Airtel joins ITN to launch ground breaking initiative

Tuesday, 14 June 2016 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Airtel together with ITN recently launched Sri Lanka’s very first instant and interactive news segment –i-reporter, giving journalists and news reporters around the country, the opportunity to capture and deliver un-cut news faster and more accurately to Sri Lankan viewers.

The concept, which is the first of its kind in Sri Lanka, was initially introduced as a ‘citizen journalism’ based initiative that allows people from all over the world to contribute pictures and videos of breaking news stories, and to a story that a person believes is newsworthy. Submissions are not edited but telecasted the same way they have been captured.

Commenting on this exclusive initiative, Hemasiri Fernando– Chairman/CEO of ITN said: “We have always been looking for innovative ways of reporting news to our viewers and thanks to Airtel, we are able to make this vision a reality. Instant news updates are what most audiences crave for and I believe that this initiative will definitely revolutionize the industry.”

“At Airtel, we thought that this would be a very good platform in Sri Lanka,as journalists could now report news, as and when it happens from wherever they are. In order to fulfill this purpose, we also decided to partner with ITN – the pioneer and leading television station who has a record of delivering ‘up to date’ news faster from across the country, living up to the speeds of the networks connection. I extend my good wishes towards this program and to everyone who works tirelessly behind the scenes. My vision is to personally see this program reaching greater heights in Sri Lanka,” said Jinesh Hegde CEO/ MD of Airtel Lanka.

With island wide coverage, the Airtel network is now 40% faster and smarter with their all new smart cache technology that ensures uninterrupted network speeds up to 42mbps. With over 80% of the network now 3G enabled along with the new HSPA+ network infrastructure which uses cutting edge technology, will ensure that these journalists experience high speed and seamless access to Internet Services – allowing them to upload pictures and videos as well as provide live streaming as and when needed.