Sri Lanka Telecom launches Technology Experience Centre

Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT), the nation’s telecommunications powerhouse, launched a new Technology Experience Centre, a platform where enterprise and SME customers can experience first-hand the company’s enhanced services provided through state-of-the-art technology.

The one-of-a-kind SLT Technology Experience Centre is located at the Company’s head office premises at Fort, Colombo. The Technology Experience Centre was set up to provide a dedicated location for the company to carry out demonstrations of its technologies and services, to enterprise and SME customers; where customers can experience these technologies and products firsthand, and based on their experience and feedback, the company will be able to introduce newer and innovative solutions to satisfy the specific requirements that have been identified.

The new Centre will also be used as a ‘proof of concept’ lab for systems integration solutions. Furthermore, it is also a place where focus group discussions and presentations can be conducted to target customers, thereby taking a step towards building long-standing relationships with prospective customers and strengthening relationships with existing customers.

“There has been a long-felt need for a proper dedicated location where we can demonstrate our state-of-the-art services to customers,” said Greg Young, CEO of SLT, commenting on the significance of the SLT Technology Experience Centre.

“One of our major areas of focus is on achieving a higher degree of customer centricity in every process and across every layer of the organisation, so much so that we are tuned to the specific needs of customers and are able to meet their needs even before they arise. Through the SLT Technology Experience Centre, we hope to achieve just that – to get closer to the customers and build a strong, mutually beneficial relationship where our customers are not merely customers, but are our partners. This mutuality will facilitate the exchange of information both ways and bring about increased levels of customer satisfaction. Achieving greater levels of customer centricity in this way through the SLT Technology Experience Centre, we believe will also provide us with a competitive edge in the market.”

The main categories of services that will be demonstrated at the Technology Experience Centre include enterprise VPN/voice solutions, small and medium business communication solutions, industry specific solutions as well as data centre solutions. In the coming months, SLT expects to conduct “experience sessions” for identified enterprise customers at the SLT Technology Experience Centre, which will be organised on a regular basis.

Sri Lanka Telecom (www.slt.lk) is one of Sri Lanka’s most valuable blue chip companies with an annual turnover in excess of Rs 50 Billion. Sri Lanka Telecom is the nation’s number one integrated communications service provider and the leading broadband and backbone infrastructure services provider in the country. Listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange, the company’s market capitalisation as at 31 December 2011 topped Rs. 87 billion.

The two main shareholders of Sri Lanka Telecom as at year end were the Government of Sri Lanka which held 49.5% through the Secretary to the Treasury and Global Telecommunication Holdings N.V. of Netherlands, which owned a 44.98% stake. The balance shares are publicly traded.

The SLT Group has a customer base of over five million including multinational corporations, large and small corporate, public sector, retail and domestic customers. The company has been awarded a National Long Term Rating of AAA (lka) and a BB- rating on Long term Local Currency and Foreign Currency by Fitch Ratings, followed by BB- local currency and B+ foreign currency Credit Ratings by Standard & Poor’s.

SLT provides facilities and services in the areas of voice, data, video and mobile to its customers. These services, which are unmatched in scope, range from domestic and international voice, advance data transmission services which include internet services on leased lines, broadband and dial up, data circuits, and frame relay solutions to IP services such as IPVPN based on IP-MPLS technology, total corporate solutions of multiple services, satellite uplink services, IP transit, IPVPN, IPLC and international voice traffic transit services to global telecom operators and corporates, NGN services, wholesale services and mobile telephony and mobile broadband through its fully owned subsidiary Mobitel.

With a view to making Sri Lanka a broadband island, SLT is in the process of introducing the necessary infrastructure in the form of NGN (Next Generation Networks) using optical fibre backbone and broadband services such as IMS, and IPTV. SLT also provides high speed global connectivity to countries in the South Asian region through its investments in international submarine cables such as SMW3, SMW4, Bharat Lanka submarine cable system (between India and Sri Lanka) and Dhirragu-SLT submarine cable system (between The Maldives and Sri Lanka).

Together with its subsidiaries, SLT offers a full gamut of telecommunication solutions. Mobitel, branded Sri Lanka’s National Mobile Service Provider, is technologically at the cutting edge and a leader in Sri Lanka’s telecommunication industry. PEO TV redefined the future of tele-viewing in Sri Lanka with the launch of Internet Protocol Television (IPTV).

SLT Publications (Pvt) Ltd. produces the country’s premier telephone directory used by the entirety of the industry and accessible worldwide. SLT Services (Pvt) Ltd. provides project management and consultancy services to Sri Lanka Telecom for its development projects and system integration to large corporate and SME customers.

SLT Manpower Solutions provides the human resource management service to the group by recruiting, training, assessing, outsourcing and providing consultancy services.

Sky Network operates Sri Lanka’s first ever WiMax 16e high speed wireless broadband network to further penetrate broadband services across the country.