UTStarcom Selected by Sri Lanka Telecom to Launch IPTV Services on the South Asian Island

UTStarcom, Inc. today announced a multi-million dollar contract with Just In Time Holdings Pvt Ltd. to supply its industry-leading RollingStream(R) end-to-end Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) solution to Sri Lanka Telecom Public Ltd. Co. (SLT), the country's largest tier-one wireline and incumbent operator.

SLT, a provider of international and domestic voice, Internet, and data services, will use the RollingStream platform to bring IPTV services to its growing customer base throughout Sri Lanka. SLT, with more than 87 percent market share and a wireline subscriber base of more than 1,300,000 customers, expects to grow its residential and commercial business through its increased triple play capabilities now available with this IPTV deployment.

"UTStarcom's market position is unique in that it primarily offers 'end-to-end' IPTV solutions," noted Gary Schultz, president of MRG, Inc., which publishes the semi-annual IPTV Global Market Leader Report that tracks deployments in six IPTV sub-sectors in Asia, Europe, North America and Rest-of-World.* "In terms of the total number of actual IPTV sub-sectors -- and subscribers -- served, UTStarcom is the leading end-to-end supplier in the Asian IPTV market.

IPTV, as an application-enabler, continues to open up new opportunities for revenue generation for service providers. MRG forecasts global IPTV network capital expenditure (CAPEX) to grow at a 16 percent Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) over the next few years, as service providers provision differentiated service offerings to further their competitive edge."

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http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2008/06/17/3502744.htm

SLT upgrades bandwidth, announces IPVPN system for schools

Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) has upgraded its international internet backbone network, which now has 2.2Gbps of international IP broadband capacity, and plans to upgrade to 3.5Gbps or more within a year, the company said in a statement. SLT claims that its ISP unit SLTnet has a 60% share of the country’s residential and business internet user market.

In another announcement, SLT says that its IPVPN solutions will connect schools island-wide to a new IP network, named SchoolNet, providing voice, video, broadband internet access, other network services and web hosting. A total of 1,100 schools are to be connected under the first phase of the project, with 5,000 schools to be on the network by 2010.

SchoolNet has been designed as a secure and fully managed system. SLT’s IPVPN technology will allow all establishments to access a centralised IT network at any given time, which will enable them to communicate with a Network Operations Centre (NOC), located at the University of Moratuwa.

Extracted from,
http://www.telegeography.com/cu/article.php?article_id=23237

Maxis acquires NTT stake in Sri Lanka Telecom for $297 million

Following a prolonged legal battle, Japan’s NTT Corporation (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone) finally sold its 35.2 percent stake in Sri Lanka Telecom to Malaysian Network operator, Maxis for $297 million, taking Sri Lanka Telecom shares to a record high.

NTT and Sri Lanka Telecom said that the sale of 635 million shares to a unit of Maxis Communications’ parent Usaha Tegas Sdn Bhd was completed at 50.50 rupees per share, a 22 percent premium to Monday''s closing price. The price of the deal exceeded the expectations of all analysts.


“The market expected the deal to go through around 42-45 rupees level. We never expected it at 50.50 rupees,” said Vajira Premawardhana, head of research at Lanka Orix Leasing.

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http://www.telecomtiger.com/fullstory.aspx?

Sri Lanka Telecom extends gains on NTT sale expectations

Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) extended gains Wednesday on expectations of a sale of stock by NTT to Malaysia's Usaha Tegas group following a court order permitting the sale, dealers said.

SLT share rose one rupee to 39.25 on top of a 1.50 rupee gain on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, SLT said in a regulatory filing that a proposed shareholder agreement between Sri Lanka's government and the UT group cannot go ahead, but a court ruling has allowed a separate management deal.

Japan's NTT Communications which now owns 35.2 percent of SLT has a shareholder agreement with the government which owns 49.5 percent of the company, giving NTT benefits including the right to appoint a chief executive.

NTT was originally proposing to sell a 25 percent stake in Sri Lanka Telecom to Global Communications NV, a UT group investment vehicle, retaining a 10 percent stake.

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http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/fullstory.php?

S.Lanka Mobitel invests $200 mln in network upgrade

The wireless arm of leading fixed-line telephone operator Sri Lanka Telecom SLTL.CM said on Wednesday it hopes to hike its subscriber base by 17 percent by early next year after investing $200 million to upgrade networks.

Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sri Lanka Telecom, said the investment would enable it to provide superfast 3.5G data services, and China's Huawei Technologies [HWT.UL] had been awarded a contract.

"Our funding came partly from a Sri Lanka Telecom bond issue, partly self-generated investment and two loans," said Suren Amarasekera, chief executive officer of Mobitel.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssTechMediaTelecomNews/

Sri Lanka Telecom call charges reduced

Sri Lanka Supreme Court today approved a proposal submitted by the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC) to reduce the fixed charge of the Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) telephones.

The TRC proposal was allowed when a petition filed by the Lanka Consumers Association was taken for consideration today.

As a result, the fixed charge of the domestic telephone will be decreased from current Rs. 495 to Rs. 350 and the business telephone fixed charge will trim down to Rs. 950 from current Rs. 1250. SLT said that the reduction is 8.7%. The relevant billing is valid from January 01st this year.

Telephone call charges are also to be reduced accordingly.

Extracted from,
http://www.colombopage.com/archive_07/July9165820SL.html