SATRC Council chairmanship handed over:

Key decisions taken to improve telecommunication industry

Charumini DE SILVA

Telecommunications Regulatory Commission Sri Lanka (TRCSL) Director General, Priyantha Kariyapperuma said that several important decisions pertaining to the telecommunications industry of the region were taken during the Council meeting and the Action Plan Phase III was declared.

The chairmanship of the Council was also handed over to the TRCSL Director General.

He was speaking at the 11th South Asian Telecommunications Regulators’ Council (SATRC) which concluded yesterday after a three-day conference in Colombo.

Two new topics such as Civil Initiative on Internet Policy (CIIP) and cyber security and the assurance of quality mobile handsets to South Asian consumers had also been discussed.

Discussions are also being held with the service providers to implement affordable IDD tariffs as well as international roaming rates for consumers in the region soon. Connectivity is the key for development, he said.

Kariyapperuma said that one of the most important topics discussed was the implementation of a uniform rate for calls made within the region.

This was proposed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa at last year’s SAARC meeting in Colombo. The regulators agreed to the proposal during the 11th SATRC meeting and we are currently discussing the possibilities.

He said there is a population of over two billion in the South Asian region. During the past six years, the number of handsets used within the region grew from 42 million to 540 million.

Although these are developing countries, we have crossed great milestones together in terms of telecommunication development. This is also the main deciding factor in the enhancement of quality life.

Three working groups had been appointed to deal with the specific fields of the industry and various countries had been appointed to chair each working group such as Policy and Regulations to India, Spectrum to Iran and Network and Services to Sri Lanka.

A group of capacity-building personnel had also been appointed and will be chaired by Pakistan. Apart from the regional countries of South Asia, Iran also participated this year as a member of SATRC.

He said that the TRCSL is currently having discussions with the local telecommunications providers on introducing Long Term Evolution (LTE). LTE comprises CDMA and GSM technologies as future enhancements to be introduced to Sri Lanka. Amendments will be made to Sri Lanka’s Telecommunications Act and a new Act will also be implemented.

The main objective of the gathering is to promote harmony amongst the telecommunication regulators of the region and prepare policies for the betterment of the industry with least regulatory barriers in the region, Kariyapperuma said.