Local telecom industry no second to developed nations - TRC DG

Anjana SAMARASINGHE

The local Telecommunication industry is on par with the other telco industries in the developed nations and the quality of the service is higher than the service providers in the developing nations, said Director General of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRC) Priyantha Kariyapperuma.

Priyantha Kariyapperuma

Sri Lanka equipped with 3G technology is now planning to move towards fourth generation technology where India is still not covered even with 3G technology.

In Sri Lanka the teledensity is over 50 percent and the increase in teledensity in the country heavily contributes to GDP growth, he said.

Research done on the total cost of owning a connectivity and call charges in 80 countries show that call charges and total cost of acquiring a connectivity is at a low level, he said.

TRC has also come up with many development initiatives for cleared areas in the North East. In these areas we are planning to come up with common infrastructure where all operators could share, he said. The industry is also focusing on the go green initiative to take the local industry to new heights, he said.

Launching a satellite is another key aspect that the TRC is focusing on this year and introducing a new Communication Act to integrate all stakeholders is also important, he said.

With the development of the local telecommunication industry, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has selected Sri Lanka to host the “Next Generation Networks Standardization Forum”, he said.

This international event will be held in association with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization (CTO).

The Forum will be held from April 7 - 10 at the Hilton Colombo.

The international forum will bring together experts from the ITU, officials from the government and regulatory agencies as well as industry leaders who are actively involved in the approval, monitoring, manufacturing, planning and deployment of next generation communications equipment and services.

The main objective of the forum is to discuss the current trends and the future evolution of Next Generation Technology (NGN), within the context of sharing experiences on the standardization, architecture, design, development and deployment of NGN technology, he said.