Mobile Chat

Payphone operator Tritel, has launched a mobile telecom booth facility to provide IDD and local call facilities to rural folks. Payphone operator Tritel, has launched a mobile telecom booth facility to provide IDD and local call facilities to rural folks. Initially seven Tritel tricycles, each worth about Rs. 125,000, will roam rural hamlets off Anuradhapura, Mihintale, Polonnaruwa, Matara, Hikkaduwa, and Tangalle, says Nihal Ratnayake, New Business Development & Corporate Affairs Officer of Tritel.

Sri Lanka's largest payphone operator is using wireless technology to offer this novel service.

"Islandwide connectivity is still not possible. Even if wireless technology is around in a particular area, we find that most rural people can't afford the cost of getting and maintaining a phone," says Ratnayake.

The tricycle fleet will eventually expand to 30 units, as the programme unfolds.

With a 40 percent market share, the tricycles will add to Tritel's existing 4,500 payphone booths. Tritel hopes to eventually add email and fax facilities to its mobile unit.

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