Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT), the national ICT solutions provider proudly announces that the company has been declared as the Winner of the Sri Lanka National Quality Award (SLNQA) 2014 under the Large Scale Service Sector Category by the Sri Lanka Standards Institute (SLSI). Mr. Lalith De Silva, the Group CEO of SLT accepted this award on behalf of SLT at the SLNQA 2014 ceremony held on Tuesday, 3^rd December 2014 at the BMICH.

Mr. Lalith De Silva, the Group CEO of SLT giving his comments on this achievement said, “We are very happy and proud to win this prestigious award. We thank the SLSI for organizing these awards annually for the last twenty years with the aim of encouraging organizations to achieve performance excellence which will help escalate Sri Lanka’s transformation into the Wonder of Asia. It is essential that all organizations including both the private and public sector uphold the key principles of quality which will in turn have a positive reflection on the country as a whole. ICT is an industry that is rapidly evolving, and is a key contributor to the economic development of a country. So it becomes crucial to ensure that we continuously introduce the latest technologies to the country at the right time to compete with the rest of the world. This comprises ensuring that performance in all spheres is always excellently maintained at the highest levels. Therefore, being the national ICT solutions provider of the country, we take seriously our responsibility to support the vision of our country to become the Wonder of Asia. We also consciously support the e- development vision for a ‘SMART Sri Lanka’ and ensure that the highest levels are maintained in empowering businesses and individuals to achieve their fullest potential.” Mr. Lalith De Silva further congratulated and wished the SLSI well on their golden jubilee celebrations and thanked their efforts to uplift the quality of life of our nation.

The evaluation of applicants was based on the same criteria used for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in the USA that measures the performance of organizations on a broad range of criteria including: leadership, strategic planning, customer focus & marketing, performance monitoring & measurement analysis, knowledge management, workforce focus, process management and business results.

Sri Lanka Telecom has demonstrated a clear leadership position by transforming the 150 year old organization to its dynamic status today to make it the national ICT provider of Sri Lanka, bringing in new technologies and futuristic solutions at the right time and at affordable prices to empower all individuals and businesses in the country. As the unparalleled leader, the company is a driving force behind our nation becoming the Wonder of Asia through heavy investments in state – of – the - art island wide infrastructure that also provides services to other operators.

ICT being critical to the country’s development, SLT strategic plans have been made in alignment with the Government’s vision to transform Sri Lanka into the Wonder of Asia and a SMART enabled Sri Lanka. The company continues to align its workforce to deliver its strategic plans and has been able to obtain the commitment of all its employees towards this goal.

During the past years, SLT has continued to give increased emphasis to further improving its focus on customers and increasing their satisfaction. Numerous forums were conducted during the year as well as visits made to selected customers from the company’s customer base of over 6 billion customers spread island wide to gauge their satisfaction levels, obtain valuable feedback and suggestions for improvements.

SLT continued to adopt and intensify the best practices including achieving the ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management System Certification, ISO 27001 Information Security Certification, the best HR practices, project management practices as well as green approaches etc. and that has resulted in winning several awards. SLT was also recognized as the first KM certified organization in Sri Lanka by KmPro, a US organization, which is the leading certifying body and the largest international association dedicated to knowledge management.

The company has succeeded in developing a passionate workforce whose competencies are being continually updated to implement the latest technologies. The efficient communication flow established across all layers of the company has helped to empower employees and also enhance employee engagement. Recognizing and rewarding employees for outstanding performance and improving teamwork and trust within the organization have helped to realize SLT’s plans.

The financial performance of the company continued to show a steady growth in revenue and profits. New technologies were introduced in the recent past and numerous investments made for long term projects such as the national backbone network (NBN) and global connectivity expansion etc.

The Sri Lanka National Quality Awards promote a clear understanding of the requirements for achieving performance excellence while further promoting the sharing of information pertaining to successful performance strategies and the benefits derived from these strategies. The SLSI is the only member body that represents Sri Lanka in the International Organization of Standardization (ISO) and provides a great service to the nation by supporting the uplifting of lifestyles.

Sri Lanka Telecom, as the national ICT solutions provider in Sri Lanka is committed to maintain this winning status and further enhance the performance excellence of the company in the future as well. The Group CEO Mr. Lalith De Silva stressed that the company will continue to upgrade capacity, offer more services and make them even more efficient and reliable in order to secure the development of our nation through empowered citizens and businesses.