Sixth mobile player to Lanka

Anjana SAMARASINGHE

RTEC Mobile Lanka (Private) Limited to be the next mobile (GSM) and fixed (SCDMA) telecommunications network provider in the Sri Lankan market.

Speaking to Daily News Business the Managing Director of RTEC Mobile Lanka B.A.C. Abeywardena said they will provide mobile (GSM) services and fixed phone with broadband internet services islandwide.

Chairman/ Director General of the BoI Dhammika Perera presents Managing Director of RTEC Mobile Lanka B.A.C. Abeywardena, with the BoI Certificate of Registration.

‘We expect to invest initially US$ 100 million for the project. Global Electroteks Limited, UK who is in the British telecommunication industry and few banks in UK will invest in the project.

The company has obtained TRC approval and planning to commence their operations within six months.

The company is planning to cover the entire country within two years time. The project will provide over 400 job opportunities directly he said.

The fixed phones will be manufactured in China according to designs provided by the company and the GSM equipment will also be imported from China. RTEC Mobile Lanka will set up 1000 base stations in the country and also expects to utilise the existing base stations to provide the service.

“We are confident that we could compete with the other players in the industry by providing our services for a cheaper rate with high quality. The company expects to price its call charges at least 25 per cent less than the cheapest call charges available in the market at the moment, he said.

“Maintaing minimum operational cost and using local expertise could help us to provide our services for a lesser price. We are planning to manufacture most of our equipment in the country”.

“We think this is the right time to enter into the market even with the current economic conditions. The whole world is facing an economic crisis and it will last for another one to two years.

“This economic crises has resulted in price declines in construction goods and lessened competitiveness. It will create more opportunities for newcomers, he said.

The Board of Investment of Sri Lanka granted investment approval to the project recently.