Mossel (Jamaica) Limited

completed

This project involves the construction of a nation-wide digital GSM cellular network in Jamaica to offer a wide range of standard and value-added mobile services in the country. The company was awarded a 15-year license in February 2000 for this purpose, with an open tender bid price of US$47.5 million. The project would help meet the need for better telecommunications services in Jamaica through the promotion of competition. Currently, the market is serviced by one operator, Cable and Wireless Jamaica (CWJ). Since CWJ entered the market in 1986 with the privatization of the state-controlled telephone company, it has enjoyed exclusive operating rights in both fixed and mobile services. The introduction of competition is expected to lower tariffs, improve the quality of service and customer responsiveness, and expand access to telecommunication services to a broader segment of the Jamaican population. IFC''s direct investment and the resultant competition would also help to raise the country''s relatively moderate penetration rates for mobile and fixed services of 6.5% and 20%, respectively. Moreover, the introduction of competition for the first time is likely to increase telecommunications usage nation-wide, improving the efficiency of the business sector, and increasing the connections between Jamaica and the global community.Through its syndication, IFC''s investment would also provide Jamaica with access to international capital markets, giving comfort to potential investors that may otherwise have been wary to enter the market. It would also provide a demonstration effect, showing other governments in the region that the liberalization of their telecommunications sector will benefit their population and could be followed by international capital inflows. Furthermore, this investment would support Jamaica in its recent plans to attract and cultivate the high tech industry, which would help the country''s economy further with the movement of new businesses and jobs to Jamaica.