Sri Lanka Telecom PLC (, ), doing business as SLTMobitel, is the national

telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

services provider in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

and one of the country's largest companies with an annual turnover in excess of Rs 100 billion. The company provides domestic and corporate services which include fixed and

wireless telephony Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information (''telecommunication'') between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided med ...

, Internet access and IT services to domestic, public and business sector customers. SLTMobitel was Sri Lanka's second largest mobile network operator with 7.1 million subscribers. SLTMobitel offers a variety of services and currently operates

GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a family of standards to describe the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks, as used by mobile devices such as mobile phones and Mobile broadband modem, mobile broadba ...

GPRS General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), also called 2.5G, is a mobile data standard on the 2G cellular communication network's Global System for Mobile Communications, global system for mobile communications (GSM). Networks and mobile devices wit ...

EDGE Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...

UMTS The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a 3G mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard. UMTS uses Wideband Code Division Multiple Access, wideband code-division multiple access (W-CDMA) radio access technolog ...

HSPA HSPA may refer to: * High Speed Packet Access, a mobile broadband technology * Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association Education * High School Proficiency Assessment * Humphrey School of Public Affairs, an American public policy school * Hunter Sch ...

HSPA+ HSPA may refer to: * High Speed Packet Access, a mobile broadband technology * Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association Education * High School Proficiency Assessment * Humphrey School of Public Affairs, an American public policy school * Hunte ...

DC-HSPA+ Evolved High Speed Packet Access, HSPA+, HSPA (Plus) or HSPAP, is a technical standard for wireless broadband telecommunication, and extends the original HSPA. The 3GPP standard organisation specified the original HSPA in release 7. HSPA+ can ...

and FD-LTE network utilising 2G,

3.5G High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) is an amalgamation of two mobile protocols—High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA)—that extends and improves the performance of existing 3G mobile telecommunica ...

, 4G and 4.5G, 5G technologies with

VoLTE Voice over Long-Term Evolution (acronym VoLTE) is an LTE high-speed wireless communication standard for voice calls and SMS using mobile phones and data terminals. VoLTE has up to three times more voice and data capacity than older 3G UMTS an ...

service. It covers most of Sri Lanka with its GSM network. SLTMobitel offers both prepaid and

postpaid The postpaid mobile phone is a mobile phone for which service is provided by a prior arrangement with a mobile network operator. The user in this situation is billed after the fact according to their use of mobile services at the end of each mont ...

mobile services, along with mobile broadband services using the 3.5G network,

mobile services, and mobile broadband services using the 4G network. SLTMobitel also launched Mobile Money services in November 2013 which is called mCash, as a

digital wallet A digital wallet, also known as an e-wallet or mobile wallet, is an electronic device, online service, or software program that allows one party to make electronic transactions with another party bartering digital currency units for goods and s ...

service.

History

SLTMobitel started its operations in 1858 with the establishment of the first Telegraphic Circuit between

Galle Galle (, ; , ) (formerly ) is a major city on the southwestern tip of Sri Lanka, south of Colombo. Galle is the provincial capital and largest city of Southern Province, Sri Lanka and is the capital of Galle District. Galle was known as ''Gi ...

and

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

. In the same year, it established its first international Telegraph Communication between then called Ceylon, and India. Since then, Sri Lanka Telecom passed several milestones, including corporatisation in 1991 and privatizsation in 2000 with the collaboration of

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) is a Japanese telecommunications holding company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Ranked 55th in ''Fortune'' Global 500, NTT is the fourth largest telecommunications company in the world in terms of revenue, as well as the third largest pu ...

(NTT) and listing on the Colombo Stock Exchange's

Milanka Price Index The Milanka Price Index was one of the principal stock indices of the Colombo Stock Exchange in Sri Lanka till it was discontinued in January 2013 further to introduction of S&P Sri Lanka 20 Index , Standard & Poor's Sri Lanka 20 index. It was c ...

. In 2008, NTT sold its stake in SLT to Global Telecommunications Holdings N.V. of Netherlands, which currently owns 44.98% stake in Sri Lanka Telecom whilst 48% is owned by the Government of Sri Lanka and the balance shares remain with the general public. Mobitel was incorporated in 1993 as the third mobile telephone provider in the Sri Lankan market. Originally a collaboration between Sri Lanka Telecom and

Telstra Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets related products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 stock index, and is Australia's largest telecomm ...

, Mobitel has been wholly owned by SLT since November 2002. In January 2004, the company launched its fully-fledged 2.5G GSM network that is EDGE/GPRS enabled and designed to operate on the dual-band. In 2005 and 2006, Mobitel traded the 800MHz band for slots made available from the 900MHz spectrum. With this enhancement, Mobitel embarked on a field trial of 3G at the 1st International Buddhist Conference held in 2006, setting the stage for the launch of its 3G services in Sri Lanka. In December 2007, the company launched its 3.5G HSPA network – the first Super 3.5G network in South Asia. Further, Mobitel successfully demonstrated HSPA + MIMO technology with downlink speed up to 28.8Mbit/s and carried out a successful trial of 4G/LTE technology with downlink speed exceeding 96Mbit/s, for the first time in the South Asian Region. Investments committed to date in the 2.5G/3.5G/4G networks and service offering amounts to over US$500mn. Investments committed to a date for this technology to provide 3G and GSM totals over US$200 million. This included increasing the present number of base stations from 600 to 1,500 by the end of 2008.

Services provided

Internet

Dial-up

Several Dial-Up packages are provided by SLT according to customer needs.

ADSL2+

SLTMobitel provides

ADSL2+ G.992.5 (also referred to as ADSL2+, G.dmt.bis+, and G.adslplus) is an ITU-T standard for asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) broadband Internet access. The standard has a maximum theoretical downstream sync speed of 24 megabits per secon ...

fixed broadband with speeds up to 16Mbit/s under 6 packages which are Light User, Family, SME Business, Business (Heavy User), State Sector & Higher Education.

VDSL2 and FTTx

The company launched its VDSL2 and FTTH/FTTB broadband services on 2014 March 25 and are available in most urban areas in the country within of an upgraded

Telephone Exchange A telephone exchange, telephone switch, or central office is a central component of a telecommunications system in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or in large enterprises. It facilitates the establishment of communication circuits ...

MSAN A multi-service access node (MSAN), also known as a multi-service access gateway (MSAG), is a device typically installed in a telephone exchange (although sometimes in a roadside serving area interface cabinet) which connects customers' telephone l ...

Unit.

= Fiber 300Mbps

= Fiber 300Mbit/s is now widely available throughout Sri Lanka and has a download speed of 300Mbit/s with data caps . And available a 150Mbit/s upload speed.

= Fiber 1Gbps

= Fiber 1Gbit/s was introduced by SLT in 2020 for apartments.

4G LTE

SLTMobitel fixed wireless successfully demonstrated and launched its

4G LTE In telecommunications, long-term evolution (LTE) is a standard for wireless broadband communication for cellular mobile devices and data terminals. It is considered to be a "transitional" 4G technology, and is therefore also referred to as 3 ...

fixed broadband service at a ceremony held in Ruwanwella, Kegalle in January 2014, with the presence of Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology.

WiFi

SLTMobitel also provides free and pay as you go WiFi internet access at public places in Colombo and other selected cities in Sri Lanka.

Network

SLTMobitel currently operates

LTE Advanced LTE Advanced, also named or recognized as LTE+, LTE-A or 4G+, is a 4G mobile Cellular network, cellular communication standard developed by 3GPP as a major enhancement of the LTE (telecommunication), Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard. Three tec ...

and also a 5G – Demonstration Level. SLTMobitel 4G+ trial network with downlink speed of up to 300Mbit/s and uplink speed up to 150Mbit/s; however, 4G+ coverage is limited to the Colombo district.

Global

SLTMobitel provides international services with

roaming coverage of over 200 countries and

roaming coverage of over 120 countries including bilateral partnerships with global carriers.

Gallery

Sri Lanka Telecom Logo until 2020.svg, Sri Lanka Telecom Logo until 2020 Mobitel Logo until 2020.png, Mobitel Logo until 2020 Mobitel office in Colombo 2006.jpg, Mobitel office in Colombo, as seen in 2006

References

External links

SLTMobitel Official Website
{{Authority control Telecommunications companies of Sri Lanka Companies listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange Sri Lankan brands Telecommunications companies established in 1991