SLT to share ICT infrastructure
A strong, reliable and islandwide ICT broadband infrastructure and
global connectivity are key to the efficient functioning and development
of the telecommunication industry, businesses and the economy.
According to sources at Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT), the flagship
national ICT solutions provider and the national backbone network
operator, Sri Lanka is marching towards achieving the country’s ICT
objectives, to accelerate economic development targeting the global
model which projects that a 10% increase in Broadband penetration will
lead to a 1.38% increase in GDP.
Since 2007, SLT has invested over Rs. 57 billion (US $ 485 million)
to improve the country’s telecommunication infrastructure, the sources
said.
Group CEO, SLT, Lalith de Silva said, “In line with the Government
roadmap, we have invested heavily in setting up the National Backbone
Network (NBN) to enable all operators to benefit through economies of
scale. We believe in sharing communication and ICT infrastructure to
achieve the development goals of the country.”“The very tenets of our
corporate strategy are underpinned by the vision of a SMART Sri Lanka
and a Digital Economy that is being driven by the State,” he said
.“From inception, we have been sharing our infrastructure such as
global connectivity, national backbone, towers, data centre, cloud
services, coverage and building spaces and ICT infrastructure under the
wholesale business unit for other operators and service providers and
ISPs while ensuring that the highest standards are met in terms of
quality and reliability,” the CEO said.
“We are proud that leading public institutions and private sector
businesses that include large enterprises, SMEs and micro businesses
around the country are using our shared ICT resources to maximise their
potential,” de Silva said.
“SLT has placed emphasis on ICT infrastructure to ensure economic
empowerment through the National Backbone Network and connected ‘Lanka
Government Network’ with the integration of all e-Applications,” he
said.
“We provide any type of ICT backbone solution or broadband services
to any of the operators in the telecommunication industry and other
organisations around the country,” the CEO said.
“We strongly believe the country's national broadband plans are a key
policy instrument to leverage and realise the full potential of
broadband as an enabling infrastructure to accelerate sustainable
development and optimise on the giant investments already made,” de
Silva said.
“We are fully support the regulator to implement QoS based cost
structure and infrastructure sharing including frequencies. Frequency
use, a scarce resource, needs to be done with the public interest in
mind. It is also in the public interest that we have always offered
services at prices which are within reach of the average consumer,” the
CEO said.
The company has taken proactive steps to invest in a futuristic
global connectivity option exceeding 24 Tera bits per second (24Tbps)
bandwidth via the new cable system SEA ME WE 5 and expanding the
terrestrial backbone network (National Fibre Optic Backbone Network) to
bring gigantic capacity to users in Sri Lanka.
SLT has partnered the SEA ME WE consortium from the inception and
presently connects globally via SEA ME WE 3, SEA ME WE 4 and two other
private cables to India and the Maldives.
The SEA ME WE 5 cable system, due to be launched in early 2016, will
provide upgradeable transmission facilities by adopting the latest
state-of-the-art 100 Gbps technology.
The SEA ME WE 5 cable system could carry 24,000 Giga bits per second
(24 Tera bits per second) the equivalent of transmitting around 4,800
high definition movies every second.
SEA ME WE 5 can handle traffic from the cable starting point to its
end from Singapore to France at lightning speeds of less than 90
milliseconds which is the fastest speed achieved interconnecting Asia
Pacific to Europe.
Sri Lanka has been offered the 'full landing' or 'double landing'
status by the SEA ME WE 5 consortium, to set up a Global POP in Sri
Lanka in the future.
The SEA ME WE 5 cable station being set up in Matara facilitates
double landing, thereby enhancing the reliability of Sri Lanka’s
connectivity to the system.
The SLT was awarded the NBN Service Provider licence in Sri Lanka in
2013 has embarked on a massive network modernisation and expansion
project.
The company’s fibre optic transmission network now covers most parts
of the island, including rural areas and the North and the East.
NBN supports sustainable national progress by connecting all 329
Divisional Secretariats to strengthen government activities.
The 100% fibre optic coverage of electorates was achieved well within
the NBN target date and fibre optic network exceeds the NBN needs of at
least one point of interconnection per electorate.
One of the key strategic objectives of the SLT Group is to drive
broadband based consumer and enterprise services by expanding the
broadband footprint via Next Generation Network and National Backbone
Network and Next Generation Access via ADSL2+, VDSL2, Optical Fibre,
Carrier-grade WiFi and both fixed and mobile 4G LTE technologies.
SLT continues to roll out VDSL2, ADSL2+, fixed 4G/LTE and FTTH
services to enhance customers’ experience while ensuring that
investments are future focused. As the national telecommunications
service provider, SLT is actively engaged in increasing ICT availability
and affordability through a range of broadband offers and cloud
services.
To facilitate the improvement of broadband penetration and to enhance
user experience, SLT introduced data volume enhancements of up to 100%
and peak data volume enhancements up to 70% at no extra cost in the
beginning of this year and also further expanded its broadband
portfolio, enabling customers to choose the ideal package that suits
their specific needs and budgets.
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