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News
$
90 million boost to telecom industry The $90 million
investment that will unfold during a three-year period is targeted
at expanding the local mobile operator's presence in terms of coverage,
services and subscribers. Part of the funds has already been invested
in setting up infrastructure in the North and East, an international
telecommunications gateway, completion of its 300 base stations
and the introduction of innovative GSM services. BOI chairman
Arjunna Mahendran hailed the agreement as most significant under
the new United National Party government and as part of growing
relations with Malaysia. "The investment heralds movement into
value added areas of the telecom industry and marks the beginning
of other areas of collaboration with Malaysia," he said. The
BOI is expected to announce within the coming month a proposed venture
into the development of highways in the country - with Malaysian
government support. Tan Sri Ir.
Muhammad Radzi bin Haji Mansor, Chairman of Telekom Malaysia and
also Dialog said, "Sri Lanka is the first overseas investment
for Telekom Malaysia, and is the best success story for our company.
Starting as No. 4, Dialog GSM is today the market leader, doubling
its customer base year on year in the last three years. We would like
our investment to play an even bigger role." He added that
the future long-term growth plan for the fully owned subsidiary
would be to list the company in the Colombo bourse. Dialog will
also utilize part of the investment to bid for the 1800 MHz frequency
range when the 1800 MHz band will be auctioned by the Telecommunications
Regulatory Commission (TRC) to telecom operators based on international
pricing. Currently the 1800 MHz band popularly used for mobile networks
in other parts of the world, have been allocated to the Sri Lanka
Air Force and Ceylon Electricity of Board. Part of the
auction procaeeds will be used to reallocate frequencies to these
two services. A successful bid will enable the largest local mobile
network operating on a 7.5 MHz bandwidth in the 900 MHz to expand
its existing 600,000 customer to a target of 900,000 customers by
the end of the year. Dialog would also then be on par with GSM-based
networks in the region while becoming the first dual band network
in the country to seamlessly connect a larger subscriber base. Other areas
of investment would be to expand coverage in all nine provinces
in the country by doubling its base stations. The customer service
division is the other recipient of the investment with its new call-centre
and four new service outlets. The Telekom
Malaysia chairman was upbeat on Sri Lanka as a potential investment
destination for service industries and confirmed the company's commitment
to Sri Lanka. Telekom Malaysia's additional investment has been
fuelled by an above 20% return on investments in keeping with its
policy, and the local human talent. Dialog GSM
since its entry into the Sri Lankan market as fledgling operator
in 1994 has aggressively built a brand promise providing state-of-the-art
services in Internet and mobile telecommunications. The company recently became the first local operator to set up its own private international gateway when the international telephony market was deregulated in February this year. DHL
opens newly refurbished Gateway Operations DHL's Country
Manager (Sri Lanka) Chaminda Hewamallika said that under this massive
Rs. 20 million refurbishment programme, the entire warehouse had
been made more secure with extended closed circuit television cameras,
new conveyor systems, computers and a new volumetric measuring device.
"We have created new offices, a dedicated broker clearance
area and customer friendly reception to provide a more streamlined
and 'work-friendly' environment to customs, airline and DHL staff
based here. Area Director
DHL South Asia and Indo China Region Stephen Fenwick who flew to
Colombo for the opening said that the newly refurbished bonded warehouse
demonstrates DHL's commitment to invest in truly world class facilities
in all the markets it operates in. "We believe in forming strong
partnerships with local authorities such as customs and airlines
in order to provide faster solutions to our customers." Hewamallika said that this warehouse was on par with similar facilities owned and managed by DHL in other countries. "As a service provider involved in international air express delivery, DHL is fully committed towards realising the country's vision of positioning Sri Lanka as a logistics hub in South Asia in the near future," he said. Moggie's
"quiet" Lankan visit "He came here on a private visit without anyone knowing he was here," the BOI chief said at an occassion where Telekom Malaysia signed an agreement with the BOI raising its investment in the fully owned Sri Lankan subsidiary, MTN Networks Pvt Ltd. Mahendran said he was made aware of the visit by Telekom chairman, Tan Sri Ir. Muhammed Radzi bin Haji Mansor, who was visiting Colombo in connection with MTN's expansion plans. UAL
rewards top achievers About 300 of the life sales team were among the top achievers and they were awarded medals and certificates by UAL CEO, H.A. Rehmanjee, the company said. Special awards of recognition were presented to those who have completed 10 years with the company, in appreciation of their dedicated service to UAL and the industry. Fitch
assigns SL AA Rating to ComBank debentures The subordinated
debentures in terms of priority, will be subordinate to deposits
and all senior debt obligations, but will rank above the ordinary
and preference shares. Consequently, and in accordance with FRL's
criteria, the rating assigned for the subordinated debentures is
one notch lower than CB's implied senior debt rating of SL AA+,
Fitch said in a statement. The funds raised are likely to be used to boost business and improve the maturity match between assets and liabilities. Furthermore the issue will increase the bank's Tier II capital, thereby strengthening capital adequacy. With assets of Rs. 81.3 billion as at December 2002, CB is the fourth largest commercial bank in the system. Established in 1969, the bank's traditional focus was trade finance and corporate banking, but has since developed a meaningful franchise in SME and retail activities as well, the statement said. |
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