Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel in an aggressive sprint mode

With every growth and profitability indicator showing a marked upward trend, Sri Lanka’s National Mobile Telecommunication Service Provider, Mobitel, has got off the block for 2007 with poise. Sri Lanka Telecom’s fully owned subsidiary which has committed itself to becoming the country’s leader in the next generation 3G service, has continued to make progress in all aspects of its business following the completion of its acquisition and commissioning of GSM services in January 2004.

Despite facing constraints on its capacity as a consequence of a tremendously successful increase in sales and customer acquisition,  the first quarter results outdid the performance in the corresponding quarter of the previous year on every important measure. The subscriber base increased by a phenomenal 88%, in comparison with the results of the same period in 2006. The revenue grew by 31%, reaching a total of Rs.1.51 billion for the quarter. The upward trend continued across the Company’s profitability indicators, with Earnings before Interest, Tax, Depreciation & Amortisation (EBITDA) growing by 16%, Earnings before Interest & Tax growing by 306% and Profit after Tax turning around from a loss of Rs.202 Million to a profit of Rs.27 Million, reflecting an overall profit growth of 113%.

Mobitel’s growth is underpinned by a strong overarching philosophy of value innovation, where technology, distribution, service packages, value-added services, and support are only means to an end. The end being caring for the customer by always having the customer’s best interests at heart. It’s based not on being first to market, but on being right for market, if not being the best for market.

This philosophy runs across the Company and it has spawned several initiatives that have propelled Mobitel forward. The Company’s ‘SMART 5’ product revolutionized mobile subscriber call patterns to provide a 24-hour call pricing option that took the market by storm. ‘SMART 5’ became the single biggest factor contributing to the tremendous growth of Mobitel’s subscriber base. Other initiatives, such as Mobitel’s ground breaking agreement with Sri Lanka Post and the tie up with the retail giant Singer in the distribution area, have contributed to and will continue to contribute to Mobitel’s growth momentum in a significant way.

Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel – the National Mobile Service Provider – is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sri Lanka Telecom. In January 2004, the company launched its full–fledged GSM network that is EDGE/GPRS enabled and designed to operate on dual bands. Investments committed to date in its 3G and GSM service offering total over US$200 million and are set to increase its present 600 base stations to 1500 base stations by the end of this year.