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| Wednesday, 14 January 2004 |
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Dialog Network hits 1.5 million SMS mark 2004 dawned for Dialog GSM with an all-time high in SMS (text messages) traffic passing though its high capacity SMS gateway. In the twenty-four hours from noon on December 31, 2003 to noon on January 1, 2004, the Dialog GSM SMSC (Short Message Service Centre) handled over 1.5 million text messages - a record for a 24 hr period since SMS was introduced to Sri Lanka by Dialog in 1998, and about four times the daily average. The figures also show a tripling of the number of messages handled during the same period last year. The Dialog GSM SMSC handled a record number of 2,001,175 SMS on December 31, 2003 and January 1, 2004. The hours either side of midnight alone recorded over 330,000 SMS as subscribers ushered in the new year with a new form of personal greeting - the SMS Greeting. SMS has replaced more traditional communication methods to become the preferred form of communication among its target segments. Dialog GSM CEO Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya said. "The SMS era in Sri Lanka has definitely come of age - the peak traffic at the dawn of the New Year is a clear indication of this. Also a significant proportion of the traffic was to overseas mobiles - the Dialog SMS. Gateway is linked to GSM operators in over 177 countries and SMS has clearly provided an affordable method of keeping in touch with friends and relatives across the world. Our network, in its high capacity dual band configuration handled the load very comfortably with a very smooth transition even at 12.00 midnight at which time a large proportion of our 800,000 strong subscriber base used either text or voice services to usher in the New Year". Nushad Perera, General Manager Sales and Marketing of Dialog, welcomed the record number of SMS and the success of SMS in Sri Lanka as a vindication of Dialog's belief in the text messaging service. "When SMS was launched in September 1998, everyone insisted it would never catch on in a predominantly Sinhala and Tamil speaking country, but Dialog persevered to develop and build the brand across all segments of our market, as we saw in it, a unique consumer benefit and opportunity", Perera said. Dialog GSM pioneered SMS and SMS-based services in Sri Lanka, and has since then developed a large portfolio of SMS based services, currently counting over 50 value added products based on text messaging. Dialog GSM, an ISO 9001 certified company is a fully owned subsidiary of Telekom Malaysia. It operates a 2.5G GSM Network supporting the very latest in multimedia and mobile internet services. Its local coverage spans all nine provinces with over 370 base stations while roaming is provided in 177 countries. Dialog GSM, the largest and fastest growing cellular service in Sri Lanka, boasts of a subscriber base in excess of 825,000. |
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