Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) is the National Information and Communications Technology (ICT) solutions provider and the leading broadband and backbone infrastructure services provider of Sri Lanka. For over 163 years, the Company has served the Nation’s need for connectivity, operating on fixed, mobile, and other operational segments. SLT fulfil the needs of over nine million customers in the island through its high speed fibre, copper, and wireless access network. Company’s transformation into a digital service provider have enabled to move beyond telecommunications services, to provide a variety of services and solutions that cater to a digital lifestyle. SLT is positioned as a key global player by connecting Sri Lanka to the world through international submarine cable systems.
Principal lines of business
The Sri Lanka Telecom (“SLT”) Group provides diversified services and a wide range of ICT solutions to its diverse customer base through the latest technologies. These cover fixed and mobile telephony, broadband, data services, Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), cloud computing and hosting services, and networking solutions. SLT’s primary strategic segments are:
Fixed and mobile ICT operations constitute the core business, collectively accounting for 98% of revenue, 98% of total assets, and 97% of capital expenditure of the SLT Group in 2020.
Secondary lines of business
In its journey of transformation into a digital service provider, SLT has expanded beyond ICT services to deliver products and services that utilise its core strengths, expertise, and assets. SLT offers the following services through its subsidiaries:
In addition to diversifying the Group’s revenue streams and portfolio, the Company also seeks to build up the core competencies of the Nation and the Sri Lankan people, and elevate the image of Sri Lanka as a global player in the telecommunications industry.
Fixed ICT operations
SLT operate in the fixed ICT business, providing telecom networks and ICT services to organisations of all sizes across all economic sectors, other telecommunications operators and internet service providers (ISPs), public sector institutions, and domestic customers. The range of ICT facilities and services provided by SLT include voice, data, broadband, wholesale, enterprise, cloud, international, and IPTV. One of the Group’s key strategic objectives is to drive adoption of broadband-based consumer and enterprise services by expanding the broadband footprint through the Next Generation Network (NGN) and National Backbone Network (NBN). These efforts are supplemented by an array of technologies including optical fibre, ADSL2+, VDSL2, carrier-grade Wi-Fi, and both fixed and mobile 4G LTE technologies. Using the multiple international submarine cable networks, SLT offers state-of-the-art global services, securing its position as a key global player in the telecom industry.
Mobile ICT operations
Mobitel (Pvt) Ltd. (“Mobitel”), a fully-owned subsidiary of SLT, is the pioneer in bringing the latest mobile technology to the local market. The Company offers a host of ICT services including mobile telephony services, high-speed broadband, enterprise solutions, IDD services, mobile money (mCash) and a host of value added services.
Mobitel is the pioneer in South Asia to launch a Super 3.5G HSPA network and successfully demonstrate HSPA+ Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology. For the first time in South Asia, the Company successfully trialed 4.5G-LTE Advanced Pro technology with Carrier Aggregation (CA) of three bands in 2016 and in 2017, Mobitel was able to deploy the first Sub-1G Mobile Broadband Network in Sri Lanka innovatively to provide a broader 4G coverage in rural areas of the country. And also Mobitel launched the first commercial 4.5G/4G+ mobile network to provide an unparalleled broadband experience delivering burst speeds up to 300 Mbps to Sri Lankans in 2018. In April 2019, Mobitel was the first network in South Asia to successfully showcase the deployment of 5G over a mobile network by connecting a commercial mobile smartphone to its 5G network with a speed record of 1.55 Gbps and the first network to be recognised as the first mobile 5G network on the Ookla 5G map.
Mobitel unveiled the first 5G site at its store in One Galle Face, offering customers the opportunity to experience the true power of 5G with Mobitel and users who have 5G enabled smartphones can now experience Mobitel 5G technology at Mobitel X-Station. Mobitel is in the process to expand more 5G-experience locations around the country and expect to commence commercial 5G operation in near future with TRCSL commercial 5G license issuance. The Company has fuelled over USD 700 Mn. worth of investments to date, shaping Sri Lanka’s ICT landscape experiencing exciting growth, poised to lead Sri Lanka towards an info com and knowledge rich society. Mobitel’s coverage extends nationwide and includes international roaming with the partnership of a global web of over 750 networks, to ensure digital inclusivity to all Sri Lankans.
Having pioneered 5G in Sri Lanka and South Asia and publicly demonstrating the first 5G Massive MIMO deployment over 3.5 GHz spectrum, Mobitel completed the First 5G Voice Call in South Asia successfully. During 2020, Mobitel displayed the transformational potential of 5G Technology, by telecasting the first 5G enabled Mixed Reality Live TV Show via its 5G Network in collaboration with SLT Peo TV - Charana TV Channel. By allowing geographically dispersed participants to be connected into the virtual events in real time, the telecast demonstrated how low latency and high-speed capabilities in 5G Technology can make virtual reality boundaries seamless.
Our reach
Covering the entire island, the SLT Group serves a customer base of over nine million customers across fixed and mobile ICT services. The wide range of customers include domestic users, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), retail customers, multinationals and enterprises, public sector institutions, and other operators and wholesale customers. The extensive fibre optic network, with broadband speeds of up to 1 Gbps, extends nearly 60,000 km across the Nation.