The Cell Islands

For most people in the corporate world, the Caribbean is the perfect spot for that next much needed vacation. Irish entrepreneur Denis O'Brien, however, eyed the island nations and saw just one thing: customers. In 2001, O'Brien had a bit of cash burning a hole in his pocket from the $2.46 billion sale of his first telecom venture, Esat Telecom Group PLC. By chance, he came upon a small notice from the government of Jamaica announcing that it was opening its local phone market--long monopolized by British telecom giant Cable & Wireless--to competition. At the time, Jamaicans had to wait an average 2.5 years for a landline, and only 4% of the population used cell phones because rates were exorbitant and coverage shoddy. O'Brien promptly plunked down nearly $50 million for a license, and the cell phone start-up Digicel was born.