SLT emphasised that Sri Lanka is marching towards achieving the country’s ICT objectives, to accelerate economic development targeting the global model, which projects that a ten percent increase in broadband penetration will lead to 1.3 percent increase in GDP. A strong, reliable and Island-wide ICT broadband infrastructure and global connectivity are key to the efficient functioning and development of the telecommunication industry, businesses and the economy. The company says that the overall investment the Group has made throughout its entire 150-year span is enormous in terms of magnitude.
Lalith de Silva, Group CEO – SLT said, “in line with the GoSL roadmap, we have invested heavily in establishing the National Backbone Network (NBN) with the view of encouraging all operators to benefit through economies of scale. We truly believe in sharing communication and ICT infrastructure towards achieving the development goals of the country. In fact the very tenets of our corporate strategy are underpinned by the vision of a SMART Sri Lanka and a Digital Economy that is being driven by the State. Thus from the inception, we have been sharing our infrastructure such as global connectivity, national backbone network, towers, data centres, cloud services, coverage and building spaces as well as our ICT infrastructure under the wholesale business unit for other operators and service providers, ISPs and more, whilst ensuring that the highest standards are met in terms of quality and reliability. Also, we are proud that leading public institutions and private sector businesses around the country are utilising our shared ICT resources to maximise their potential.”
GoSL has trusted SLT to build the NBN to accelerate the journey towards creating a SMART Sri Lanka. Following the conditions of the license agreement, SLT has embarked on massive network modernisation and expansion projects. The company’s fibre optic rollout is comprehensive, with its fibre optic transmission network now covering most parts of the island, including the North and East, enabling the Government of Sri Lanka to appoint SLT as the NBN service provider for the entire country.
