May 7, 2007, Apia, Samoa:  Digicel Samoa announced today that it is providing $20,000 to the Loto Taumafai school for much needed renovations. This donation follows Digicel staff gifting from their own pockets to the Special Needs Christmas Parade in 2006; while the Company sponsored all the Christmas photos taken of Samoa’s Special Needs students.

“We were very happy to be part of their Christmas event last year with Reef Shipping and MacDonald’s”, says Digicel Commercial Manager, Pepe Christian Fruean. “So it’s even more exciting to follow through with more of our promised assistance such as this renovation to Loto Taumafai School. This will provide better facilities which we hope will be a more conducive environment for learning and teaching.”

Acting CEO for Loto Taumafai, Leta’a Devoe stated, “Digicel’s involvement initially with the Christmas party and now with the renovations is greatly appreciated.

“We’re very thankful that Digicel embraced this extra request from us as the school’s improved facilities will now bring it to line with other special needs schools. We will now have new and improved bathrooms, library and partitions. The teaching staff too will have a brighter and fresh environment that will complement and enhance their work”, added Leta’a.

“On another matter, it is good to see a big corporate company like Digicel focusing on communities and social issues because others seem to only focus on sports and high profiled sponsorship events. We are a very important part of society that does not get much assistance so it’s a rare thing to actually have a big corporate make promises that they actually end up keeping.”

Digicel also donated two mobile phones for the school, one of which is for the bus driver to always stay in contact with the school in case of urgent matters.

Digicel management is promising more, “We have other events planned for 2007 on which we are working closely with our Special Needs colleagues. It’s important to note that it’s not just the company that’s involved; our staff are also dipping into their own pockets to be personally involved”, concludes Fruean.

Digicel also sponsors the Samoa Victim Support Group by way of providing them with mobile communications. Digicel also recently announced its partnership with the Aunty Lanu Diabetes Foundation in providing a mobile clinic to assist those stricken with the disease. Digicel Samoa is committed to driving positive social change and to creating local employment. Digicel is led by a Samoan management team and employs 55 permanent staff members, 97% of whom are Samoan.

About Digicel Pacific Ltd

To date, Digicel has launched GSM services in Samoa. It has received a GSM license from the Government of Papua New Guinea, and was granted a license in principle from the government of Fiji in April 2006, as well as an experimental license in the Solomon Islands. Digicel is also a proud sponsor of Fiji Rugby, and is title sponsor of the Digicel Fiji Sevens Team and the Digicel Pacific Islanders Rugby Team.

Digicel Pacific is committed to delivering a world-class mobile telecommunications services to the South Pacific that will transform the region by placing it at the cutting edge of wireless technology, while challenging competitors in a manner that drives positive business development. 

The fast growing multinational mobile telecommunications company has a reputation for competitive rates, unbeatable coverage and superior customer care, a wide variety of products and services, and state-of-the-art handsets.

Digicel Caribbean, the sister company to Digicel Pacific Ltd, launched in 2001 and is now the largest GSM provider in the Pan Caribbean region.

ENDS