Lankan mobile phone industry now totally GSM

Sri Lanka’s cellular mobile networks have reached yet another milestone by becoming totally GSM at the end of year 2006.

This major step was achieved with the cooperation extended by the operators to the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC), the regulator said in a press release.

Cellular telephone services in Sri Lanka began in 1989 as a first generation (1G) analogue network based on TACS standard in the 900MHz band and extended to AMPS standard in the 800MHz band. Subsequently, the second generation (2G) digital system, GSM was introduced in the mid 1990’s to overcome the capacity limitations of the analogue systems.

GSM is an open, digital cellular technology used for transmitting mobile voice and data services.

GSM supports data transfer speeds of up to 9.6 kbit/s, allowing the transmission of basic data services such as SMS (Short Message Service). Another major benefit is its international roaming capability, allowing users to access the same services when traveling abroad as at home, the TRC said.

The initial spectrum allocation for GSM services was made in 1996. As GSM is the world’s fastest growing communication technology of all time and the leading global mobile standard, TRC initiated a public consultation process to re-align the GSM 900 MHz spectrum to give more opportunities to the existing cellular mobile operators to transfer their networks to GSM standard and for the expansion of their networks.

As a result, all the operators are now enjoying the benefits of GSM technology, the statement said.