Digitel

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Digitel GSM
Type Public
Founded 1995
Headquarters Flag of Venezuela Caracas, Distrito Capital, Venezuela
Key people Oswaldo Cisneros (President)
Industry Telecommunications
Products Wireless telecommunication
Parent Grupo Televenco
Website Digitel GSM
Centro Banaven in Caracas (also known as "Cubo Negro") serves as main headquarters for Digitel GSM
Centro Banaven in Caracas (also known as "Cubo Negro") serves as main headquarters for Digitel GSM

Digitel GSM is an important mobile phone company in Venezuela, and the country's first to deploy a GSM network and to establish a per second charging scheme. Early in 2007, Digitel surpassed 3 million subscribers[1] and is currently placed third, behind CANTV's Movilnet and Telefonica's Movistar.

Digitel's growth has remained steady, primarily due to its pioneering of high technology services and its influential advertisement campaigns. Digitel currently provides wireless data transmission capabilities through its GSM/GPRS and high speed EDGE network. Recently Digitel has been applying for the 2.1 GHz spectrum, in order to deploy an UMTS network[citation needed].

In 2000, after receiving government approval, Digitel sold 56,56% of its stocks to Telecom Italia Mobile, changing it's name to Digitel TIM[2].

Digitel's network originally only covered Venezuela's central region, reaching around 44% of the entire population, however, on January 2006, a request to the government to approve merger with Venezuela's two other GSM networks (Digicel and Infonet)[3] to achieve full national coverage, and in May 2006 the company was acquired entirely by the Televenco group together with the two other operators, after which the company's name changed to its current: Digitel GSM.

The company began a network expansion program in July 2006, and by the end of the year more than 1,070 radio bases had been installed, 7 switches in Caracas, Valencia, Puerto La Cruz and Maracaibo, stretching it's GPRS/EDGE network in the West of the country and offering communication, data, information and entertainment to all it's customers.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://buscador.eluniversal.com/2007/01/29/uni_art_29A829105.shtml Crecen Cuentas de Digitel (Spanish)
  2. ^ http://buscador.eluniversal.com/2000/10/31/eco_art_31204CC.shtml Telecom Adquiere Control de Digitel (spanish)
  3. ^ http://www.rnv.gov.ve/noticias/index.php?act=ST&f=14&t=29100 Digitel, Digicel e Infonet solicitan convertirse en operador nacional