Subscribers increased to 18,319,447 end December 2011:

Mobile phone industry in step with new technology

By Ranil WIJAYAPALA

As Sri Lanka entering into speedy development process the usage of phones have become a common feature among the people. Accordingly the usage of mobile phone has become a mandatory requirement since accessing any person in any part of the world can be made within seconds after the development and spread of mobile phone industry in the country.

The end of nearly three decades war has opened the entire country to embrace mobile phones for their communication purposes and this development has contributed to increase the number of mobile phone subscribers in Sri Lanka to a staggering 18,319,447 by the end of December last year. Compared to 3,608,392 fixed phone subscriber the mobile phone industry has shown a rapid increase during the past three years as it has shot up from 142,264,442 in 2009 to reach 18,319,447 subscribers at the end of the year 2011.

Since it is timely for us to look into the mobile phone industry in the country from the people's perspective the Sunday Observer interviewed the Director General of the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL), Anusha Pelpita to enlighten the public about the usage of mobile phones in Sri Lanka and the way TRCSL is helping the public to access a proper service through the five mobile operators in the country.

Q: Can you explain how mobile phone subscribers increased during the past few years?

A: With the end of the war the increased investment by the Telecommunication sector has shown a rapid progress during the past few years. The mobile phone sector was the fastest growing sector with the increase of mobile phone subscribers to a staggering 18,319,447 by the end of the year 2011.

Q: There is a fierce competition among mobile phone operators in the country. How does the TRCSL intervene in the industry to control this competition and keep the industry alive?

A: If we consider the competition in the mobile sector telecommunication, we have five operators. There is fierce competition among them. As the TRCSL we have assured a level playing field for each and every operator to play in the same field.

There might be a big operator backed by their parent companies to grab the market. We have that aspect also in mind. That is why we have imposed a floor rate because no big company can jump into the market and offer cheaper rate and grab the customers. Therefore time to the Commission intervene and assure that level playing field is there for every operator in the market.

When we think of the mobile phone operators we have to think about two things. One thing is if industry makes losses they will not invest in the industry. We have to make sure that they invest in the industry. Even in last year they have been investing around 400 to 500 million US dollars. If they do not invest in the industry the latest technology does not come to the country.

If the latest technology is not coming to the country, call prices will not go down. TRCSL has the responsibility to protect the industry, protect the customers and protect the government revenue. We are getting big revenue from this industry. Over and above Rs. 30,000 million revenue comes to the Government through this industry. We have to safeguard the Government revenue, the customer and the industry. TRC is trying to balance all these three aspects. At the moment we are trying our best to safeguard all three aspects.

Q: The TRCSL is maintaining a floor rate of Rs. 1.50 for call tariffs?

A: At present call charges are very low. That is why we have made the floor rate as Rs.1.50. Earlier the minimum charge for calls is Rs. 2. Now it has been reduced to Rs. 1.50. Any operator have to submit their tariff proposals over and above Rs.1.50 they should submit a cost estimate for below Rs. 2 charges.

This cost estimate should be certified by an external independent auditor. Then we give approval for their tariff. This was approved in the last budget. We are not approving any tariff below Rs. 1.50. But only thing is between Rs. 1.50 and Rs. 2 they should provide us the cost justification from an independent auditor.

In the future may be in the next year we are hoping to remove the floor rates allowing market competition and allowing them to decide the prices. But at present we maintaining floor rate to maintain a healthy competition among the operators.

Q: What are the difficulties faced by the mobile phone industry in the country at present?

A: Under the world economic conditions, the industry is doing well. But there are some kind of hardships in the industry also. They are facing these situations due to the direct impact of the fuel price, electricity and the foreign exchange. The devaluation of the currency have a direct impact on the industry. Actually most of the companies are importing their products. They are getting loans from their mother companies. The loan interest should be paid in dollar terms. At the end of the day there is a direct impact on the industry.

Q: It seems there is no control over the importation of mobile phones to Sri Lanka. A large number of low quality phones are available in the market. How can TRCSL help the people in purchasing a good quality mobile phone?

A: To import mobile phones they should obtain a vendor license. There is a process mechanism and before importing we should know which phone and which phone they are importing. Lot of people are smuggling phones to Sri Lanka.

The TRCSL cannot put a stop to the smuggling of phones. Only thing the TRC can do is that we can make aware the customer and introduce a system to ensure whether he or she is buying a genuine phone or not. For any person who is purchasing a phone we have a mechanism to identify whether the phone has been approved by the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka as when phones are imported to Sri Lanka each and every brand has to obtain a type approval. Once we give this type approval we have established a mechanism for the consumers to identify whether this brand or phone has obtained a type approval from the TRCL).

Q:How can customers identify whether they are buying a genuine phone or not?

A: A person who is purchasing a new mobile phone at a phone shop should check whether the 15 digit IMEI number is denoted together with the TRCSL reference number on a sticker in the box containing the phone, before purchasing.

The International Mobile Equipment Identity or IMEI is usually found printed inside the battery compartment of the phone. It can also be displayed on the screen of the phone by entering *#06# into the keypad on most phones. The IMEI number is used by a GSM network to identify valid devices and therefore can be used for stopping a stolen phone from accessing that network.

The IMEI number is something like IMEI:355213036062263 and the purchaser can check whether that particular IMEI number is approved by the TRCSL. To verify the IMEI number printed on the box is the IMEI number of the phone, they can check it by entering *#060#. If the IMEI number printed is similar to the number in the phone they can verify whether the mobile phone intended for purchase has been approved by TRCSL after entering letters IMEI ****space**** IMEI No of the phone and send SMS to 1909.

We have a server at the TRCSL and automatically generated SMS will be received within next 30 seconds confirming whether the phone has been approved by the TRCSL or not. Then the particular customer can be satisfied as the phone has been approved by the TRCSL and it is genuine phone.

Q: Can TRCSL guarantee that the phone they are purchasing is genuine through this process?

A: When we are approving any type of mobile phone we will get international standards. From the International Standardise companies we get their certification for the batch and confirm whether it is internationally approved brand and standards of the phone is on par with the international standards.

Then we can assure the general public that the phone they are buying is a genuine phone and it is on par with the international standards. When TRC approve a thing it goes through every aspect of the mobile phones and the responsibility of the phone lies with the TRCSL if it is TRCSL approved phone.

Q: Can we control low quality phones coming to the market through this process?

A: That is why we have established this system. If the consumer is not buying the phones which have not been approved by the TRCSL through that mechanism we can control the flow of low quality phones to the market. We launched a publicity campaign about this mechanism earlier and we are trying to launch another round of campaign in the near future to educate the public about this mechanism. Media also can give publicity to this process so that people are very much enlightened about the phones they are going to purchase.

If people are aware about these factors people will not buy those low quality phones. Vendors are selling all those phones because people are buying those phones. If people are not buying those things they will automatically stop importing those equipment and selling them in the market. The responsibility goes to the consumers also.

Q: What are the standards the people should look into when they are buying mobile phones?

A: If they follow the procedure mentioned above, they can be satisfied with the standards of the phones.

If they are buying a TRC approved phone they are guaranteed on the safety standards of the phone also as TRCSL is going through every aspect of the phone when we are giving approval for the importation of those phones. But they must be smart enough to check that the IMEI number printed in the box is the same IMEI number of the phone. Once we guarantee that it is a genuine phone and the TRCSL staff take the responsibility for the standard of that phone.

Q: There is a tendency among the children to use sophisticated mobile phones and make use of them for various purposes. The usage of phones in schools have been banned. What kind of action is the TRCSL taking to control the usage of mobile phone among schoolchildren?

A: Actually though it is not a responsibility of the TRCSL the parents, families, the society and everybody should be aware of this. At present using a mobile phone has become a necessary.

Therefore this equipment is necessary. Parents want to know whether their children go to school and returned home and whether they have attended the tuition classes and things like that.

There are some newly developed equipment available in the international market. We are ready to approve that particular phones into the market which can dial only two or three numbers.

Q: What are the features of these phones and when can they be introduced in Sri Lanka?

A: This is a basic phone with the GPRS facility and it has still not come to the Sri Lankan market. The technology has so developed and it can be controlled by the parents. The parents can decide what are the numbers they can use and even the operators are willing to bring down those phones and make available in the market.

If the operators bring it immediately we will approve it. Because for each and every phone they have to get the approval from the Commission. We are awaiting the arrival of those phones to the market and be available for the people as this type of thing is needed for the children. The parents can know where they actually are. Most of the schools suspended the usage of phones as those sophisticated phones can be misused for various other purposes. If we can introduce these phones there is no fear about the misuse. There is no risk for unnecessary things to happen through the usage of this phone.

Q: What about the trends of using mobile phones for economic activities?

A: Now a days mobile phones are not being used only for communication purposes. There is lot of tendency among the people for making use of mobile phones various other purposes.

Because we have approved a lot of tariff plans for value added services. Some mobile phone operators are getting the approval from the Central Bank for money transactions through mobiles. Mobile operators have provided a lot of value added services during the past few years. Thanks to the value added service the industry is surviving. The voice market is now dying now and the operators are now depending on these value added services.

Q: There are complaints regarding the loss of phones and phones being stolen. What is the mechanism in place by the TRCSL to help the people in this regard?

A: Actually this is not a job of the TRCSL. But as TRCSL we believe that we have to support the general public also in such occasions though it is mandatory on our part.

When the phone is lost that person should lodge a complaint at the Police station and a copy of the complaint should be sent to the TRCSL. Actually, we can't recover the phones and give that to the customers. Our job is to give some evidence to help the Police investigation. Once we receive this complaint we send it to all operators and they will check whether the same IMEI number is being used by the system. If that IMEI is reconnected to the systems it can be traced. If the operators traced that IMEI number the operators report back to the TRCSL. What we do is to report that to the particular Police station and ask this person is using this phone and it is stolen phone and we are sending the copy of that letter to the particular person. Our action ends there. The TRCSL have no mandate to go beyond that point.

If the particular operator is having that data they can give that data to the Police. After that, the Police has to recover the phone. Even though we get the information and give that information to the Police we have a problem whether the Police are going to search and find that out.

If the phone is not identified in the system even three months after the complaint we will inform the operator to block the IMEI. The particular IMEI number cannot be used in the system. In future after three months if the phone is not found in the systems the particular IMEI number will be blocked automatically so no one will be able to use that phone thereafter.

Q: The number of mobile towers. Is it on the increase with the increased number of mobile phone users in the country or is there any mechanism to restrict the number of the mobile towers?

A: We have National Tower Policy. It has been submitted to the Cabinet and we are expecting the Cabinet approval for this. Particularly we are discouraging any operator to have their own towers and we are encouraging them to share the towers. In future we are trying to get the Ministry of Finance to impose additional taxes for operators who are using the single company towers taxes. We are going to make the sharing of towers mandatory. If they are not willing to share they should pay extra tax for not sharing.

Q: Is there any new technology to replace these communication towers?

A: There is no system at present. The only thing is that there should be some kind of good fiber optic system in the entire country. Then there is no need to have high rising towers. But still they should have some kind of towers but not high rise towers. To go for fiber optic cable it will take another five to six years period.

Q: There is a perception among people that these communication towers are a factor for increased lightening incidents. Have you looked into this phenomenon?

A: These towers are high-rise equipment. If there is proper earth systems approved by the TRCSL there is no problem. It is good for the people living closer to the tower also as it will earth all the lightning that strikes around that area. But some drug addicts and other people have a habit of removnge the copper wires in the earth system for quick money.

The main problem is not the tower; lightening come through the power cables. But people used to think when communication towers are erected all the lightning are drawn to that tower.