|
|
 |
 |
| Sunday, 12 October 2003 |
 |
|
 |
Business |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
Leading 'edge' technology from mobile company
Sri Lanka will be among the first four countries in the world to launch the latest GSM technology 'EDGE', when Mobitel deploys it on November 1. "We are launching the new technology as we want to give the best possible service to our customers," said Chairman Mobitel and Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT), Thilanga Sumathipala. With the liberalisation of the telecommunications sector by the Government, telecommunication providers were expected to offer seamless services to consumers, leading to higher competition. A study done by SLT had shown that in a liberalised market, the inability to offer mobile services could severely impact the long-term growth of the company. Therefore, SLT commenced negotiations with Telstra of Australia in March 2002 and took over the operations of Telstra in October 2002. "We took the first opportunity to acquire 100 per cent of Mobitel," Sumathipala said. "We looked at the strengths and weaknesses of all technologies and found that GSM technology was the best and most widely used. Therefore, we went for the latest technology in the GSM world," he added. For many years Mobitel was the number one network in terms of clarity, coverage and customer care. Technology was the only area where it was not dominant. Mobitel launched a new logo, heralding a new era and creating a new vision for the company. The company presently has 127,000 customers and plans are afoot to increase it to 400,000 within six months in stage one and to 600,000 within three years in stage two. The initial capital investment of US$ 77 million will be used to roll out the islandwide network with 312 base stations. Mobitel's technology partner in the current roll-out is Ericsson AB of Sweden, which enjoys a global market share of 40 per cent for GSM network equipment. Mobitel, in an year, will roll out a network of the scale that was rolled out by other networks over 10 years. Over the next three years, Mobitel will invest US$ 200 million in the roll-out of the network. The network will support services such as MMS, WAP, GPRS and SMS-based products. A range of SMS-based information products and packages will be introduced with the official launch of the network. A variety of corporate solutions will also be launched with the commencement of Mobitel's GSM service. Mobitel commenced operations in 1993 as a Build Own Transfer enterprise between Telstra of Australia and SLT. In 1997, the agreement was converted to a joint venture agreement with Telstra holding 60 per cent of the equity and SLT holding the balance 40 per cent. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
