Dominica has endorsed Digicel?s plans to acquire Cingular Wireless? operations in the Caribbean country, an official said yesterday.

Full approval is expected at a meeting of the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority Council of Ministers tomorrow, said Dominica Telecommunications Minister Reginald Austrie. The island of 70,000 people has three mobile phone providers, including Cingular.

?It is in the best interest of the consumers to grant a license to Digicel,? Austrie said. ?There will be greater competition for market survival. That means lower prices and improved quality of service.?

Technical and financial details will be discussed at the meeting tomorrow, he said.

Irish-owned Digicel Group announced plans in June to expand its nine-country Caribbean network by acquiring Cingular?s operations in five other nations. Each country must approve the deals.

Digicel?s investment in the Caribbean total more than $600 million. The mobile provider expects to expand its staff by 30 percent by the end of 2006, the company said.

Digicel operates in Aruba, Barbados, Curacao, The Cayman Islands, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent.

The Cingular purchase will expand Digicel?s operations to Bermuda, Anguilla, St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua, and Dominica. Atlanta, Georgia-based Cingular Wireless is a joint venture of SBC Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp. ? Associated Press