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Fixed Telephony
Playing the Lead Role
SLT is the flagship telecommunications service provider in Sri
Lanka. When one considers that telephone services were introduced
to Sri Lanka in 1880 and for a large part of history thereafter
our forebears the Postal and Telecommunications Services and
after them, the Telecommunications Department “carried
the torch”, one can appreciate the tremendously stable
grounding and penetration SLT enjoys today.
Today, SLT commands 87% of the market for fixed line operations
providing a total of 860,468 Direct Exchange Lines (DELs).
For the year 2004, SLT provided 53,656 new connections.
Telephone connection is now available on demand in most locations
in the Colombo Metropolitan area and in other major cities.
In rural areas the Company has improved its ability to meet
demand and installation is available on demand in most areas
where the network is present, such as by way of radio link.
SLT is exploring more cost effective ways of expanding its rural
network, since the financial returns from this sector remain
poor.
Our customer profile is wide and varied and consists of top
multinational corporates, through small and medium scale entrepreneurs
to urban and rural folks.
Our telecommunications network has the widest reach and is the
most technologically advanced in Sri Lanka. It features a fully
digitalised telecommuincation transport network, reaching deep
into every region of the country supported by its own transport
backbone. It comprises of 500 digital switching nodes with 80
master telecommunication exchanges divided into 29 area codes
each served by a secondary switching centre. The secondary switching
centres are in turn connected to four tertiary switching centres
at Colombo, Kandy, Galle and Anuradhapura and hence routed to
the Company’s National Switching Centre in Colombo.
We run approximately 950 km of fibre optic cabling supported
by microwave, which link key towns with Colombo.
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Mobile
Telephony
From
Strength to Strength
Mobitel, wholly owned by SLT is Sri Lanka’s second largest
mobile operator in terms of revenue. However, it can be proud
of many features in its operations which supersede the competition.
For example, Mobitel is the only service provider in Sri Lanka
to have a fully EDGE enabled GSM system in Sri Lanka. Indeed,
Mobitel was the first network in the world to offer an EDGE
enabled mobile operation.
The key initiative of Mobitel during 2004 was to continue the
roll out of its GSM operations. This single factor catalysed
huge growth for Mobitel and has enabled it to move ever closer
to its goal of becoming Sri Lanka’s No.1 mobile operator,
delivering the 4 Cs - Coverage, Customer Care, Clarity and Content.
Mobitel’s presence within the SLT fold has galvanised
great synergies for both institutions. To SLT, Mobitel has brought
the capability of becoming Sri Lanka’s only fully integrated
telecommunications service provider, offering both fixed line
and mobile services in addition to its Data, IP and Internet
services.
More Mobitel Customers
As at 31 December 2004, Mobitel had a customer base of 285,000.
This was a 99.3% increase over 2003. Of this customer profile
the majority were GSM customers.
Mobitel’s market share has increased to 19% in 2004 as
against 11% for 2003. This astronomical growth was largely fuelled
by the introduction of GSM services.
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Data
& IP
Out of the Call Box
Over centuries and up until very recently, the icons of the
telecommunications industry across the globe were the familiar,
red, street corner call box, the domestic telephone handset
and kilometre upon kilometre of winding telephone lines, stretching
unbroken from one telephone post to the next and the next and
so on.
What a transformation we see today.
Telecommunications today has gone from wire to wireless; from
analogue to digital; from the exchange to the Internet. Today,
the humble telephone of ages past has been transformed into
a sleek, modern appliance, a fashion icon even, that has migrated
from “desktops” to “palm helds” and
offers a hitherto unimaginable range of services that have long
superseded simple voice transmissions.
Welcome to SLT’s Data and IP services - offering a range
of facilities that deal with the sourcing, transmission and
storage of non-voice based data. At the end of 2004, the Company
had a market share of 65% in data services.
SLTData - The ‘Data Gateway’
SLT offers a full portfolio of domestic data leased line services
under the name “SLTData”.
The Company has leveraged its existing fibre optic infrastructure
to offer a host of IP based services such as IP-VPN, SLT Broadband, VOIP
and Internet Data Centres. In support of this initiative, we
have put in place an IP backbone serving the Colombo Metropolitan
area, as well as Katunayake and Kandy.
The Company sees the main users of this product segment as coming
from the corporate sector.
We also operate a Frame Relay service within the country.
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Internet
Great ‘Net’ Results - Dial-up
SLT’s Internet service was launched in 1996. As you would
expect, the demand for this service has been steadily growing
over the years. The widening access that a wider cross-section
of people are gaining to the web, augurs well for growth to
be sustained well into the future.
The Company’s SLTNet is by far the country’s largest
Internet Service Provider (ISP) by customer base. The services
provided are varied and tailored to meet diverse needs for example
those of students, the home and corporate offices.
In a broader sense, SLT offers its products in the categories
of Post-Paid and Pre-Paid.
As at 31 December 2004, SLT counted 56,000 customers for its
Post-Paid Internet, E-mail, Internet Leased Lines and SLT Broadband products,
which is a growth of 11% over 2003, whilst the Pre-Paid subscriber
base as at the same date reached 70,000 customers, which is
a growth of 85% over 2003.
The “Student Inbox” and the “Light
Surfer”
During 2004, SLT launched two new Internet based products called
“Student Inbox” and “Light Surfer”.
Both products were designed to promote the use of the Internet
by students at an affordable price.
Born out of several workshops and seminars held across the island
seeking to Impart more know how on Information Communication
Technology to teachers and students, the new products were designed
to fulfil the need for practical training in support of the
theoretical inputs of these events.
The Student Inbox is a facility provided to all students of
educational institutions approved by the Government, at a monthly
fee of Rs.100. Applications for the product must be certified
by the Principal of the institution.
The Light Surfer is a specially designed package for the novice
or those whose usage of Internet and e-mail services is of a
minimum duration. For a monthly fee of Rs. 250, the “Light
Surfer” can enjoy the first 15 hours of web surfing free
of charge, every month.
These two new product offers were made in line with SLT’s
aims to popularise Internet usage by improving accessibility
and affordability, whilst increasing international bandwidth.
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International
Hello, World…
Calling someone half way around the world today is as easy as
sitting back in a comfy chair and dialling. No operators, no
booked calls, no lost connections. The technology and accessibility
available to the industry today has truly made the world a smaller
and more reachable place - for people from Dondra to Point Pedro.
The Company maintains direct links with 54 countries but provides
international telephony to 223 countries through transit arrangements
with other telecommunications operators. As at 31 December 2004,
SLT enjoyed an international connectivity of 5,737 circuits
of which 14 countries including the USA, UK, Canada, Australia,
India, Germany and Hong Kong each have more than 120 circuits
available.
The Company has sufficient switching capacity to meet current
as well as anticipated levels of demand for international voice
and data traffic. The technical infrastructure that supports
SLT’s international telephony consists of three gateway
exchanges, two cable landing stations, three satellite earth
stations and one mobile earth station, augmented by the access
we enjoy to the undersea optical fibre cable facilities of SEA-ME-WE
2 and SEA-ME-WE 3.
SLT and BSNL
As has been commented on by the CEO in his message, one of the
highlights of 2004 was the fulfillment of measures under the
agreement signed between SLT and India’s No. 1 telecommunications
company, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), where under the
initial agreement signed in October 2003, a micro-wave link
was revived to carry voice traffic for Indian telecommunication
traffic aimed at global locations.
Under a further MoU signed in August 2004, BSNL and SLT principally
agreed to initiate the construction of a undersea optical fibre
cable between India and Sri Lanka catering to voice and data
requirements, not just between the two countries but possibly
across the SAARC region.
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