Author: lbostgadmin
Full Penetration
Sept 09, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka top celcos firms said they will connect more people by finding ways to lower costs, despite rising inflation and taxes on mobile calls hitting the pockets of poorer sections of society. Anoja Obeysekere, from Sri Lanka’s Dialog Telekom, who is the chairperson of the Asia Pacific GSM Association, […]
Competition
Sept 09, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka incumbent mobile operators say the industry has healthy competition and are denying claims by new rival, India’s Airtel that anti-competitive practices in interconnection are keeping prices high.Sri Lanka’s Dialog, Hutch, Mobitel and Tigo says the country’s mobile penetration reached 38 percent at the end of 2007, which was […]
Digital President
Sept 09, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has a ‘digital president’ who is strongly backing the spread of information communications technology (ICT) in the country, International Telecommunications Union (ITU) chief Toure Hamadoun said.Sri Lanka now had 44 percent mobile penetration, which was double that of India. It was the first country in South Asia to […]
Sri Lanka to build premium tourism zone; offers 14 islands
Sept 09, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is to offer a new tourism zone for development in Kalpitiya in the country’s north western coast, which has 14 islands in which to build eco-friendly resorts, officials said. Tourism secretary George Michael says the area with 14 islands contains 4,000 acres for development. Galhena said requests for […]
Sri Lanka prosperity index find wide divisions and gains
Sept 08, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s most prosperous conditions are found in the Western province followed by the central and southern province, while the Northern province trails behind, an index devised by the Central Bank has found. Officials say the index goes beyond traditional measures like economic growth to find out what makes people […]
Bunker Deadline
Sept 08, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has given the bunkering unit of John Keells Holdings (JKH) till September 12 to vacate a tank farm, and the company has been ordered to pay compensation to workers, lawyers said. LMS earlier sought and received time till September 10 to take away its oil stocks […]
US takes over Fannie, Freddie in bid to ease finance crisis
WASHINGTON, September 7, 2008 (AFP) – The US government took over ailing mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Sunday and placed them in a “conservatorship” in a bid to avert a financial system meltdown from the housing crisis. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced the US regulator was seizing control of the government-chartered, shareholder-owned […]
OPEC struggles with falling oil prices, as bubble deflates
VIENNA, September 7, 2008 (AFP) – The question facing the OPEC oil producer group which meets Tuesday is when, not if, to cut its oil production target as crude prices slide in the face of weakening economic growth, analysts say. Most analysts surveyed by AFP expect the 13-nation cartel to agree to trim its output […]
Singapore Airlines says to cut fuel surcharges
SINGAPORE, September 8, 2008 (AFP) – Singapore Airlines (SIA) said Monday it will cut fuel surcharges on some of its international flights after recent declines in jet fuel prices. The cuts, ranging from four to 10 US dollars, will take effect Tuesday and apply to flights from Singapore to Southeast Asian countries, Australia, New Zealand […]
Kuwait says no need for oil output cut
KUWAIT CITY, September 8, 2008 (AFP) – Kuwait’s Oil Minister Mohammad Al-Olaim said on Monday as he left for an OPEC meeting that he saw no need to cut the cartel’s oil production.New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October, rose 65 cents to 106.88 dollars a barrel in electronic deals while […]
Sri Lanka steps up air attacks against Tigers: military
September 7, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lankan war planes and helicopter gunships pounded suspected Tamil Tiger bases in northern Sri Lanka on Sunday, the defence ministry said. Both sides admitted heavy losses in ground battles last week. Fighter jets attacked a training camp of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at Mankulam, just south […]
Broad Backbone
Sept 08, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is planning an optical fibre backbone to take broadband internet access to rural areas of the island, with the infrastructure to be built as a public private partnership, an official said.Sri Lanka Telecom, the island’s largest fixed access firm has been laying fibre optic ring around the capital […]