Category: Industry
4G
Apr 02, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Dialog Axiata, a unit of Malaysia’s Axiata said it had launched commercial fourth generation mobile services in Colombo, making it the first in South Asia. Dialog’s service is based on frequency division – long term evolution standard (FD-LTE) technology requiring paired bandwidth for separate uplink and downlink channels. […]
Credit Trend
Apr 01, 2013 (LBO) – Heavy state borrowings from banks crowded out credit to private business to a 44-month low in January 2013, despite the monetary authority cutting policy rates, official data show.Commercial banks loaned 9.7 billion rupees to private borrowers in the month, the lowest since May 2010, when 7.2 billion rupees was loaned […]
Foreign Cash
April 01, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s DFCC Bank has raised 45 million US dollars in a loan syndicated among Middle Eastern and Asian banks, lead arranger HSBC said. “DFCC’s success in this debut international loan syndication…demonstrates the strong level of confidence placed in the Bank and on the positive growth outlook for the country […]
Sri Lanka power regulator cuts penalties on late payers
Mar 31, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s power regulator had directed state-run Ceylon Electricity Board to cut penalties on late payers and also halted penal interest accruing after disconnection. The CEB has also been directed to come up with a plan to pay interest on customer security deposits held by the power firm.The power utility […]
Sri Lanka combined cycles more expensive than diesel engines: data
Mar 30, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s combined cycle power plants which are supposed to be efficient and cheaper have turned out to be more expensive than internal combustion plants, published data show. According to a consultation document released by the Public Utilities Commission, Sri Lanka’s power regulator, private plants running IC engines including Heladanavi […]
Fourth Gen
Mar 28, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Dialog Axiata, which bought a slice of 1800MegaHertz band spectrum says it will launch fourth generation high speed mobile broadband services shortly. Dialog group operates Sri Lanka’s largest mobile network with 7.8 million subscribers with GSM, 3G and HSPA+ technology. Dialog says it was chosen as the internet […]
Value Destruction
Mar 28, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s transport sectors is estimated to contribute to 10 percent of the gross domestic product, but its shortcoming including accidents, traffic jams and delays cost 200 billion rupees, an expert has said.“However about 30 percent is lost due to accidents, congestion, lost time in public transport and damaged goods […]
‘s Arif Habib group keen to expand in Sri Lanka: official
Mar 28, 2013 (LBO) – Pakistan’s Arif Habib group which has a stock brokering unit in Sri Lanka is planning to expand into commodities and trade consultancy which can boost bi-lateral trade, an official said.The group has put an application to start a physical wholesale commodity business and bring in one million US dollars. “We […]
Sri Lanka Mattala airport in bird strike
Mar 28, 2013 (LBO) – A state-run SriLankan Airlines flight has suffered a bird strike at Sri Lanka’s second international airport in Mattala after it opened, a media report said.The birds start arriving from around August during the northern hemisphere winter and leave in March and April. “Even near BIA there are two or three […]
Spectrum Auction
Mar 28, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Dialog Axiata has paid 3.2 billion rupees to buy a 10Mega Hertz block of spectrum in the 1,800MHz band which can be used for fourth generation high speed mobile broadband, telecom regulator Anusha Pelpita said. Mobitel and Etisalat had also participated in the spectrum auction by Sri Lanka […]
Shared Resources
Mar 28, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is allowing spectrum sharing and domestic roaming to promote shared resources and cut costs so that broadband tariffs can be kept low, the telecom regulator said. “We are allowing spectrum sharing,” director general of the telecommunications regulatory commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) Anusha Pelpita said. “We will not […]
Urban Transit
Mar 28, 2013 (LBO) – A bus rapid transit (BRT) solution could be implemented faster and at a much lower cost to prevent gridlock in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo, while a more expensive rail based Metro system is built, , officials said. The state has been investing heavily in transport in recent years, but mostly […]