Telecom New Zealand confirmed the sale of its 90% shareholding in Telecom Samoa Cellular to Digicel (Samoa) Limited, a subsidiary of the Digicel Group.
In a statement, the firm said the government of Samoa will retain its 10% stake. The carrier however did not give financial details of the stake sale.
Telecom Samoa Cellular operates a TDMA mobile network with 33,000 customers and is currently upgrading to a new GSM network due to be launched later this year.
'Telecom New Zealand has had an interest in Telecom Samoa Cellular Limited since we established the company in a joint venture with the Government of Samoa in 1996,' New Zealand Telecom general manager Anthony Briscoe said.
'Since that time the demand for telecommunications services in Samoa has grown significantly with an increasing number of carriers entering the market.'