SLTL.N

Sri Lanka Telecom to roll out 200,000 optical fibre links with Nokia tech

Thursday July 16, 2020 06:49:11

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka telecom, a fixed line operator with a mobile unit said, will boost its capacity for optical fibre to the home (FTTH) connections by 200,000 from the current 350,000 using technology from Finland-based technology firm Nokia, the company said.

“By fully utilizing the fiber-technology, we are looking to expand our customer offerings and provide access to a platitude of broadband-based services,” SLT Chief Executive Officer Kiththi Perera said.

Perera in Sri Lanka Telecom’s March 2020 annual report that the firm plans to develop two million FTTH ports by 2022 from the existing 350,000 ports.

Using Nokia’s XGS-PON technology Sri Lanka Telecom’s network will move “to virtualization and Software Defined Access Networks (SDAN) by software upgrade” the companies said.

“We are excited to support SLT’s fiber initiative and provide the tools, resources and expertisethat the company needs to deliver enhanced broadband access to customers,” Managing Director at Nokia Sri Lanka and Maldives,Upendra Samaratunge said.

Sri Lanka Telecom group said it had 2.87 million fixed broadband, fixed voice and Peo TV pay television service and its subsidiary Mobitel had 7.75 million subscribers.

SLT said invested 29 billion rupees in expanding its FTTH network, Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) platform, a 4.5 generation and an optical fibre core network.

SLT says FTTH expand home-based entertainment also help micro, small and medium enterprises especially when high speed data is needed amid Coronavirus restrictions. (Colombo/July 15/2020)

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Sri Lanka Telecom profits double in June 2020 quarter

ECONOMYNEXT – Profits at Sri Lanka Telecom Plc, which also has a mobile unit doubled to 2.8 billion rupees in the June 2020 quarter from a year earlier, amid a Coronavirus pandemic and slower growth in costs, interim accounts show.

The group reported earnings of 1.50 rupees per share. For the six months to June profits earnings of 2.54 rupees per share was reported.

Revenues grew 3 percent to 21.9 billion rupees and cost of sales fell 6.9 percent to 11.3 billion rupees, helping gross profits grow 17 percent to 10.6 billion rupees.

In the six month to June revenues grew from 42.5 billion rupees to 44.1 billion rupees with stronger growth in mobile operations.

SLT and its subsidiary Mobitel, had offered new packages at discounted rates, amid the Coronavirus pandemic, the firm said.

“In the short run, the Company experienced positive impact in areas such as Broadband, IPTV and Career Business services due to the surge in utilization in the residential sector, as well as in the business sector with the shift towards work from home arrangements in continuing the businesses,” SLT told shareholders.

“In addition, future opportunities are emerging with novel digital products and services.”

“SLT with its mobile arm, Mobitel (Pvt) Ltd has provided a multitude of bundled telecom packages at
concessionary rates and free offers of data to certain customer segments to comfort the customers
during the pandemic.”

SLT said collections had fallen in the early stages of the pandemic.

“However, the effective collection strategies of the Company has subsequently improved collections, normalizing the cash flows from collections for the period,” SLT said.

“Regulatory instructions to refrain from disconnecting the unpaid subscribers, resulted in challenges in
collecting the billed revenue.

“Nevertheless, the Government’s decision on extending the due dates for the payment of some taxes and levies has eased off the situation in the short term. In order to mitigate the cash flow related challenges, the company has decided to limit capital expenditure only for the critical areas and to utilize procurement models with deferred payment plans.”

Group trade and other receivables rose to 36 billion rupees by end June 2020 from 27.3 billion rupees a year earlier.