Alcatel.Lucent doubles revenue in two years

Alcatel.Lucent (AL), the world's biggest telecommunication equipment and solution provider last week opened its office in Colombo.

AL's president for South Asia Ravi Sharma said that the communication market in the country and the South Asia region is growing fast and therefore we see new opportunities here.

He said that during the past two years the company's revenue in Sri Lanka has doubled.

Alcatel has been operating in Sri Lanka for 25 years and has a significant market share in telecommunication equipment. After Alcatel merged with US competitor, Lucent in December 2006, the combined company, Alcatel-Lucent, with a revenue of approximately $25 billion, became the world's largest telecommunication solution provider.

The company now sees more business opportunities in Sri Lanka and the South Asia region and is strengthening its position here, Sharma said. This is a fast growing market and everyone wants a share and therefore the competition is high. We want to retain our leadership status here, he said.

Sharma said that AL is ready to launch WiMAX technology in Sri Lanka as soon as the regulator and the operators are ready to implement it in the country. WiMAX is the best solution for underserved rural markets.

In the SAARC region the telecommunication density is higher only in the cities. CDMA is one solution for rural telephony penetration but there are limitations. As the CDMA cell size is smaller, if the number of telephony users are small the CDMA will not be viable.

The solution for the issue is WiMAX, he said. Based on the IEEE 802.16 standard, WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access). Similar to WiFi, WiMAX can be used as a substitute for broadband wire line networks and allows mobile usage.

Senior Country Officer of AL Sathu Raman said that the present political situation in Sri Lanka would not affect AL's business.

The investment in telecommunication is long-term and the present crisis would end shortly, he said.

Raman said that a World Bank study has shown that there is a strong positive correlationship between telephony penetration and the GDP growth and therefore the fast growing telecommunication sector will help the region to achieve economic growth, he said.

GW