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| Sunday, 22 May 2005 |
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Celltel mulls heavy investment to enhance coverage by By Hiran H.Senewiratne Sri Lanka's first entrant to the mobile telecommunication industry Celltel Lanka Limited is planning to invest heavily to enhance coverage this year but was reluctant to disclose investment figures owing to intense competition in the industry. The company unveiled its sixth phase of GSM expansion, which will result in 38 per cent increase in coverage. This will help to cover 52 per cent of the population in the country, CEO and President of Millicom International Cellular SA Marc Beuls told a media conference in Colombo. Celltel is a fully owned subsidiary of Millicom International Cellular SA. He said that Sri Lanka's mobile penetration is the highest in South Asia and considered to be one of growing markets where the telecommunication industry is concerned. Beuls said that what drives the company to invest in Sri Lanka was the improving economic trends in the country.Celltel's 6th phase includes further expansion of their second switch to increase capacity to over one million subscribers. The company which is in the forefront in technology is expected to introduce third generation mobile telephones to the European market, he said. "This is no doubt due to the dramatic increase in sales witnessed by the company in its CellCard brand. Subsequent to the 5th phase expansion, with sales having doubled," he said. CEO Celltel Dumindra Ratnayake said that handset prices are at an affordable Rs. 5,000 today and one needs only Rs. 500 for a month on a CellCard, which is the most affordable and best value mobile connection. He said that Celltel intends introducing new features, which will further enhance customer experience. Ratnayake said that under the 6th phase of expansion, Celltel is also putting in place a new distribution network so that cards and connections will be available in the maximum number of outlets in the country. The company has over 10,000 outlets throughout the country, he said. Millicom International Cellular SA is a global telecommunication investor
with cellular operations in Asia , Latin America and Africa. It currently
has 17 cellular operations and licences in 16 countries. The group cellular
operations have a combined population under licence of approximately 399
million people. |
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