Leadership team

Leadership grooming in progress for the next generation

Lalith De Silva
Group Chief Executive Officer, Sri Lanka Telecom

He joined Sri Lanka Telecom as its GCEO in 2013, making him the first local CEO following the company’s privatisation in 1996. Prior to this appointment, De Silva was the CEO of Mobitel (Private) Limited for two terms, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of SLT. The first was in 2002 - following the acquisition of Mobitel by SLT and the next in 2011. Having pioneered Mobitel in the establishment of its GSM network, he was instrumental in laying the foundation for its rapid technological and exponential market growth. He commenced his engineering career at IBM in Sri Lanka and followed it up in Australia and is a globally recognised ICT and Programme Management Specialist. He has held a plethora of high ranking positions such as Advisor to SLT, Board Director/Consultant Sri Lankan Airlines, Board Director Mobitel (Private Limited) and Senior Advisor to Saudi Telecom, and is an experienced telecommunications professional with over three decades of extensive international private sector experience spanning across a wide range of industries.

De Silva is a Fellow of the Institute of Consulting (FIC) of UK and a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute of UK (FCMI). He is the Founder Chairman of the Project Management Institute in Sri Lanka. He functioned as its Chairman until 2009, and currently serves as an Advisor. At present, De Silva is reading for a PhD at the University of Colombo.

Ranjith Ganganath Rubasinghe
Chief Executive Officer, SLT Human Capital Solutions (Private) Limited

Ranjith G. Rubasinghe holds a wealth of experience in the fields of Communication and IT in various national and multinational organisations and has been with Sri Lanka Telecom for 12 years. He is a Chartered Engineer, Representative Fellow of the Council and the Chairman of the Electrical & Electronic Engineering Sectional Committee of the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka (IESL) with a MBA from the University of Colombo, BSc Engineering in Electrical and Electronics, a Postgraduate Diploma in Engineering. Rubasinghe is also a certified member of the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM) and an associate member of the Institute of Personal Management (IPM).

He adds to his diverse portfolio by displaying expertise in ICT Management, Human Resource Management, Marketing and Operational & Financial control. At SLT, he served as head of section “RAINBOW PAGES” (2006-2008) and as the Chief Executive Officer of SLT Manpower Solutions (Pvt) Ltd since 2008. Not limiting to the service provided to SLT Group only, he was able to transform the organization to SLT Human Capital Solutions (Pvt) Ltd in 2013 with the mission to be the Leading Human Asset Management Partner in Sri Lanka.

He has led the organization to win the award for “Excellence in HR through Technology” at Global HR Excellence Awards 2013, Asia’s Best Employer Brand Award 2012 and award for “Best in Recruitment and Consulting” at Asian Leadership Award 2011. Among his personal achievements, he was awarded Chartered Engineer of the Year 2011 at IESL’s Engineering Excellence Awards and the ‘HR LEADERSHIP AWARD’ at the Global HR Excellence Awards 2010 and 2013.

Malraj Balapitiya
Chief Executive Officer, SLT Publications (Private) Limited & SLT VisionCom (Private) Limited

Balapitiya is a professionally qualified Chartered Engineer and a Fellow Member of the Institute of Engineers of Sri Lanka. He counts nearly 30 years of work experience at various stratas of the SLT Administration and has swiftly climbed the corporate ladder from Technical Officer to Regional Telecom Engineer, Head of the Province and General Manager prior to his appointment as CEO of SLT Publications (Pvt.) Ltd.

He is a dynamic personality with managerial, marketing and entrepreneurial skills and has helped Rainbow Pages to reach the highest echelons to become the only directory publisher recognized by the Government of Sri Lanka.

In 2011 he was appointed as the CEO of SLT Vision com (Pvt.) Ltd, in addition to his present position of CEO of SLT Publications (Pvt.) Ltd. He has used his innate marketing skills and charisma to get the support of SLT network to push PEO TV to greater levels of productivity and make it a viable and dynamic entity that has made a significant impact on the Pay TV industry of Sri Lanka.

Today both Rainbow Pages and PEO TV are thriving businesses that earn much needed revenue for the SLT Group.

Prabath Gunathunge
Chief Executive Officer, SLT Property Management (Private) Limited

Prabath is a Civil Engineer graduated from University of Moratuwa in 1993. He has been holding senior positions both in the public and the private sector for over 20 years. Prior to his present assignment, with Sri Lanka Telecom, he was the General Manager of Walkers Pilling PLC. Further to that, he has obtained an MBA from Post Graduate Institute of Management in 2000.

Prasanna Perera
Chief Executive Officer, Sri Lanka Telecom (Services) Limited

Prasanna Perera joined Sri Lanka Telecom Services in 2003 as Head of Marketing and was appointed CEO of the Company subsequently. He is a member of Sri Lanka Institute of marketing (SLIM), Higher National Diploma in Business Management (NIBM), Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK), and has a Master of Business Management from University of Lincoln, UK. Prior to moving to Sri Lanka Telecom Services, he served in several senior managerial positions at the Metropolitan Group, EDS Lanka and Lanka Communication Services. During his career spanning 22 years, Prasanna worked in the ICT industry with his exposure ranging from software development to communication companies and also serving as visiting Lecturer in marketing and management of some institutions.

Mahinda B. Herath
Chief Executive Officer, Sky Network (Private) Limited

Mahinda is a Chartered Engineer holding a Degree in Engineering from University of Moratuwa and a Masters in Industrial Mathematics from University of Sri Jayawardenapura. In a career spanning over 29 years in the SLT Group, he has gained multi-disciplinary exposure in the fields of engineering, management, regulation and business; having previously held positions such as Engineer, Deputy General Manager, Head of Province and General Manager Regulatory Affairs and International Business apart from the wide-ranging technical and managerial training he has received from reputed international Operators such as Telia AB of Sweden, France Telecom, AT & T of USA and KDD of Japan, he has also gained certifications in Telecommunication Regulation from Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO), Australian Communication & Media Authority (ACMA) and University of Florida. He has also been involved in the activities of ITU study groups, Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science (SLAAS) and International Development Research Centre (IDRC), with several research papers and a book chapter to his credit. Mahinda is currently spearheading two key projects in SLT; namely the fixed TD-LTE rollout and the carrier-grade Wi-Fi rollout.

Priyantha Perera
Chief Administrative Officer

Joined SLT in 1982, armed with a BSc from the University of Moratuwa in Electronics and Telecommunications. He is a Chartered Engineer with a Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing from the CIM (UK) and a Fellow and a Past Council Member of The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka, a member of IET (UK) and CIM (UK), and also a Competent Toastmaster.

He has experience in areas such as regional management, project management, technology strategy formulation and execution, technical operation, technical evaluation, marketing management and Company transformation. He has led special Company-wide cross-functional teams on ‘productivity improvement’ and ‘paradigm shift’ in SLT such as 5S and Breakthrough Thinking.

Ajantha Seneviratne
Chief Business Strategies Officer (Subsidiaries)

Joined SLT in 1993. He holds a BSc. (1987) in Electronics and Telecommunications from the University of Moratuwa and has obtained the Post Graduate Diploma in Industrial Engineering from OUSL. He has an MBA from the University of Sri Jayawardanepura. He is a Chartered Engineer and is a member of The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka. He brings with him over ten years of marketing experience.

S. K. Lal Ranjith
Chief Corporate Officer

Joined SLT in 1984 as an Engineer. He holds a BSc (1983) in Electronics and Communication from the University of Moratuwa and an MBA from the PIM of the University of Sri Jayawardanepura. He has also completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing from the CIM (UK) and is a Chartered Marketer cum Chartered Engineer with membership of The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka and CIM (UK). He is also a Toastmaster.

K. A. Kiththi Perera
Chief Enterprise & Wholesale Officer

Joined SLT in 1994. He holds a MEng from University of Moratuwa in Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering and a Chartered Engineer of the Institute of Electrical Engineers and Engineering Council (UK). He has experience in International Transmission Systems, Submarine Cable Systems, Data and IP Networking and Project Management.

He has experience in dealing with Enterprise and Government customers over the last 12 years and was instrumental in introducing Metro Ethernet Technology to Sri Lanka. He has provided voice-data integrated enterprise solutions connected with high speed resilient connectivity services to many customers.

Udeni K. Samararatne
Chief Financial Officer

Is a Member of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants, United Kingdom and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, United Kingdom.

He has worked in companies such as Richard Pieris PLC a diversified conglomerate, Lanka Ashok Leyland PLC a heavy commercial vehicle manufacturer, Noritake Ltd of Japan one of the world’s largest porcelain ware producers, Ferrero Ltd a Luxembourg based company which is one of the world’s largest chocolate manufacturers and at Ceat Kelani Holdings Ltd the leading tyre manufacturer of Sri Lanka. Before joining SLT he held the position of Group General Manager Finance for the Ceat Kelani Holdings Ltd group of companies. He has over 25 years of finance experience gained both locally and internationally.

D. W. R. Wijeweera
Chief Information Officer

Joined SLT in 1982 and served as Head of the Billing Division in 2001 and became CIO of SLT in 2005. He is a member of The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka (C.Eng.), IIESL, IET (UK) and CSSL. He has been engaged in major IT projects to provide the strategic IT road map for SLT. As Programme Manager he implemented the Integrated OSS, BSS and in the recent past it was integrated with CRM system by him, as a project director.

P. Roshan Kaluarachchi
Chief Marketing Officer

Joined SLT in 2010 as Chief Marketing Officer. He holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing - UK and is a Chartered Marketer - UK. He is also a Fellow of Chartered Institute of Marketing (FCIM) - UK, and a member of The Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (MSLIM). He holds a Masters in Business Studies from the University of Colombo. He is a veteran in the field of Marketing with over 20 years of practice in the entire spectrum of Marketing and Sales Management in both Multinational and Blue Chip Companies in Sri Lanka. He has exposure in Marketing Communications, Distribution Channel Development & Management, Product Development & Management, Communication Channel Management, Market Activation, Market Research, Contact Centre Operations, Brand Management and Sales. He has cross industry experience covering FMCG, Consumer Durables, Telecommunications both Fixed and Mobile categories in Sri Lanka. He was a member of the Panel of Judges for SLIM Brand Excellence Awards 2013. Prior to joining SLT, Mr. Kaluarachchi served as General Manager - Marketing at Mobitel where his aggressive strategic marketing leadership contributed towards the company becoming the second largest mobile operator within a short span of 3 years.

M. B. P. Fernandez
Chief Network Officer

Joined SLT in 1991. He has a BSc Eng in Electronics and Telecommunications from the University of Moratuwa and an MBA from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. He is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow Member of the Institute of Engineers, Sri Lanka with 23 years of experience in operations, maintenance, project management, customer service and marketing. He also serves as Director of Sri Lanka Telecom (Services) Ltd. He was a resource person for many institutes such as TTI, IPM, etc.

Chinthaka C. Wijesuriya
Chief Regional Officer

Joined SLT in 1984 and served as Regional Head in 2001 and became Chief Regional Officer of SLT in 2010. He obtained Graduate membership of Radio and Electronic Engineers (London, UK) and became a Chartered Engineer of the Institution of Electrical Engineers (London, UK). He is a Member of the Association of Professional Engineers Scientists and Managers Associations in Australia and holds an MBA (Technical Management) from La Trobe University of Australia. He has wide experience in the telecommunications industry, in areas such as operations, maintenance, sales, marketing, customer service, quality management and project management.

Mohan Padmaperuma
Chief Transformation and Development Officer

Joined SLT as an Engineer in 1984. He holds a BSc in Electronics and Telecommunication from University of Moratuwa (1983). He is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow member of the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka. He brings with him experience in the Emirates Telecommunication Company from 1989 – 1991.