Susan Gordon, Business Reporter

MiPhone building. - contributed

MiPhone, Jamaica's number three telecoms is to be rebranded under the name Claro, said to be the largest mobile company in the region.

América Móvil, which own the two companies, will tomorrow do a media launch of the Jamaican operation, which it acquired from Oceanic Digital late last year, though the build out of its own 3G cellular network is incomplete.

"We are still erecting sites. We would have waited until the entire thing happened but it makes more sense to launch and build out as we go along," said Marketing Manager for MiPhone, Noel Esty.

Millions

Claro already operates in 11 markets and has more than 150 million subscribers; while MiPhone has some 220,000 to 250,000 customers

Esty said the company decided on the soft launch to coincide with Claro's planned roll out of the iPhone by the end of October.

MiPhone has exclusive rights from Apple Inc to distribute the iPhone in Jamaica, and had initially planned to have the device on the market last month at the top of the new school year.

Esty when asked to explain the company's name change, said: "MiPhone has a lot of baggage and the brand (Claro) is used across the region. It's the same phone company, same people but a different brand."

Giveaways

Some of the existing phone plans offered by MiPhone will survive the rebranding, said Esty, and the company is prepared to give away handsets, to attract new clientele.

Customers of MiPhone will also be billed at special rates when calling the Claro network and other América Móvil owned networks.

Esty says the company does not expect the rebranding to be costly, but that it would require new advertising billboards, stationery and logo.

MiPhone is spending US$250 million to build some 500 cell sites for its 3G technology network. Esty said the company has some 180 sales points across Jamaica, but wanted to have as many as 600 Claro stores.

susan.gordon@gleanerjm.com