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| Sunday, 24 October 2004 |
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Business |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Celltel expands islandwide by Hiran H.Senewiratne Sri Lanka's pioneering mobile company Celltel Lanka (PvT) Limited will invest US $ 85 million to expand its GSM network to cover all parts of the country . Celltel commenced this major GSM expansion program in September, which will be carried on untill the first quarter of 2005, Celltel CEO Dumindra Ratnayake said. "Our fifth phase of the expansion work will result in adding GSM capacity and expanding GSM outstation coverage by as much as 250 per cent when compared with other phases," said Ratnayake at a media briefing. He said that a new switch with 300 k capacity has been commissioned, which is incidentally Celltel's second GSM switch and has a expansion capability of upto 10 million subscribers. At the base station level, it will be configured to increase channels by 40 per cent in existing coverage areas, while each tower will increase its transmitting power so that the signals will reach beyond its existing area. Ratnayake said that customers who currently experience poor signals will be able to receive better and stronger signals. The current Base Station Controllers (BSC) are being expanded and upgraded with the latest B7 software and two new BSC are being added on to accommodate the base stations that will be installed during this expansion phase, CEO Ratnayake said. This investment also covers the installation of 85 new base stations to cover the whole island including the North and East, he hinted. Commercial Director Aniljit Singh said that since the company being the second leading player in the industry has no idea to be the market leader in the business. "We don't want to be market leader and number two position is better to go for further expansions," he said. Singh said that Celltel is always looking to offer value added products to our customers, and the prepay CellCARD is expanding sales and distribution . |
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| Produced by Lake House |
