As Sri Lanka’s National Telecommunications Provider, Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) has always endeavoured to bring the best in the telecommunications industry to their consumers. Today, they felicitate yet another segment of society, the Government sector employees and pensioners, by introducing the ‘Abhimaana’ broadband package designed exclusively for them. There are many benefits to this novel and exciting package, says Chief Marketing Officer of SLT, Roshan Kaluarachchi as he explains the latest venture of the organisation.
By Ayesha Inoon
Please introduce us to Abhimaana. Why did SLT decide to introduce this special package?
This is a broadband package especially designed for the Government sector employees and the pensioners. We have many packages for various segments of society but none for this particular segment. We saw that gap and hence we introduced the Abhimaana package.
In Sri Lanka if you look at both Government sector employees and pensioners put together there are about 1.7 million. It is a big segment and as the National Telecommunications Provider, Sri Lanka Telecom, who have been in the industry for over 150 years, contributing to the growth of the nation and providing telecommunications solutions to the country, felt that it is very relevant to recognise the Government sector employees and pensioners who have been doing a noble service to the nation quietly, behind the scenes.
No service provider had actually looked at them and given a broadband package. With that in mind, Sri Lanka Telecom took the first step to recognise their noble service. Furthermore, we also want to support His Excellency the President’s e-Government policy, to increase broadband penetration in the country. This was launched on August 28 and up to now we have been getting an excellent response.
The package is denoted by the ‘nil manel’ or blue lotus, the national flower of Sri Lanka. At the core of the flower is the blossoming new era of peace and prosperity that Sri Lanka is experiencing currently, while the Government sector employees are like the petals, which protect and enable the flower to blossom and grow.
What are the benefits that consumers will enjoy with the Abhimaana package?
The first aspect is the cost. If you look at the package benefits there’s a monthly rental of 390 rupees and a one time start up fee of 1,000 rupees. For this 390 rupees you get a 2GB data volume and the speeds go up to 2MB per second – this is an excellent speed at this price, and more than adequate for this segment. There’s also a special offer on a wireless WiFi router. Currently the market rate is approximately 6,990 rupees but we are giving this router at 1,990 rupees.
With this package we believe we will address the issue of the wireless environment at home. There is a belief that our broadband comes through a fixed wire to your home, so once you fix it to a WiFi enabled laptop or computer at home you cannot move it around. But we break that myth with this WiFi wireless router.
What happens is that our wire connects to the WiFi router which then creates a wireless environment. Then you can use your WiFi enabled laptop or PC freely anywhere in the house.
We believe this will benefit not only the Government sector employees and the pensioners but also their children. The internet is a great source from which to gather information. This will definitely help to enhance their knowledge, do well in their studies, become good citizens of the country and become useful and productive members of society.
We began the years 2011/2012 with a theme called ‘Happy Broadband New Year’… SLT broadband is always improving the service and quality of service of packages so that we can give a better product to our customers.
Also, SLT Broadband comes on our Megaline. This is simply the good old wired telephone that we have at home. We call it Megaline because of the three unique services that come with it. One is standard voice, second is high-speed broadband of which Abhimaana is one, third is interactive PEO TV. Only SLT and Megaline can give you all three services in one line.
The advantage of this line is that it is very clear and when you are talking there won’t be any interruptions – you can have a conversation from beginning to end without any interruptions. SLT IDD has become especially popular when it comes to international calls due to this. And with Broadband only SLT can give you consistent uninterrupted high speed internet due to the quality of this line, therefore you can be sure that from start to end of your internet session you will not have any interruptions or speed variations.
Irrespective of any weather condition, our Broadband will work, whether it is rain or shine, night or day unlike some of the other connections in the market. And those qualities will apply to Abhimaana as well because it comes from the SLT Megaline.
Considering that there are Government sector employees and pensioners throughout the country, how accessible is this package and how can they obtain it?
At SLT we have a very diversely distributed network of outlets. We have regional telecom offices and teleshops scattered around the country. As a result of which, this segment – Government sector employees and pensioners – can go to any of these outlets and buy this connection.
If they are already employed in the State sector they have to produce their national ID and a letter certifying their employment in a particular workplace and their company ID. If you are a pensioner you have to produce your national ID together with your pension card. If not you can produce a pension slip. We have made it very easy to get this.
How can a consumer change from an existing SLT Broadband package to an Abhimaana package?
There are two ways – if they already have a broadband package and they wish to change without the router offer they only need to pay 500 rupees as a transfer fee. But if they want to buy the router also then the transfer fee is 1,000 rupees.
SLT has played a major role in Sri Lanka’s progress over the years, the Abhimaana package is yet another milestone in your efforts. Tell us about the organisation’s contribution to the nation.
We are a company that is more than 150 years old and throughout the years we have been the backbone of the country, especially in developing the telecommunication infrastructure, and we continue to provide our quality products to all segments of society. We will continue to innovate as well and I must mention that all our innovations are consumer-centric. We believe in the consumer’s wants and needs so we don’t just develop products and services for the sake of producing, we will use our latest advanced technology to give communication solutions best suited to the consumer.
We have seen a growth in the computer penetration in the country and in the broadband penetration, that goes hand-in-hand. We are very confident that our Abhimaana package will grow from strength to strength because we have a big segment and also our intentions are very genuine to recognise this segment.
We began the years 2011/2012 with a theme called ‘Happy Broadband New Year’. I would like to mention that because with that effort we enhanced the broadband quality of service and the offering of it to existing customers as well as the new customers without any additional cost. SLT Broadband is always improving the service and quality of service of packages so that we can give a better product to our customers.
