A Sri Lankan firm is going ahead with launching the country's sixth mobile operator, despite the regulator saying the firm doesn’t have a proper licence to do so.
B.A.C. Abeywardana, Managing Director Elektroteks Ltd told The Sunday Times FT that the licence which the company got in 1991 is a carbon copy of the Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) licence, both of which were granted during the same period.
"My licence is identical to that of SLT. Elektroteks without any restriction can have a telecom network anytime to use any technology (that is available presently)," he said, adding that the licence addresses three areas - voice, video and data transfers.
However, the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRC) asserts that Mr. Abeywardana needs to make necessary amendments to his licence. "Under Section 17 of the Telecommunications Act, there were three licences issued to three of his firms. We told him that he needs to amend these accordingly to start a mobile communications network," a senior TRC official, who did not wish to be named, said.
He said Mr. Abeywardena has two External Gateway Operator licences and a facility based data communications licence and that these licences do not account for a mobile operator’s licence.
But Mr. Abeywardana insisted that what he has is a ‘carbon copy’ of the SLT licence, which the TRC disputes.
Mr. Abeywardena said in a year he hopes to start the new operation and was confident he can get the 'people's' support. "I will be a 100% people owned company," he said.
Presently there are five operators in the island, of which Airtel was the latest to launch. Telecom industry analysts say the market is saturated at present to accommodate a sixth operator. Sri Lanka has approximately five million mobile subscribers at present, which is expected to double by the year end. |
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