Digicel Group now has 1,343 dealer stores across the Caribbean, Bermuda and Central America, the company has reported.

In its sixth year of operation, Bermuda-based Digicel said it is continuing to experience rapid growth and bolster regional economies creating hundreds of new jobs in the region through its dealer stores.

As reported in yesterday's Royal Gazette, Digicel Bermuda is the first of the company's 22 markets across the region to launch the new BlackBerry Curve smartphone.

According to a Market Wire report in addition to Digicel's 3,400 staff, a majority of Digicel's dealer stores are independently owned and employ more than 3,500 local residents.

Later this year, Digicel plans to introduce more dealer stores as it prepares to launch a GSM network in Suriname.