The launch is believed to be scheduled for late January or early February and could raise about $500m, some of which could finance Digicel’s planned assault on the $100 billion US mobile phone market, which will not commence until next October, six months later than had been thought.

O’Brien is believed to be holding top-level discussions with the dominant network player, Cingular Wireless, about an MVNO deal.

Sprint Nextel is the leading provider of minutes to MVNOs in America. However, Cingular operates an international global system for mobile communications (GSM) network. Digicel’s services will be tailored towards encouraging immigrants to call families back home, and so will need to operate off an international network “platform”.

When Digicel begins the rollout of its US services, it is expected that initially it may focus on the southern states, such as Texas, that are home to a high proportion of Hispanic immigrants.

Digicel’s on-again, off-again flotation has been the subject of much speculation in recent months. Last month, O’Brien publicly denied he was about to float the company, but the appointment of Citibank and JP Morgan now confirms that such plans are advancing.

In September, O’Brien unexpectedly resigned from his position as deputy governor of the “court” of Bank of Ireland citing work commitments, sparking rumours that he was preparing to float Digicel, which has operations in 22 Caribbean and Pacific Rim markets and had a turnover of more than $600m in the year to March.

The company is expected to post revenues of up to $1 billion in the current financial year. Its subscriber numbers stood at 2.6m at the end of June.

His change of residency to the tax haven of Malta also fuelled speculation surrounding a flotation, as O’Brien personally owns about 87% of the company and would stand to benefit hugely from it.

Source: timesonline.co.uk