Bharti Airtel on joint rejoinder

Bharti Airtel has issued the following statement on the joint rejoinder by the four mobile operations in Sri Lanka to Airtel's plea for fairness in inter connection.

"Recently, four existing mobile operators in Sri Lanka issued a joint rejoinder to Airtel's plea for fairness in inter connection. The operators, while welcoming Airtel to Sri Lanka also advocated a level playing field.

Airtel welcomes their welcoming us and would soon like to see them walking the talk.

Airtel, however, maintains its stand that it is being discriminated against and that all efforts are being made by the same mobile operators to block/delay the entry of Airtel.

The very fact that a joint statement had to be issued is indicative of the coming together of various operators to block a new entrant.

It may be pertinent here to mention that Airtel seeks the very same agenda that has been clearly articulated in the recently issued draft Development Agenda (2006-2016) of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) of Sri Lanka.

Promoting competition, improving quality of service, making cellular services more affordable to the rural and urban consumers and discouraging anti competitive practices are some of the areas TRCSL has proposed to strengthen.

In the same Development Agenda, the TRC spells out the issues facing the Telecommunications industry, namely Lack of a seamless Interconnection regime, Lack of effective Quality of Service management, Improve operator responsiveness to customer needs.

Airtel is very happy and honoured to have been given a chance by the TRC and Government of Sri Lanka to serve the Sri Lankan customer with quality service at affordable prices.

We remain committed to our promise of providing the customer International quality service and experience at affordable prices, Best in class products and services, state-of-the-art network across the country to offer best connectivity and a great mobile experience."