DIGICEL Business is on board as the Principal Sponsor of the 2nd annual Guyana Basins Summit, a release from the telephone giant said on Monday.

The summit opens today and concludes on Thursday in Georgetown, Guyana, and Digicel Business will be there showcasing its wealth of business solutions to major operators, licence holders, Tier One contractors, and the entire value chain in Guyana’s emerging hydrocarbons sector.

The Guyana Basins Summit comes at an opportune time as Digicel Business prepares for the installation of its Deep Blue One subsea cable infrastructure in early 2024, which will supercharge connectivity in this area of the Caribbean and South America.

Deep Blue One will provide best-in-class connectivity to French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago, and connect offshore oil-and-gas platforms on the back of industry developments in the region, the release said.

Commenting on Digicel Business’ significant investment, Kevin Beckett, Head of Oil & Gas, Digicel Group Business Solutions, elaborated: “With subsea fibre providing the backbone of the global economy, and serving as a catalyst to economic development, our substantial investment in submarine capacity underpins our confidence in the development of the region. A great example of this is the connectivity options we will be able to provide, both onshore and offshore, to the oil-and-gas industries in countries like Guyana and Suriname as they capitalise on the boom in the region.”

Beyond connectivity, this cable system will bring a full economical ecosystem for the benefit of all. In a 2019 report published by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) entitled, “The economic contribution of broadband, digitisation and ICT regulation: Econometric modelling for the Americas”, it was suggested that an increase of 10 per cent in fixed broadband penetration would result in an increase by 1.9 per cent in GDP per capita.

Through its infrastructure, Digicel Business is able to provide solutions from the seabed to the cloud and everything in between, allowing for the rollout and support of any offshore requirements, including vessel connectivity and global connectivity to locations anywhere in the world, using fibre and wireless solutions.

“As a Digital Operator serving over 10 million customers in 25 countries across the Caribbean and Central America, we’re focused on driving economic opportunities for our customers. This is an exciting next phase for us; it’s about delivering quality, reliability, performance, and most importantly, opportunity. We’re excited to get going on this,” Mark Shoebridge, Director of Business Solutions added.