Smart phones spur record demand for mobile broadband services, says SLT Chairman
View(s):The advent of smart phones has caused an unprecedented increase in the global demand for mobile broadband services, growing exponentially by 45 per cent year on year for the past four years, with demand for multi-faceted mobile broadband subscriptions compelling modern telecommunications service providers to continuously augment their offerings to the market, Sri Lankan Telecom (SLT) says.
“In today’s complex commercial environment, data services have emerged as the key driver of industry growth; particularly given the near obsolescence of conventional voice mediums,” Nimal Welgama, SLT Chairman has said in the annual report for the year ended 31 December 2013. Embracing these demand driven parameters, modern day service providers are expected to stay ahead by improving, innovating and managing technology, processes and people, he has said.
Beyond traditional functionalities. According to industry analysts, the smart phone as a marketing strategy was introduced in the market, referring a new class of mobile phones that provides integrated services from communication, computing and mobile sectors including voice communication, messaging, personal information management (PIM) applications and wireless communication capability in the real sense, the smart phone is a mobile phone with advanced features and functionality beyond traditional functionalities like making phone calls and sending text messages.
Smart phones are equipped with the capabilities to display photos, play games, play videos, navigation, built-in camera, audio/video playback and recording, send/receive e-mail, built in apps for social web sites and surf the Web, wireless Internet and much more.
The recently released results showed SLT’s group revenue increased to Rs. 60.1 billion, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) to Rs. 18.9 billion, Profit before Tax was Rs. 7.4 billion, Profit after Tax was Rs. 5.4 billion and investments were Rs. 21 billion.
Growth of revenue was mainly driven by the revenue increases of SLT, the holding company and its mobile arm Mobitel, Mr. Welgama has said. “The group has been able to manage its operational costs at Rs. 41.2 billion with a sustainable increase of 6.2 per cent compared to the previous year.”
The Group Net Profit After Tax (NPAT) increased to Rs. 5.4 billion with 38.2 b per cent growth. Mobitel (Pvt) Ltd, continued to grow both in strength and stature throughout the year. In tandem with the company’s expansion agenda, island-wide network coverage was significantly enhanced during the year, according to Mr. Welgama.
Impact of ICT
Lalith de Silva, CEO SLT in his statement has said that ICT has become a pivotal component of how today’s lives are structured and as ICT capabilities become more and more complex, the ensuing solutions are becoming simpler and easier – driving more people to adopt a digital lifestyle. “In Sri Lanka too, the impact of ICT has been enormous and its influence, palpable – more and more, customers are moving away from traditional voice communication at anytime – anywhere – on any device. Sri Lanka today enjoys 100 per cent telephone penetration and is steadily working towards improving its broadband penetration as well, with an aim to achieve a 75 per cent ICT literacy by 2016.”
Notable growth was observed in SLT’s market share for both voice and date during the year, boosted by the increased island-wide penetration of fixed line and mobile service platforms. “As at end of the financial year, the group’s customer base stood at 1.5 million fixed line subscribers and 5 million mobile subscribers. SLT provided enterprise ICT solutions to over 70 per cent top 100 listed corporate in the country, while in the broadband sphere, we witnessed a remarkable growth towards a customer base of over 400,000 fixed broadband users, contributing to SLT’s overall market share and bottom-line” Mr. De Silva has said.