thousands were in attendance. All in all, four hours of an experience many Tongans will remember for a long time.
That night my Kiwi mate asked me “do you think Tonga will forgive Digicel (for being so brash) after today”?
“I think so……...for now,” I replied
