Lanka Bell transforms subscriber into overnight millionaire

PROMOTION: Life will never be the same again for one lucky Sri Lankan who will soon become an overnight millionaire courtesy Lanka Bell, Sri Lanka's first CDMA operator.

The identity of the 'Lanka Bell Millionaire' will be known this week with the culmination of the company's three month long consumer promotion which produced a staggering 16,065 winners and created an unprecedented buzz in the local Telco sector.

One of the most extravagantly rewarding consumer promotions in the sector, it offered Lanka Bell residential subscribers a chance to win six return air tickets to Bangkok, 10 television sets, eight washing machines, 10 microwave ovens, 30 Gold sovereigns and 16,000 consolation prizes.

The grand prize winner drawn this week will receive one million rupees from Lanka Bell, while more than 4000 others will receive the prizes allocated for the final leg of the promotion.

"The response to this promotion was most encouraging," said Managing Director of Lanka Bell Suren Goonewardene. "As the only wholly-Sri Lankan telecommunications company in the country, Lanka Bell was delighted to reward its subscribers, many of whom are in remote areas of the country."

All of Lanka Bell's BellTel and BellTel Budget subscribers as well as post-paid residential customers were eligible to participate in this promotion and to qualify for up to three monthly draws.

Established in 1997 with an initial investment of US$ 150 million, Lanka Bell was the first 'fixed-line wireless' telecommunications provider in the country and is the second-largest fixed line telecom company in Sri Lanka today.

The company was acquired by Milford Holdings in 2005, and following strategic investments of more than Rs 4 billion in its network, coverage is now expanding at the rate of five new base stations a month, making affordable CDMA technology available across the island.