New Day
11 Mar, 2008 18:10:15
Sri Lanka Bharti mobile launch pushed to September
March 11, 2008 (LBO) – Bharti Airtel Lanka, a subsidiary of India's Bharti Airtel, said it had pushed back the launch of its mobile service in Sri Lanka to September this year from an original target of March.
The firm Tuesday signed a deal with the investment promotion agency, Board of Investment, to spend half its planned $200mn investment in the island to set up a network of transmission towers.
Investment promotion minister Sarath Amunugama said at the signing ceremony that Bharti had faced difficulties in getting approvals for its towers from local authorities and sharing towers with other operators.
Company officials present at the ceremony declined to give specific reasons for the delayed launch.
Amali Nanayakkara, chief executive of Bharti Airtel Lanka, said they want to launch their mobile phone operation only when they were sure they had the right infrastructure to give customers the desired quality of service.
She said they had not faced any rejections from the authorities or rival operators.
"Sharing towers is a new concept for existing operators. It also depends on whether space is available and their own expansion plans."
She said the firm was willing to share the own network they were setting up, but did not reveal how many towers Bharti, the fifth player in the island's mobile sector planned to build.
Olof Haag, chairman and country head, Bharti Airtel Lanka, said their original plan to launch in March had been "tentative" and proved to be "over-ambitious."
The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission had allocated Bharti the frequencies required for the mobile service, he said.
Haag was quoted in a Bharti statement as saying that infrastructure to be set up covered radio communication towers, generators and shelters.
"(This) will also resource other players who may opt to employ our infrastructure in deploying their services in the future as well."
Bharti Airtel Lanka last September announced a 150 million dollar alliance with China's Huawei Technologies Co. to build and manage its mobile network.
Sri Lanka's 7.5 mobile market is dominated by Dialog Telekom, a unit of Telekom Malaysia, which has about 60 percent market share.
The rest is shared between Mobitel, a unit of Sri Lanka Telecom, Tigo, a part of Millicom International Cellular and Hutchison Telecom.
Source: http://www.lbo.lk/fullstory.php?nid=556852294
Some other useful links on Airtel news :
Sri Lanka - Bharti Airtel may be re-drawing plans
Source: http://www.lankaeverything.com/vinews/technology/20080225044928.php
AIRTEL appoints Madison Media for Sri Lanka
Source: http://www.thecolombotimes.com/2008/03/airtel-appoints-madison-media-for-sri.html
11 Mar, 2008 18:10:15
Sri Lanka Bharti mobile launch pushed to September
March 11, 2008 (LBO) – Bharti Airtel Lanka, a subsidiary of India's Bharti Airtel, said it had pushed back the launch of its mobile service in Sri Lanka to September this year from an original target of March.
The firm Tuesday signed a deal with the investment promotion agency, Board of Investment, to spend half its planned $200mn investment in the island to set up a network of transmission towers.
Investment promotion minister Sarath Amunugama said at the signing ceremony that Bharti had faced difficulties in getting approvals for its towers from local authorities and sharing towers with other operators.
Company officials present at the ceremony declined to give specific reasons for the delayed launch.
Amali Nanayakkara, chief executive of Bharti Airtel Lanka, said they want to launch their mobile phone operation only when they were sure they had the right infrastructure to give customers the desired quality of service.
She said they had not faced any rejections from the authorities or rival operators.
"Sharing towers is a new concept for existing operators. It also depends on whether space is available and their own expansion plans."
She said the firm was willing to share the own network they were setting up, but did not reveal how many towers Bharti, the fifth player in the island's mobile sector planned to build.
Olof Haag, chairman and country head, Bharti Airtel Lanka, said their original plan to launch in March had been "tentative" and proved to be "over-ambitious."
The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission had allocated Bharti the frequencies required for the mobile service, he said.
Haag was quoted in a Bharti statement as saying that infrastructure to be set up covered radio communication towers, generators and shelters.
"(This) will also resource other players who may opt to employ our infrastructure in deploying their services in the future as well."
Bharti Airtel Lanka last September announced a 150 million dollar alliance with China's Huawei Technologies Co. to build and manage its mobile network.
Sri Lanka's 7.5 mobile market is dominated by Dialog Telekom, a unit of Telekom Malaysia, which has about 60 percent market share.
The rest is shared between Mobitel, a unit of Sri Lanka Telecom, Tigo, a part of Millicom International Cellular and Hutchison Telecom.
Source: http://www.lbo.lk/fullstory.php?nid=556852294
Some other useful links on Airtel news :
Sri Lanka - Bharti Airtel may be re-drawing plans
Source: http://www.lankaeverything.com/vinews/technology/20080225044928.php
AIRTEL appoints Madison Media for Sri Lanka
Source: http://www.thecolombotimes.com/2008/03/airtel-appoints-madison-media-for-sri.html
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