Killinochchi and Mullaitivu Get Mobile Coverage

Dialog Supports GoSL Development Drive To Deliver Within 90 Days

Dialog Telekom, Sri Lanka’s largest mobile telecommunications service provider announced the commissioning of services in Killinochchi, Mullaitivu and several other areas within the recently liberated regions in the Northern Province. The commissioning of mobile telecommunications services comes less than 90 days after the liberation of the region on 18th May 2009, demonstrating the rapid progress being made in the region in terms of infrastructure development and the establishment of citizen services.

Dialog Telekom Group Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya, together with Director General of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka, Mr. Priyantha Kariyapperuma, made the announcement soon after the activation of services from Dialog‘s Network Operations Centre in Colombo. Mobile coverage from Dialog now reaches Mankulam, Pooneryn, Elephant Pass, Thunukkai and Madhu in addition to Killinochchi and Mullaitivu, with developments under way to expand coverage to other parts of the province.

Speaking at the announcement, Dr. Wijayasuriya elaborated on the support and facilitation extended by the Government of Sri Lanka to enable mobile communication services to be delivered to the region within a short period of time. “Our accelerated development drive in the recently liberated areas derived inspiration and motivation from the Government’s sincere commitment to deliver peace and normalcy to the citizens of the region. Our expansion programme has been further motivated and facilitated by the invaluable assistance extended to us by the Ministry of Defence, TRCSL and the Sri Lanka Army and other security forces engaged in rebuilding in the liberated areas. We are proud to be a part of this development effort and very strongly believe that forward-looking investments in ICT infrastructure would lead to the acceleration of citizen and community empowerment. Accordingly, we are committed to support the aggressive development drive of the Government through the delivery of high-quality and affordable communication services to the citizens of the Northern Province.”

Mr. Priyantha Kariyapperuma reiterated the commitment of the Government of Sri Lanka to facilitate the delivery of state-of-the-art communication services to the recently liberated areas. “The Government of Sri Lanka has acted with foresight and in line with its commitment to the people of the Northern Province to put in place strong communications infrastructure to facilitate the process of rebuilding and resettlement. The commissioning of mobile communications services within 90 days of liberation is only a beginning, and I am confident that Sri Lanka’s telecommunications industry, with the guidance of the TRCSL, will deliver world class infrastructure services to the region. Communications infrastructure will assist in fast-tracking the development process through the facilitation it delivers to the large number of governmental and non-governmental agencies engaged in accelerated development activities.”

Dialog, a subsidiary of Axiata Group Berhad (formerly known as TM International), is currently the largest ICT infrastructure investor in the Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka. The company’s first investments in the region date back 7 years, with the first GSM call from the Jaffna peninsula being made in April 2002. Following on from this beachhead investment in the region’s telecommunications infrastructure, the company expanded its services to many parts of the Northern and Eastern Provinces. Dialog’s local coverage spans all provinces of Sri Lanka and serves a subscriber base of 6 million Sri Lankans.