By Michel Outridge

DIGICEL Guyana, last Saturday night at a black-tie affair at the Marriott Hotel at Kingston, Georgetown, awarded their dealers for their sterling support.In opening remarks, Digicel’s Chief Executive Officer Kevin Kelly told the large gathering that for the past eight years they have held the awards ceremony, and last year it was at the Theatre Guild, but this year they have made it bigger.

He expressed thanks to everyone for attending the event in support of Digicel, adding that it is by no means a Georgetown-based company, since it provides coverage for 98% of the rural areas in Guyana.

Kelly also noted that while he was not there to bash GT&T, the government has committed to the liberalisation, which was held back for the past 25 years. He told the large gathering that the minister has looked at the legislation and once it is approved Digicel will roll out its 4G (fourth generation) network in time for the Jubilee celebrations. He disclosed that the 4G network will be launched in all the administrative regions to further expand and improve the cutting-edge services offered by Digicel.

The black tie event also featured musical renditions, standup comedy, a jazz interlude by Roy Stuart and a song by Amelia, titled ‘Hello’.

In the distribution department awards for Category – Repair Centre – Portabe was awarded a plaque, and the distributors Telecom Solutions and Airtime Guyana Inc. walked away with their awards respectively.

Wholesalers: Cellsmart, G&J Phone Cards, Kitty Square Mall, Marty Yassin, Cellular Plus, The Cell Guyana, Pressy’s (Selwyn Prescott) and Cellular Planet Inc. were all awarded, and representatives of these businesses were on hand to accept their plaques.

In the sub-wholesaler category awards were given to Lindon Joseph of C & T, Aubrey Hutson of OMEL, Dominique Blair, Naranjan Roopnarine, Jet Investments, Jason Sheppard and A&S Pharmacy.

The retailers awardees were Alicia Charles, Penelope Mitchell, Flamboyant, Daniel Rambaran, Ileana Boodhoo , Andrew’s Supermarket, Ryan Rajmangal, Stephen Bovell, Menachem Campbell, Dwayne Munroe, Rawtie Baljit, Eton Cordis, Malcolm Carryl, Lahago Supermarket, Corwin Stephens, Imam Bacchus, Jaikissoon, Julius Belgrave, Yogeeta Sharma and Leon Sankar.

In the retail department, Manager of the Year was Melissa Boodhoo, while Godfrey Chisholm and Ronald Inniss were also awarded.

Receiving awards for the most improved dealers were Speed Talk and Cell Works, while awards given for the most consistent performers were Cell Smart and Cellular Planet.

The Best Dealers Retail Store Audit 2014 were Cellular Plus and Cellular Planet, while the Best Dealer Wow Audit Performance 2014 winners were Cellular Plus – City Mall and The Cell – Muneshwer’s. The Best Dealer – Initiative and Sponsorship awardees were SpeedTalk and Cellsmart.

Meanwhile, the Best Remote Dealers were KG Cell Tech (Mabaruma), R&T Variety (Port Kaituma); Best Dealer Stores are Cellular Plus – Regency and Cellular Planet – Sheriff Street.

The Best Flagship stores were adjudged to be Cellular Plus – City Mall, The Cell –Muneshwer’s, while Dealers of the Year were Cellular Plus, Cellsmart, The Cell, Speed Talk, R&T Variety and P&P Cellular.

And in the closing remarks, Sales and Distribution Manager, Nalini Vieira thanked the awardees for their continued support over the years.