The specifics of the agreement were not disclosed, but it is "long term" the companies said.

Claro reportedly has 470 cell towers nationwide, but planned to build as much as 610. LIME's is unknown, while market leader Digicel has 1,200 sites.

There was no explanation as to why Digicel was not part of the agreement, but the company has been at loggerheads with Claro over a previous sharing arrangement that the companies said was basically cobbled as a 'gentleman's agreement'.

Digicel and Claro reportedly could not agree on interconnection rates.

Jacqueline Burrell, Digicel's corporate affairs manager, said the company was not willing to comment on Digicel's absence from the new arrangement.

Claro chief executive Alejandro Guitierrez said his company was "proud to be a part of a project which leaves less of a carbon footprint".

LIME country manager, Geoff Houston, said the deal "shows that an issue like the Jamaican environment is bigger than competition and that both companies are serious about environmental protection".

Joint release

Their joint release said the long-term contract requires each company to provide a matching number of cell towers across the island, which will increase the overall coverage footprint of both mobile providers.

Neither of the companies was willing to reveal the number of cell towers involved, but both said it would allow the expansion of their services.

mark.titus@gleanerjm.com