SLT hosts Management Committee Meeting of two submarine cable maintenance consortiums

Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) hosted the Management Committee Meeting of two submarine cable maintenance consortiums at Hotel Galadari from 21-24 March in Colombo.

The Consortium Parties of the South East Asia and Indian Ocean Cable Maintenance Agreement (SEAIOCMA) and the Pacific and Indian Ocean Cable Maintenance Agreement (PIOCMA) met during this period. A total of 37 foreign delegates and two local parties, representing various international submarine cable maintenance authorities, as well as facility providers such as cable ships and submarine cable spare storage depots, attended the meeting.

SLT has been a partner of the cable maintenance consortium since the early ’80s, investing in SEA-ME-WE and two other submarine cable systems. The privilege of hosting the consortiums was awarded to Sri Lanka and SLT due to the proposed submarine cable depot in Galle to facilitate the cable maintenance activities in the region. 

SLT has taken the initiative to establish a joint venture company with Indian Ocean Cable Ship Pte Ltd. of Singapore to set up a cable depot in Galle. Submarine Cable Depot Ltd. will be ready for service during the third quarter of 2017 - and is the only one of its kind currently planned in South Asia. 

Once the cable depot is established, the Cable Ship Asia Restorer will also be stationed in Galle. With the new cable depot in Galle, the availability of international communication facilities will be enhanced since it helps to attend the submarine cable repair and maintenance work in the region without any delay. 

“It is a tremendous honour for Sri Lanka Telecom to be a part of such a strategic and vital project. It will soon be our responsibility to deliver services via the depot to the international cable systems that connect Asia and Europe,” stated Sri Lanka Telecom Chief Network Officer Priyantha Fernandez.