Mobitel strikes with the launch of M3

Colombo, 5th December 2007

The first and only HSPA network in South Asia offering the 'fastest' mobile Internet access

Sri Lanka’s National Mobile Service provider, Mobitel, proudly unveiled M3 it’s ‘super-3.5G’ services to the public. Mobitel having invested in excess of USD 200 million in its 2.5G/3.5G networks is now fully fledged to provide Mobitel M3 users with the best ‘super-3.5G’ experience ever seen, not only in Sri Lanka but also in the whole of South Asia. Equipped with a king size packet core powered by full duplex High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA)  technology, the very latest ‘super-3.5G’ network bursts data at a staggering downlink rate of up to 7.2 Mbps and a uplink rate of up to 1.92 Mbps with the use of High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) technologies respectively. Collectively, these specifications exceed 3G services currently available in the Sri Lankan market. No other operator in Sri Lanka or for that matter in South Asia currently offers HSUPA. The difference is that the M3 service will allow both the downloading and uploading of large files, such as email attachments in a considerably shorter time than on 2.5G or 3G platforms, helping mobile data users focus their time more on the content and less on the waiting.

 “I’m proud to announce today that Mobitel has scored the first hat-trick in the South Asian mobile telephony history” said Asoka Weerasinghe de Silva, Chairman of Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel. “The fastest data speeds, the fastest growing ‘super-3.5G’ network reaching all corners of the country and also the fastest access to experiencing broadband services will position Mobitel M3 services as the richest ‘super-3.5G’ experience in the country. In achieving this pioneering feat, we wish to recognize the relentless commitment of Huawei Technologies extended to Mobitel.” 

The GSM Association (GSMA), which represents more than 700 GSM and 3G mobile phone operators across 218 countries and territories of the world serving over 2.5 billion customers, sees HSPA as the technology of choice for operators wanting to offer mobile broadband services to both urban and rural communities. “Sri Lanka is a great example of how HSPA can make broadband services much more widely available in countries where fixed lines are scares,” said Alex Sinclair, Chief Technology Officer of GSMA. “Now Sri Lankans will be able to use HSPA to both download and upload at high speeds, putting their country at the cutting edge of the global mobile broadband market.”

With its lightening speed data transfer capabilities, Mobitel expands it’s realm by offering fastest Mobile Broadband service in Sri Lanka. Whats more, M3 service is hassle-free and cost effective with the several options to choose from be it 3G handsets with USB cables, HSPA or HSDPA modems. Apart from Mobile Broadband, Mobitel also offers a rich suite of 3G products like video calling, video messaging, mobile TV, Push Mail etc. which will enrich a truly third generation mobile lifestyle collectively known as “M3”.

“M3 is our new philosophy” added Suren J. Amarasekera, CEO of Mobitel. “Customer centricity is the cornerstone of this philosophy which is aimed at clearly differentiating Mobitel as the outright leader in Mobile ICT arena with the launch of its M3 the ‘super-3.5G’ service coupled with a plethora of services aimed at driving customers to a chic lifestyle while delivering an unmatched mobile experience.”

Continued Mr. Amarasekera, “We firmly believe that unlike other nomadic broadband offerings using alternate technologies such as WiMAX, Mobitel’s M3 the ‘super-3.5G’ service offers the only ‘truly mobile ICT’ available in the country. Wider availability, accessibility, commitment to worry-free fair pricing and unprecedented speeds available with M3, will indubitably accelerate the current very low level of Internet penetration in Sri Lanka to reach double digit penetration level in the short term. We have broken down many barriers by ensuring that all existing Mobitel post-paid and pre-paid users have been automatically M3 enabled and also by making video calls priced at the same low level of voice calls. For those data only users, we have designed several packages starting from a mere Rs.400 per month. As the National Mobile Service Provider, we have stepped up to take on the challenge to aggressively promote this all important economic enabler by having 60% of population covered at the time of launch and eventually reaching the deepest corners of Sri Lanka. 2008 is set to be a breakthrough year for mobile Internet users in Sri Lanka!”

Huawei Technologies of China was awarded the contract of establishing the ‘super-3.5G’ network of Mobitel and today the network covers Colombo, greater Colombo and most major cities including main roads in the country.

''We are very pleased to deploy the HSPA network for Mobitel with our advanced technologies and solutions, which enable Mobitel to provide the best quality mobile broadband services to the end users in Sri Lanka. We look forward to continuing this partnership with Mobitel.” Said Mr. Victor Wang, President of Huawei Technologies Asia Pacific Region.

The core technologies that throttle HSPA to it’s limits are HSDPA which defines a theoretical maximum downlink rate of 14.4 Mbps and HSUPA which defines a theoretical maximum uplink rate of 5.76 Mbps through a complex telecom network topology. Mobitel is fully geared to further increase its link speeds depending on consumer demand, subject to the terminal equipment capabilities.

Over the next few days and weeks, Mobitel will be actively introducing new mobile content and services that will benefit from the enhanced user experience, including mobile TV. An array of special introductory offers too will be announced in due course.