Category: Technology

Sri Lanka Telecom Ltd. may reap substantially higher revenue if an international call routing agreement with Indias Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. takes effect, Asia Securities said in a research report Thursday.Earnings for the fixed-line operator could increase by at least Rs.500 mn in 2004 if Bharat Sanchar Nigam makes use of the international call routing […]

Insurance consultant Chandra Fernando thought very little when he signed up for a Dialog GSM connection on March 30, 1995.The 54 year old Fernando recounts that he just walked into the Dialog Arcadia Shop out of curiosity, after hearing about the new GSM cellular network.rn rnHe said he was lured by a pretty sales girl […]

With taxes slashed and handsets smuggled in, Sri Lanka is becoming a mobile phone paradise where even the islands prisons are awash with cell phones.With the price of handsets falling by about 35 percent this year, owning a mobile has never been so affordable in Sri Lanka, where vegetable vendors, taxi drivers and pavement hawkers […]

The World Bank on Thursday signed a US$ 53 million deal with the Republic of Sri Lanka, funds to back its island-wide Information and Communications Technology diffusion project.The funds will be available to the ICT Agency to rollout a number of pilot projects and initiate rural telecommunications projects.rn rnKey elements of the first phase of […]

For instance, a simple and direct translation in Sinhalese for ldblquote save dblquote means rescue, while there is no commonly used local term for mouse.rn rnMicrosoft Corp., recently setup local office is booting up for a nationwide campaign to compile a glossary of terms and phrases used in daily computing.rn rnThe proposed open process will […]

Fixed line operator Suntel plans to infuse US$ 20 mn this year, to roll out its network islandwide.The wireless local loop operator has sought the telecom watchdogs approval to get a slot in the 800 Mhz bandwidth.rn rnSuntel officials say they applied for approval mid last year, but are yet to receive the regulators consent. […]

Chipmaker Intel setup shop here this week, apart from the obvious reason of taping into the sales potential in the island, to standardize wireless technologies WiFi and WiMax. The local office will help identify corporate businesses and rural infrastructure rollout projects that will use wireless technologies.rnrnThe wireless standardization process is in line with Intels current […]

Sri Lankas IT industry is surging ahead and on Tuesday another key player launched operations in Colombo, adding one more link to the backward integration chain.Sri Lankas computer market is estimated at 150,000 PCs a year and is growing at around 19 percent every year.rn rnHigher priced branded computers make up nearly 30 percent of […]

Delays in appointing a Commission to the telecom watchdog is holding up Suntels next phase of network expansion. Costs per line are estimated to tumble down to about US$ 200 from the above US$ 1000 levels currently, with the new network expansion.rn rnSuntel could also tap the market for funds to foot its network expansion […]

Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) says it has just plugged in a Rs. 60 mn revenue seepage, which was discovered after its new US$ 20 mn billing system kicked in.The telecom giant says around four million minutes of international inpayment calls were not billed, while nearly 3,000 customers were not sent invoices.rn rnLucky subscribers who got […]

The Treasury is considering the possibility of taking on the cost of thermal electricity generation to ease the CEBs cash crunch.CEB sources say the Treasury is now considering, among other measures, the feasibility of taking on the cost of thermal electricity generation to ease the CEBs financial difficulties.rn rnldblquote This cost will be treated like […]

Competition just got louder in the local telecom industry with Indian telco giant VSNL stepping up its operations in Sri Lanka. VSNL on Monday formally launched its international data and voice services here for the corporate and retail markets.rn rnHowever, VSNL has been busy behind the scene capturing overseas voice business since last year, when […]