Category: Technology

Mar. 30 (LBO) – The open source middleware start up WSO2 said Thursday that its WSO2 Tungsten product is fully interoperable with Microsoft’s upcoming Vista operating system. WSO2 is an open source company, which has offices in Boston, USA and a development centre in Sri Lanka. “Our efforts are proving that open source middleware technologies […]

A fast track program to give non-tech graduates jobs in the IT field has paid off, with a first batch of students finding full time work in top companies. The four month program by the Moratuwa University gives graduates from other fields marketable skills like computer programming, web design, networking and business know how. Surveys […]

Mar. 21 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Telecom, the island’s dominant fixed-line operator, Tuesday said it would stop connecting new subscribers through Code Division Multiplex Access or CDMA technology with immediate effect, following legal advice. The move follows SLT’s decision late Monday to take seek legal redress on a directive issued by the telecom watchdog with […]

Mar. 20 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s telecommunications regulator has upheld two private fixed operators’ claim to import handsets duty free, and blocked the country’s main investment body’s move to tax the instruments, a top official said. Last month, Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI) slapped a 33 percent import duty on Code Division Multiple […]

Mar. 13 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s two private wireless local loop telecom operators have been called up to pay around Rs. 400 million as duties for importing handsets, industry officials said. Last month, the island’s Board of Investment (BOI) slapped a 33 percent import duty on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) handsets with immediate effect. […]

Mar.10 (Dow Jones)–Sri Lanka’s Softlogic Holdings Ltd.said Friday it has bought the consumer electronics and automobiles units of diversified Uniwalkers Ltd. as part of an expansion plan. “This is a part of our strategy to diversify, expand our operations and increase annual turnover levels,” said Ashok Pathirage, the company’s chairman. He declined to disclose the […]

Mar09. (LBO) — Sri Lanka’s only payphone operator, Tritel Services will invest US $35 million over three years to set up its own CDMA based public phone network, an official said. The initial investment phase will pay for more than 20,000 payphones outside the commercialised western province and will cover Anuradhapura, Galle, Trincomallee, Batticalo, Kurunegala, […]

Mar. 08 (AFP) – Sri Lankan mobile phone company Celltel Wednesday announced plans to invest 100 million dollars to bring services to the island’s embattled northeast, but not in areas controlled by Tamil rebels. -Amal Jayasinghe: win98win@  Celltel, which launched an analogue network in 1989 to become the first phone company in South Asia to […]

Sri Lanka Telecom’s mobile subsidiary is vying to double its subscriber base by end 2006, launching a new low tariff prepaid package this week. Mobitel Lanka Private Limited on Monday launched a new prepaid service, which along with its new GSM network, is expected to double its 45,000 customer base by year end. Mobitel chief […]

Mar02. (LBO) — Sri Lanka’s second wireless local loop operator says it has lobbied the authorities to scrap a tax on CDMA handset imports.“We have written to the Board on Investment and the regulator.We are expecting a positive response soon,” Lanka Bell Managing Director Suren Goonawardene told LBO. The government last week wrote to the […]

Mar. 01 (LBO) — Fixed line giant Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) will add the Maldivian incumbent telco operator to its list of regional clients, commissioning an undersea cable by late 2006. Tenders for the 10 gigabit undersea cable project are now being evaluated, SLT Deputy Chief Operating Office C B R Perera told LBO on […]

Mar. 01 (LBO) — Swedish telco operator Telia AB’s Sri Lankan subsidiary on Wednesday reported a 66 percent drop in six months to December profits, on higher CDMA related administrative, distribution and depreciation costs. The private wireless local loop operator (WLL) has seen its subscriber growth soar to 188,000 customers after securing a license to […]