25^th July, 2008 – Port Vila, Vanuatu: Digicel, the fastest growing mobile telecommunications operator in the Pacific, is delighted that the Digicel Vanuatu 7’s Rugby team is participating in the Digicel Oceania Sevens Qualifiers in Apia, Samoa on the 25^th-26^th July. This is a unique event in that it will see 8 of the Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions’ (FORU) members taking part.

 

The Digicel 7’s team traveled on Wednesday, 22^nd July to Apia to take part in the qualifiers this weekend. There are 7 other members of the FORU taking part - Samoa, Tonga, Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, Niue and Tahiti. Vanuatu is in Pool B, alongside Tonga, Cook Islands and Tahiti. In the Women’s competition, there are 4 members – Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, Samoa and Niue. The two top teams in both the Men’s and Women’s competitions will progress to the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 in Dubai.

 

The tournament kicks off on Friday, 25^th July with New Zealand taking on Samoa in the Women’s competition followed by 2007 Pacific Sevens Women’s Champions, Fiji taking on Niue. The Men’s draw kicks off with hosts and 2007 South Pacific Games Silver Medallists, Samoa taking on Niue followed by 2007 Pacific Men’s Champions Tonga taking on Vanuatu.

 

Digicel Samoa has proudly announced its sponsorship of Manu Samoa further strengthening Digicel’s commitment to developing Rugby in the Pacific region. Digicel also has partnerships with Fiji Rugby and Papua New Guinea Rugby working at every level to help support the development of rugby from grassroots to national level.

 

Digicel wishes the Digicel Vanuatu 7’s team the very best of luck in Samoa.

 

ENDS

 

Since its launch in the South Pacific in November 2006, Digicel has become the fastest-growing mobile operator in the Pacific, with current operations in Samoa, Tonga, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu. The company was recently granted a license by the Government of Fiji and has commitments from several other countries in the Pacific.

 

Digicel is the largest operator in the Caribbean operating in 23 markets and rolling out new operations in Central America. The company is renowned for competitive rates, unbeatable coverage, and superior customer care, a wide variety of products and services, and state-of-the-art handsets.

 

For more information about Digicel, please visit www.digicelpacific.com or www.digicelvanuatu.com