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| Tuesday, 22 July 2003 |
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VSNL, BOI agreement for telephony services in Lanka By Chamitha Kuruppu Another international telecommunication service provider VSNL Lanka Limited said yesterday it would enter the Sri Lankan market. VSNL Lanka Limited which is the wholly owned subsidiary of Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited(VSNL) India's premier telecom service provider entered into an agreement with the Board of Investment(BOI), Sri Lanka. The agreement was signed by Managing Director of VSNL S.K. Gupta and BOI Chairman Arjunna Mahendran, which closely follows VSNL Lanka Limited being granted an External Gateway Operator licence by the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka against a licence fee of US$ 50,000. VSNL Lanka will initially offer international long distance (ILD) telephony service in Sri Lanka and based on its performance would expand its service umbrella to include other telecom services. Managing Director S.K. Gupta told the media that the company hopes to commence commercial activities in the last quarter of this year and is in the process of installing a state-of-the-art Switch in Sri Lanka. VSNL was the first Indian company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2000, where I was thrilled by the performance of the company. Today I am equally thrilled with the launch of VSNL Lanka," Gupta said. "The hallmark of VSNL is never compromising quality. The company will concentrate on competitiveness but will never compromise quality. VSNL will never match the cheapest product," he said. The BOI Chairman said that to achieve the goals of the 'e Sri Lanka' concept the country needs more and deeper involvement in the telecommunication sector. Mahendran said that the privatisation of the Indian telecommunication sector was fascinating and it provides a guide post to Sri Lanka as well. This investment is significant for India and Sri Lanka because this could be the largest Indian investment in Sri Lanka, he said. VSNL is a US $ 1.6 billion company that has emerged as a telecom superpower in India with well established relationships with 85 carriers across the globe. VSNL backed by over 132 years of overseas communication experience, its infrastructure today covers 12 gateways, 48 earth stations and five operational undersea cable systems. VSNL is among the founder signatories of six submarine cable systems. In June 2003 the company also outlined the acquisition of assets and network of an existing international IP-VPN solution provider in the US,Europe and Far East. VSNL is one of the Tata Group of companies, wherein Panatone Finvest Limited owns nearly 45% of the equity. The government of India owns over 26% and the remaining equity base comprises overseas holdings and holdings of Indian institutions and the public. VSNL was listed in December 1992 and its shares are traded across all the major stock exchanges in India. VSNL also has its ADRS listed on the New York Stock Exchange. |
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