05/07/2017
Dear Customers,
Over the last seven years, Mio has done everything in its power to provide extraordinary service at an affordable price. This would not have been possible without the outstanding support of our customers, who were willing to challenge the telecom market, and introduce fair competition for the people of Aruba. The hospitality Mio has been shown by our customers over the years is beyond comparison.
For this reason, we are saddened to inform you that the Director of Communications for Aruba provided us the attached notice letter on Thursday, June 29th, informing us that Mio was to be shut down by the Aruban government immediately. As most of you are aware, the 15 million florin payout requested by the government regulator, responsible for ensuring a fair and competitive business environment for the public, is many times the amount of money Mio collects in Top-Ups on a yearly basis. This does not include expenses such as employee salaries, cell site rent/repair costs, and fees paid monthly to Setar for use of the only available off-island cable internet connection. When factoring these expenses, Mio is and has always been a company which breaks even financially, only focused on providing low-cost internet and voice services to those in Aruba who desired competition.
Upon being provided this final notice of nationalization at our main store via Bailiff, we had no other choice but to fully comply, and awaited a visit from the Director in order to plan a proper transition of management. It is only proper to ensure our customers and partners are taken care of during government seizure of a wireless network, so that no one is left without service during a time of emergency, and the business economy surrounding Mio is not interrupted.
Given this, we are forced to step aside, and do everything we can to support the Director in taking control of Mio operations during this transition of a network over six thousand Arubans rely on every day.
We appreciate the support we have received over the last seven years, and hope that all will be willing to work with DTZ during this time of transition to ensure public safety when handing over such a vital national utility.
This is a difficult and sad day, but we leave you with our best wishes and sincere gratitude.
Thank You,
Mio Wireless
