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PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten's fourth mobile service concession has been granted officially to Elwaldo Arrindell, who was granted a licence in August 28, 2012, by former Minister of Telecommunication Romeo Pantophlet after initially having requested one in 1997.
The concession will allow him to operate, which can translate to a somewhat worrying development for established local providers TelCell and United Telecommunications Services (UTS).
Although Arrindell was not available for comment yesterday, he shared with The Daily Herald last year that, if successful, he hoped to launch a new cellular phone company by the end of 2013. It is unclear whether Arrindell would attempt to start his own company or would partner with a big foreign brand such as Orange, Digicell or Lime.
There were three concessions for mobile service provision on the market up to now: TelCell, UTS and Corporate Innovations. No moratorium legally exists on mobile service providers, although the market is described as tight already.
UTS Eastern Caribbean Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Glen Carty was somewhat surprised at the development and expressed concern that St. Maarten is too small for three or four providers to coexist and be feasible.
He pointed out that the global communication trend of using data rather than calling has decreased revenues, while the cost of doing business continues to increase. He added that the market is not growing and the companies would essentially be "sharing the same pie."
In the industry, he said, the feasibility matters especially because of costly infrastructure upgrades that need to be put into place to remain competitive. UTS is upgrading to fibre networks and fourth generation broadband at the moment.
TelCell management could not be reached for comment.
The concession was granted by Bureau Telecommunication and Post St. Maarten BTP-SXM after an in-depth review.
Previous reports and a telecommunication market analysis commissioned by government have indicated that three mobile providers are sufficient for St. Maarten, with one of the three inevitably facing more challenges than its competitors.
One such analysis was conducted by JRJ Inc. and Prescod & Associates and approved by government in 2010. At the time, East Caribbean Cellular was being squeezed out of the market by the more aggressive UTS and TelCell, which were steps ahead in introducing new technologies.
Arrindell stated previously that he believed having more competition on the market would benefit consumers because of the expected price decrease for mobile services and increased quality of service due to competition. He said that if he was successful in obtaining his concession, he intended to hire local professionals to give the local telecom labour force more options for employment. He has more than 30 years' experience in the television business.
