Mobitel’s dynamic journey of 25 years strewn with industry firsts

Sri Lanka’s National Mobile Service Provider, Mobitel, celebrates the 25th glorious anniversary of its operations this month, and can look back at a proud legacy and an even more promising future. Mobitel has expanded its offerings beyond the realm of telecommunications, by foraying into transportation, education, health, security, leisure and mobile money sectors, thereby offering greater value. Mobitel’s point of difference remains customer centricity, value innovation, and underlying care, as its upholds its ‘We care. Always.’ credo. Over the last couple of years, Mobitel has grown by leaps and bounds, achieving new firsts in Sri Lanka’s ICT sector. Expanding its scope, Mobitel has pioneered a range of innovative mobile enterprise solutions for SMEs and corporate customers, to deliver enhanced productivity while streamlining systems and processes. 

Mobitel inaugurated the revolutionary state-of-the-art Mobitel Innovation Centre in 2015, at TRACE Expert City Colombo, the City of Innovation, Research & Development. It was conceptualised to create value-based, futuristic solutions through faster and stronger collaborations, which would enhance further opportunities in knowledge and technology. Mobitel also launched the IoT-enabled X Station, an expert hub for futuristic technology products and services, which will enhance and simplify lives, while enabling visitors to experience the tech revolution. 

Mobitel followed this success with the strategic acquisition of eChannelling PLC, the largest doctor channelling network in Sri Lanka, strengthening its position in the digital healthcare segment. The strategic investment plays a vital role in the industry in order to transform the health sector to mHealth to make it accessible to everyone in a convenient manner. 

Soon after, Mobitel showcased the nascent NB-IoT technology (Narrow Band Internet of Things) for the first time in South Asia.  Mobitel showcased NB-IoT as a powerful technology in urban farming and home safety systems. Mobitel’s NB-IoT technology is a vital component in increasing the productivity of Sri Lanka’s overall output through simple low-cost automation solutions provided by the Mobitel Network.

Sustaining its journey of excellence, Mobitel shone at the SLIM Brand Excellence Awards 2017, walking away 0with a Gold award for ‘Service Brand of the Year’. This stands testament to Mobitel’s brand promise of ‘We Care. Always.’ and has proved that the operator sets customer service excellence as its priority in their business strategy continuity. Mobitel was also awarded 1 more Silver and 2 Bronze Awards at the SLIM Brand Excellence Awards 2017. The Silver was awarded to Mobitel for ‘Online Brand of the Year’ for Mobitel’s mCash, which was incorporated in the year 2013. Mobitel received the 2 Bronze awards for ‘CSR Brand of the Year’ and ‘Local Brand of the Year’ at the awards. These industry leading accolades are a clear demonstration of Mobitel’s unique offering as a proud local brand that is setting new industry benchmarks.

Having launched the first Super-3.5G HSPA network in South Asia in December 2007, and subsequently trialled HSPA+, MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) in 2009, another first in the region, Mobitel went on to demonstrate 4G-LTE technology also for the first time in South Asia in 2011. Accordingly, Mobitel launched its 4G-LTE Network in 2013, to provide unparalleled broadband experience to Sri Lankans. Keeping ahead with pioneering new technologies, Mobitel trialled 4.5G LTE-Advanced Pro Technology with CA (Carrier Aggregation) of three bands, again for the first time in South Asia in June 2016. In 2017, Mobitel was able to deploy the first Sub-1G Mobile Broadband Network in Sri Lanka, based on 900MHz spectrum innovatively to provide superior coverage some rural areas of the country. On 1 February, Mobitel launched the First Commercial 4.5G/4G+ Mobile Network in South Asia.

With the upgraded network, Mobitel customers can avail themselves of more bandwidth and high data speeds, for a superior online experience, and to enjoy downloading music, videos, and games at stable speeds. It also provides a seamless user experience for Mobitel Enterprise Solutions, and enables the company to cater to the growing demand in the corporate sector for customised solutions.  4.5G will act as a bridge for the eventual adoption of the 5G standard, while bringing significant improvements to Mobitel’s existing 4G networks by allowing them to handle more data-intensive applications. Upholding its reputation as the most progressive telco in Sri Lanka, Mobitel continues to invest in infrastructure developments to support its latest technological needs.