by Mell P
When Marcelo Cataldo arrived in Jamaica in May 2024 to lead Digicel, he did not get a quiet welcome. Two months into his tenure, Hurricane Beryl made landfall, a baptism by Caribbean weather that few executives anywhere could anticipate on their first day. “I was very inaugurated by the Caribbean region,” he says with a wry smile, sitting in the company’s Kingston headquarters, the sea visible behind him. “That was quite a welcome party.”
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The Paraguay-born executive comes to the role with decades of telecom experience across Latin America. Before Digicel, he led Tigo Colombia, serving 16 million customers and expanding both market share and digital services. Over more than a decade at Millicom, he advanced through different roles, driving network investment, governance reform, and ESG initiatives on responsible internet use. But it is his two years at the helm of Digicel, a company with operations across 25 Caribbean and Central American jurisdictions, that may prove to be the defining chapter of a career already marked by navigating complex, high-stakes markets.
Cataldo joined Digicel at a pivotal moment. The company had just emerged from a major ownership restructuring in late 2023, and the task before him was daunting: stabilize the business, refocus the strategy, and restore long-term confidence in a telco that millions of Caribbean families and businesses depend on daily.
“We really focus on our main core business, which is to serve our countries in their digitalization journey, working very closely with governments.”
Back to basics — and beyond
One of Cataldo’s first moves was to sharpen the company’s focus. Digicel, he explains, had been stretching into content and other adjacent businesses. Under his leadership, the company has doubled down on what it does best: connectivity and digital infrastructure. “We realigned the way we operate,” he says. “We have CEOs in each market who are very connected with the local community.”
Several of those market CEOs, including Katherine Payne in Barbados, Joel Wallace in St. Lucia, and Julius Girigori in Curaçao, are local talents who were promoted from within the company. It is a deliberate philosophy: trust the people who know the terrain.
That refocus does not mean Digicel is retreating. Quite the opposite. Through its digital business unit, the company now offers cloud computing, cybersecurity, wholesale carrier services, data centers, and digital advertising, functioning as a one-stop-shop technology partner for governments, hotels, oil and gas companies, and banks that operate across multiple Caribbean markets simultaneously. “In our region, the hyperscalers – Google, Amazon, Microsoft – our markets are too small for them,” Cataldo says plainly. “That’s why we are the go-to point for solutions.”
When the storm comes
In a region that sits in the Atlantic hurricane belt, infrastructure resilience is a survival requirement. Digicel has built redundant networks and hurricane-ready towers, invests in renewable energy systems combining solar, grid power, generators, and battery backups, and begins storm-season preparation drills as early as May each year.
After Hurricane Beryl devastated parts of Jamaica, Cataldo says the company’s technology leader in the market, Bjorn Reynolds, a 20-year veteran who started in the contact center, led the recovery of over 1,000 antennas and full connectivity restoration in under eight weeks. “We recovered in no time,” Cataldo says, “and we were able to reconnect hotels that had customers trapped there.”
“We view resilience as an operational necessity , but also as a competitive advantage. It enhances trust with our customers.”
Holding the line on inclusion
In a corporate landscape where many large companies are quietly walking back their diversity commitments, Cataldo is deliberate about where Digicel stands, and unapologetic about it. “Our inclusion is rooted in the reality of our markets,” he says. With employees from 76 nationalities and a workforce that is 53% women, unusual in a historically male-dominated industry, diversity at Digicel is a baseline.
“We don’t give preference to a person because of their religious beliefs, their sexual orientation, or whatever you can think of,” he says. “Can you do the job? Can you do it well? Then the seat is yours.” He gestures around his floor in Kingston and mentions Arshad, the company’s procurement director, a Muslim Australian. “Whatever diversity you can imagine, we consider it an asset.”
Proudly Caribbean
Perhaps the most pointed distinction Cataldo draws is a structural one. Unlike competitors that answer to US or European parent companies, Digicel is headquartered in Jamaica. Full stop. “This company is 100% Caribbean,” he says. “I live in Jamaica. I come to work every day, and I can see the sea. There is no reporting to a US headquarters or a European company. This is who we are.”
That identity matters deeply to the diaspora communities, in New York, Toronto, London, who remain connected to their home islands through Digicel lines, remittances, and voice calls to family. Cataldo understands the weight of that relationship.
Looking ahead, he sees AI as the next frontier Digicel must prepare its infrastructure to support. He’s candid about the one thing he would change: “Invest more in the network, earlier.” The new ownership and the company’s successful 2024 debt refinancing, which extended repayment to seven years at reduced interest rates, now gives Digicel the runway to do exactly that.
The gray hair, as Cataldo himself puts it, tells you something. But the conviction in his voice tells you more: a Caribbean-built company, run from Jamaica, betting on Caribbean people, and determined to build the digital future the region deserves.
