Category: Industry
Even Keel
December 5, 2006 (LBO) – Dialog Telekom, the island’s biggest mobile phone operator, retained its AAA (lka) rating, but subscriber growth has lagged against industry peers, Fitch Ratings Lanka said. œThe rating reflects Dialog’s leading position in Sri Lanka’s cellular-mobile space with around 60 percent subscriber-share, its robust growth and strong operating cash flow, the […]
Better Deal
Dec 05 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s small hydro developers are in talks with the government for a new electricity tariff, to be finalised in about a month, as mini-hydro electricity becomes more expensive to develop. There are currently about 100 megawatts of small hydro plants generating 300 million units of electricity a year, connected to […]
Light Load
December 2, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka plans to build a 300 megawatte liquefied natural gas plant with Iranian assistance, the government said Saturday. “Iran is highly developed in power plant manufacturing industry and is able to meet the domestic requirement of power plant construction. Sri Lanka power industry can benefit through mutual cooperation between […]
Plugged In
December 2, 2006 (LBO) – Dialog Telekom said Saturday that it has taken full control of cable television operator CBN SAT, that was previously shut down by the government for not having necessary paperwork. Sri Lanka, which became the first South Asian nation to start mobile services, when Celltel Lanka began operations in 1989, now […]
Sri Lanka to use embarkation fee revenue to develop Kalpitiya Dutch Bay Island
December 2, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka plans to part of its embarkation fee revenue to develop the Kalpitiya Dutch Bay Island into a tourist attraction, the government said Saturday. Cabinet of ministers had agreed to initiate the project across 5,000 acres of land at a cost of 350 million rupees. Tourism Minister Anura Bandaranaike […]
Next Show
November 30, 2006 (LBO) – Tough regulations are stifling growth of Sri Lanka’s cable and satellite television industry, a local research firm says, but is poised to take off as new and larger players’ lower costs and improve choice. Sri Lanka’s current penetration of satellite and cable channels is less than one percent of the […]
Trade Battle
WASHINGTON, Nov 30, 2006 (AFP) – The United States and Asian economies are divided over how to implement a plan to set up an Asia-Pacific free trade area, two weeks after agreeing to study the ambitious proposal. The Asian economies want to first establish a free trade area among themselves before considering the implementation of […]
Aid for AIDS
Dec 1, 2006 (LBO) – The United States said Friday that it would give Sri Lanka 650,000 dollars to help curb the AIDS virus in high risk areas of the island, officials from the US Agency for International Development, said. Department of Health Services, 2006 report says the number of reported cumulative AIDS deaths in […]
Costly Business
Dec 01 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s export and import trade are to be slapped with higher terminal handling charges from January, shipping lines calling on the Colombo port said in a public notice on Friday. The India Pakistan Bangladesh Ceylon Conference (IPBCC) a grouping of about 19 shipping lines, said that they were revising rates […]
Potential Problem
Nov 30, 2006 (LBO) – Estimated 5.5 to six million people in South Asia is infected with AIDS which have become a severe epidemic but the HIV epidemic remains at a low level in Sri Lanka, the World Bank said Thursday. South Asia is a heterogeneous and highly mobile region the report says, where most […]
Horrible Dream
November 29, 2006 (LBO) – Indian fuel retailer Lanka IOC Ltd sank deeper into the red posting a 605 million net loss during the quarter ending Sept., as it is yet to collect billions of rupees from the Sri Lankan government for selling fuel below costs. A unit of the Fortune 500 Indian Oil Corp. […]
Maldives and India keeps Sri Lankan leisure operators afloat
November 29, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s top hotel groups are increasingly relying on their Maldivian operations and investments into India for survival, as an escalation in violence deters visitors here “The projection for Sri Lanka is rather poor at least for the next few months. If the security situation improves hopefully, things will certainly […]