A Phone In Every Hand

First it's Riverdeep, and now, it's Digicel. They're coming, like an Irish invasion, coming to a store near you. Denis O'Brien wants to sell his phones to Americans, who don't seem to have enough phones according to his calculations.

He's made himself available to the media, with interviews already given to USA Today and Time magazine. He even spoke to the Sunday Business Post, but that was to say that he was not thinking of floating an IPO, unlike what he said to Time. Well, a man has to keep the competition on its toes, you know.

There's word that Digicel is already recruiting its American employees, and rumors are running that Mr. O'Brien is planning to fund his drive through an IPO after all, to the tune of $2.5 billion American dollars. There's to be a bit put in by the Blackstone Group, which will have some cash to spare once the deal to sell Houghton Mifflin to Riverdeep goes through. He's going to take an underserved market by storm, if all goes well.

Seems like everyone has a mobile to their ear, but if O'Brien is correct, that's a false impression. His survey shows that only sixty eight of every hundred people has a phone, and the ones without are more likely the immigrants, the poor, and the young. The strategy worked for him in the Caribbean, and he plans to bring it here, to go after the lower echelon that other companies aren't interested in. Exactly how he plans to achieve his goal is being kept under wraps, to keep the competition in the dark. The man does have a track record, however, with Digicell claiming three million subscribers.

What I'm unclear on is how Digicell is going to do better than all the other myriad cell phone services, of which there are many. I hope he does well and makes his mammy proud, but I have to question the theory that what worked in the Caribbean will work here. With so many cell phone providers bombarding us daily with ads and deals, how will he stand out? Ah, sure and it'll be the Irish brogue that'll entice us all to listen to the words of his adverts. How can you resist the siren's song of Galway and Clare? And can you set my ring tone to A Nation Once Again?