Mobitel - best player by 2015 - CEO

ByLalin Fernadopulle

Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel will be the best player among mobile service providers by next year, said Mobitel CEO Ranjith Rubasinghe, who assumed duties mid this year.

He said that he is content with the vast strikes the company has made over the years and added that he was confident that the company, as a leading service provider, will contribute immensely to the national Information Communication Technology drive in the country which is a key to accelerating economic growth as envisaged by the government's development goals.

Mobitel which launched operations in 1993, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sri Lanka Telecom. The company offers a range of services such as the GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSPA, HSPA plus and FD-LTE using 2G, 3.5G and 4G technologies.

The network covers the entire country with its state-of-the-art technology.

Mobitel offers prepaid and post-paid mobile broadband service using the 3.5G network and post-paid mobile service with mobile broadband service using 4G network.

“Our focus is on quality of service and complete customer satisfaction rather that numbers and pricing. Our network services are valued by customers who experience value for money services from Mobitel,” Rubasinghe said.

Mobitel has a footprint across the country as a leading mobile service provider investing over US$ 500 million on its 2.5G, 3.5G and 4G networks.

“We are a key player in the Northern and Eastern regions and we hope to expand our network in the provinces.

The North and the East are potential markets for mobile and broadband services following the rapid development in the area. Mobitel will tap that market and expand its foot print,” Rubasinghe said.

Dialog, Hutch, Etisalat and Airtel are the other players in the industry. Mobile service providers face stiff competition due to the saturated market.

The players in the industry strive to keep abreast with global trends to be ahead of the competitors.

“We need to constantly come up with novel strategies to overcome this hurdle in the market.

We want to break the digital barrier with a focus on quality services. We believe that we are the best in the industry,” Rubasinghe said.

Mobitel has reached out to the rural masses and all segments of society with customised solutions. Providing access to the entire country is vital in making a technology-savvy nation for which we need the support of the government.

With a major stake vested in the State, Mobitel is a model of a private-public partnership.

Rubasinghe said that the company has been growing well but a lot more needs to be done as technology is evolving. It is vital to keep pace with technological development and meet customer demand.

He said that at present Mobitel has a 25 percent market share in subscriber terms and a little over 25 percent in terms of revenue. Rural penetration has been a challenge for mobile and broadband services due to the language barrier and device value.

We need to make rural masses aware of the value of technology with content in local languages.

With around five million mobile service subscribers and around half a million broadband users, Mobitel is geared to enter the next phase of network development.