Category: Technology

Nov 10, 2009 (LBO) – Microsoft launched its latest operating system (OS), Windows 7, in Sri Lanka promising easier use with more functions. “The new OS provides users with an experience that is above and beyond anything they have used before,” Ken Wye Saw, Vice-President, Microsoft Asia Pacific said at the launch. “The product is […]

CHENNAI, Nov 06, 2009 (LBO) – Despite improving quality, Sri Lankan fixed and mobile broadband internet users receive less bandwidth than ‘advertised’, while web hosting costs are also higher than developed countries, a telecom study has revealed. “It’s very clear that broadband speeds advertised by providers were more than what they could offer,” Chanuka Wattegama, […]

Oct 20, 2009 (LBO) – Sri lanka’s MillenniumIT software firm said its acquisition by the London Stock Exchange Group would help boost global sales of its trading technology business. Tony Weeresinghe, chief executive of MillenniumIT, said the deal would help the company expand into other markets and invest for the future. “We intend to leverage […]

Oct 20, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Tigo celco said it will expand its services and coverage following its acquisition by Etisalat, the United Arab Emirates-based telecom firm. Tigo Sri Lanka chief executive Dumindra Ratnayaka said Etisalat had acquired 100 percent of the Tigo Sri Lanka operation from Millicom International. “We have been seeking this […]

ABU DHABI, October 18, 2009 (AFP) – Gulf telecoms giant Etisalat said on Sunday that net profit dropped 4.7 percent in the nine months to September after a one-time gain had boosted year earlier figures. Net profit fell to 6.85 billion dirhams (1.87 billion dollars) from 7.19 billion dirhams (1.96 billion dollars) a year ago, […]

Oct 19, 2009 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings said the entry of Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) into Sri Lanka can further delay any prospects for recovery in the Sri Lankan telecom operators’ profitability.Millicom International Cellular SA last week sold its fully-owned subsidiary in Sri Lanka, Tigo, to Etisalat in a competitive bidding process. Tigo is the […]

Oct 18, 2009 (LBO) – Etisalat, an Abu Dhabi based telco that bought Sri Lanka’s Tigo from Millicom International Cellular, says it will invest more in the firm to increase the mobile operator’s market share.Tigo, South Asia’s first mobile phone operator, now has a market share of 21 percent in Sri Lanka and had 2.25 […]

Oct 16, 2009 (LBO) – Millicom International Cellular will sell its Sri Lanka unit for 155 million US dollars to Etisalat, a Middle Eastern telco, with the sale expected to be completed by October 20, the company said.Millicom has decided to exit its Asian operations in Cambodia and Laos as well as Sri Lanka to […]

Oct 14, 2009 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings has lifted the outlook on Sri Lanka Telecom’s ‘B+’ foreign currency rating to ‘stable’ from ‘negative’ following the upgrade of the outlook of the sovereign rating. “Despite pressure on profitability due to intense competition and weak macroeconomic conditions in Sri Lanka, SLT’s cash generation continues to be strong.” […]

Oct 07, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s wireless access provider Lanka Bell said it has reduced call rates to India. The company pays them 50 cents for every minute of incoming IDD calls regardless of the duration, country of origin or the number of calls received for a day. Lanka Bell is the largest CDMA […]

Oct 06, 2009 (LBO) – Control of IsmartTimex, a Sri Lanka based outsourcing firm has been acquired by India’s Aegis Limited, a unit of the Essar group, but a minority 20 percent stake will be held by local partners, the company said. Aegis says it has operations in India, Philippines, the US, Costa Rica, Kenya, […]

Oct 02, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s rural economy can take a slice of India’s 12 billion dollar Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry by catering to the bottom of the pyramid customers who look at costs over optimum service, a foreign investor said. “India does about 12 billion dollars of knowledge base process work; 10 […]