Mobile revolution drives industry

GSM Asia Pacific Conference focuses on latest applications:

Anjana Samarasinghe

Sri Lanka will achieve 50 per cent mobile tele-density by the end of this year.Speaking at the 29th GSM Asia Pacific Conference which commenced yesterday in Colombo, Director General of Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka TRCSL Priyantha Kariyapperuma said the country will achieve 50 per cent in mobile tele-density by the end of this year.

“At present the country has a mobile tele-density of around 43 per cent. By the end of this year the fifth mobile operator will also enter the market,” he said.

The GSM revolution in Sri Lanka will continue well into the future with the availability and adoption of 3rd Generation technologies and its latest applications such as HSPA rapidly expanding towards the farthest parts of the country.

An ITU report states the Asia Pacific region is home to many of the world’s broadband leaders in terms of fixed and mobile broadband penetration and services. Asia Pacific has been identified as world leaders in ICT but there is still a big divide between ICT rich and poor economies in the region.

Group CEO Dialog Telekom PLC Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya said with the affordability and the applicability, the industry could easily increase mobile penetration is in the country. In India mobile penetration is still at 20 per cent and in Sri Lanka its is over 40 per cent which means the local industry was able to make mobile telephony more affordable to a large portion of the population.

Chairperson GSM Asia Pacific Anoja J. Obeyesekere said the local telecommunications industry is growing at a rate of over 30 per cent. In the Asia Pacific region two billion people languish without a basic telecommunication facility and in Sri Lanka nearly 11 million people are languishing without a basic telecommunication facility. “The main challenge for the GSM operators in this region is to connect the unconnected in the region,” she said.

Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Hamdoun Toure said that ICT is the key for the global development.

“We have a strong mobile industry. Investments will be continuous in the industry. The GSM industry pledged an investment US$ 50 billion in next five years.”

“Sharing infrastructure among operators, roaming charges and interconnection issues are some of the areas address by the regulators in the industry. Small countries could adopt more innovative approaches for these issues,” Toure said.

Sri Lanka is an active member in the ITU. Priory will be given to connecting the unconnected and specially focusing on cyber crimes against children. In the international arena we need to have global framework for fighting cyber crimes against children. The contribution of the telecommunication industry on preparation for natural disasters is another area that the ITU is focusing on.

“We are impressed by the initiatives taken by Sri Lanka such as Disaster and Emergency Warning Network (DEWN) for mitigating impact of the natural disasters,” he said.

Secretary to the President and Chairman of the TRCSL, Lalith Weeratunga said there is a phenomenal growth in the local telecommunications industry and this is a one area that the country has done extremely well.

“The country had to impose certain regimes for the industry considering national security as mobile phones have been the backbone for some terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka. All the telcos in the country do cooperate with the Government to bring a better life to the people,” he said.

There is participation of over 150 delegates from GSM networks representing 27 countries, officials from GSMA and other partner organisations for the conference.