Our business in the Caribbean, LIME is a full service telecoms provider serving communities across 14 countries. In April 2011 we expanded our business via an acquisition in The Bahamas, where we offer fixed, mobile and broadband services.

Highlights

• Launched Caribbean’s first mobile TV service
• Enterprise, data and other revenue grew 11%
• Economic conditions remain challenging
• Acquired 51% of Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) in April 2011
• 4G mobile networks to be launched in region in 2011/12

Performance

Our Caribbean business made operational progress in a very tough economic environment last year and, in April 2011, expanded into The Bahamas.

The economic climate in the Caribbean remained difficult. Tourism is the main industry and while tourist numbers increased in some islands, there has not been a broad based recovery. This contributed to a decline in revenue of 3% and in EBITDA of 15%.

Our acquisition of a 51% shareholding in BTC will diversify our business. BTC is a full service operator which has exclusivity on mobile services until at least 2014.

Our carrier business also helped us reach different markets. We completed the East-West cable connecting Jamaica  to the British Virgin Islands, with a landing in the Dominican Republic, a new market. We also became the official landing partner in Jamaica for a cable between Cuba and Venezuela.

We undertook a high-profile refresh of our LIME brand, accompanied in Jamaica by a strategy to recapture market share, and the launch of mobile TV. We continued investing to improve our networks and increase overall broadband penetration, including upgrading Jamaica’s broadband network and launching a next generation network in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Enterprise, data and other revenues grew 11%. We won a number of significant contracts, including to supply mobile services to 21,000 members of Jamaica’s National Council of Taxi Associations.

Outlook

While some economies in the region are improving, we do not expect market conditions to be significantly better in 2011/12.

We will begin the process of restructuring BTC and integrating it into our regional business. We plan to upgrade BTC’s networks and introduce new services for customers. We will incur some restructuring and integration costs  but will move the business to a more efficient footing longer term.

In order to maintain market and technology leadership, we plan to introduce 4G mobile services over the next 18 months in all our Caribbean markets except Jamaica, which already has a 3G mobile network.

Our focus remains on winning in our markets, and driving for better financial performance as economic growth returns. We are confident we have the right strategy, but economic challenges mean that financial progress will take time.