Category: Industry
Wind Chimes
The new communications act floating in parliament at present, will decide Lanka Bells future business strategy, CEO Joey Mendoza says. For now the company is concentrating on being a valued telecom services provider, with Internet being one of the value-added services.rn rnMendoza says present plans did not include offering internet as a independent service, but […]
Overseas Call
Sri Lanka Telecom plans to issue Luxembourg traded global depository receipts as part of its public offering to foreign investors. Top SLT officials said the book building exercise for a 15 percent slice, is tipped to start after November 15, for the dual listing in Colombo and Luxembourg.rn rnDFCC Bank will manage the IPO, with […]
House Hunting
State pension funds are eyeing long term housing bank debenture issues in an attempt to correct their assets and liability mismatch.rn rnState controlled Employees Provident and the Trust quote s fund managers are in discussions with three housing banks to purchase their debentures.rn rnState Mortgage and Investment Bank, Housing Development Finance Corporation and NDB Housing […]
JCT doing well
Container-traffic at the Colombo Port jumped by a mammoth twenty three percent in September, bucking an export growth trend.The Ports authority says the productivity at the Jaya Terminal at the Colombo port has also doubled with the introduction of a new incentive payment scheme.rn rnThe Jaya Container Terminal gantries are now shifting over seventy containers […]
Intel Inside
Leading chipmaker Intel is bullish about the local market for its products. The company says the high social indicators and low penetration of computers leaves a lot of room for expansion.rn rnldblquote Earlier this year 1 billion PCs were sold in the world. If you look at the way they were used 75% was sold […]
Open Codes
Computer software giants world over, make money by selling proprietary products. However few software developers in emerging economies market proprietary software products.Local policy markers want software developers to market their own products creating more value.rn rnAn IT roadmap the government is working on also seeks to establish the country as a world class IT center. […]
Home Extensions
Despite a lack of hype, Lanka Cellular Services, a subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa Limited will roll out three more GSM switches in Colombo, Kandy and Galle as part of its ongoing network expansion.Hutchison, primarily operating an Analog service, has already deployed a number of Global Standards for Mobile communication (GSM) switches outside Colombo.rn rnThe three […]
Wider Scope
Ceylinco Securities & Financial Services says it plans to get into the investment-banking sector.rn rnCurrently handling all types of investment related work, the firm says it has applied to the Central Bank for a specialized banking licence.rn rnWith eight branches strategically located islandwide, Ceylinco Securities provides a range of services including, stock broking (through Ceylinco […]
Busing It
Peoples Leasing on Wednesday raised Rs.250 mn by securitising part of its Rs.4 bn lease portfolio.rnrnStructured by Capital Alliance, the four-year note was snapped up by top private sector institutions, Peoples Leasing, CEO D P Kumarage told Lanka Business Online.rn rnWhile the funds will go somewhat towards easing the company quote s maturity mismatch, Kumarage […]
Northern Link
Sri Lanka Telecom says it has completed the initial phase of developing the dilapidated telecommunications network in Jaffna.Project Hope, which was to provide 4000 new telephone lines in Jaffna peninsula, has now been expanded to 5,300.Out of these lines Jaffna will have 3,600 while Point Pedro 1,700, SLT said in a statement Tuesday.rn rnSince launching […]
Faster Clicks
Intel Corp Tuesday introduced its highest performing desktop microprocessor, the new versions of Pentium 4 chip.At speeds now up to 2.8 GHz, the new processors allow computer users to enjoy broadband audio and video content, games, music, photos and movies.rn rnldblquote The latest Pentium 4 processors, when combined with Intels newest chipsets and the latest […]
Snail Road
The government plans to award the contract to build the Colombo-Matara superhighway later this month, top officials said.Transport Minister Tilak Marapane says construction on the long protracted Southern highway is likely to begin as early as November.rn rnThe Manila based Asian Development Bank has come forward with a US$ 90 mn loan while the government […]