Rs 200 million telecommunication project:

Kokavil tower to be commissioned soon

Sanjeevi Jayasuriya

The construction of the Kokavil tower is progressing well and will be commissioned by the end of next month. The total investment of the project is Rs 200 million, Telecommunication Regulatory Commission Director General Priyantha Kariyapperuma told Daily News Business. "We will commission the tower by the end of January. Another 60 metre tower will be erected in Madukanda in Vavuniya to link the Kokavil tower", he said.

Work on the foundation of the 172-metre tower has been completed. The structure will be imported from China and local engineers visited China recently to inspect the structure, he said. Kokavil tower is a common telecommunication broadcasting tower and will be shared by telecommunication operators and broadcasters.

The tower will serve only the Nothern Province while a few towers will be set up in strategic places such as Kilinochchi, Mannar and Palali to facilitate telecommunication requirements in the North under the Northern development plan. These will be linked with the towers in the rest of the country, he said. Steps have also been taken to repair the damaged Sri Lanka Telecom optic fibre cable. Over 90 percent work on the poles connecting the cable has been completed from Jaffna to Vavuniya and work from Vavuniya to Mannar has already been completed. This will enable high speed internet access, he said.

"There is a significant demand for the mobile communication facilities in these provinces. The mobile subscribers grew from 11 million to 13 million for the last six months and the major contributors been the Northern and the Eastern provinces.

Mobile operators such as Dialog and Mobitel have made significant investments to provide coverage in these areas.