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Empowering Professionalism 2008

Sri Lanka Telecom - the Platinum Sponsor for CIMA World Conference 2008
Sri Lanka Telecom was the platinum sponsor for the CIMA World Conference 2008.
The World Conference is CIMA Sri Lanka’s flagship conference as well as one of the premier events hosted in the country.  

SLT understands what it is like to support a good cause. This is why SLT is glad to partner with CIMA in its efforts to empower professionalism, presenting top-notch Professionals at the CIMA World Summit 2008. SLT takes this opportunity to reassure Sri Lanka’s Professionals of SLT’s firm commitment to support professionalism through a comprehensive communication network. SLT will always run the extra mile to support professionals by providing them with state-of-the-art communication solutions. SLT’s aim is to raise the standards of professionalism throughout Sri Lanka, through a reliable and robust communications backbone.

SLT empowers professionalism with strategic partnership of National HR Conference 2008

Sri Lanka Telecom was the strategic partner of the National Human Resources (HR) Conference 2008.  Hosted by the Institute of Personnel Management (IPM), the event was held very recently at the BMICH, with the participation of Mr. Lalith Wijetunge - President of IPM, Mr. Geoff Armstrong - Director General, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, UK (CIPD) and Mrs. Leisha De Silva Chandrasena - Chairperson of SLT.

With the aim of empowering professionalism, this year’s theme was centered upon ‘People Driven Business’. One of the most sought after events in the country, the national HR conference has nurtured a community of professionals throughout the industry, by putting together world-class speakers and resource persons from varied disciplines. This provides a priceless service to the country, especially in the era of knowledge economy.

SLT partnered with IPM in line with one of SLT’s corporate responsibility endeavours, “empowering professionalism”. The first class telecommunication infrastructure that the company has been building can be used as a platform for HR professionals to do their business in a better manner, generating more value to their brands.

It was fascinating to see that how this conference has evolved into a truly international conference, where both international and local HR professionals could share knowledge. This evolution in HR management has delivered positive results everywhere, creating enormous value to businesses. Sri Lanka Telecom is a classic example of this change. Over a period of several years, SLT has been transformed from a government department to a profitable, market oriented, responsible corporate citizen who serves the nation better. Change happened in people. Technology, new management & HR practices supported it

SLT, being the number one telecommunication service provider, through it’s first class communication infrastructure, help other businesses, non-governmental and governmental organisations to empower their people as well. By using SLT’s technologies, services and nationwide network for empowering people, businesses generate an immense value for the country. SLT is proud of it. Sri Lanka Telecom embraces the conference theme, People Driven Business, whole heartedly.

SLT partners with 8th Annual Conference 2008 of the Chartered Institute of Marketing

Sri Lanka Telecom took great pride in partnering with the 8th Annual Conference of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), Sri Lanka region. 

The significance on the company’s continuous support for the conference is that the Company believes that ICT is a solid bridge between brands and customers, with customers being well informed due to the ICT revolution, which has demolished traditional boundaries of business. There is no dependence on only traditional sources of information, with millions of users around the world getting connected to the internet and having access to information, which goes around at lightening speed. Customers are benefited from this revolution as they have the opportunity to make more informed purchase decisions. 

SLT as the number one telecommunication and ICT service provider is proud to be the flag bearer of this revolution in Sri Lanka, building a world-class communication infrastructure for the country. This has the foundation for state-of-the-art service offerings for many brands.  

This is the sixth consecutive year that SLT has been associated with the CIM Annual Conference.

Sri Lanka Mahajana Development Foundation partners with SLT to broaden the horizon of rural communication

Sri Lanka Telecom entered into a landmark agreement with Sri Lanka Mahajana Development Foundation, a non profit making, non governmental service organization which has objectives to uplift the living standards of the community through various activities. SLT’s nation-wide coverage has proven its commitment to empower the rural community by providing connectivity to rural areas with the launch of its SLT Citylink CDMA network in Anuradhapura in 2005.

Under this agreement, SLT will initially provide 50,000 telephone connections to facilitate communication requirements of the members of the Sri Lanka Mahajana Development Foundation island-wide on SLT Citylink CDMA.

The Foundation has already appointed 18 district coordinators, 275 regional community leaders and 10,000 rural community leaders to promote their membership. It expects to increase the number within the next two to three years. Coordinators of the foundation aim to visit each household to promote membership, where they will also be promoting the SLT CitylinkCDMA to the largest network in the country.

The new project is committed to providing communication facilities to every single citizen in Sri Lanka. SLT strongly believe that the SLT Citylink CDMA service will be an important enabler in eliminating the digital divide in the country by empowering rural community.

The significance of a tie up with the SLT, the Mahajana Development Foundation said that it has went through a comprehensive selection process in choosing Sri Lanka Telecom, the giant. At present SLT has the most reliable nation-wide communication backbone in Sri Lanka. Mahajana Development Foundation is quite confident that the project will be successful in reaching rural communities effectively and efficiently with this initiative.

SLT has already partnered with ICTA to provide telecommunication connectivity for Nenasala centers around the country. SchoolNet (Online education system), LEARN (Online University network), National Distance Education Network and Lanka Government Network (e-government project) are some other mega projects SLT empowers to help the Government of Sri Lanka’s efforts to eliminate the digital divide in the island. SLT maintains the island-wide network of pay-phones to facilitate especially the rural communities with telecommunication services.

SLT and Mobitel showcased the future home at Deyata Kirula
Sri Lanka Telecom has reaffirmed its commitment to educate the general public and the younger generation in particular, by becoming the principal sponsor and total communication service provider for the Deyata Kirula National Development Exhibition. It was held at the BMICH for the second consecutive year as part of the government’s development endeavor under the ten-year plan outlined by the Mahinda Chinthana initiative. SLT together with Mobitel showcased the future home by using world class technologies.

The SLT digital lifestyle stall at the exhibition allowed visitors to experience the digital lifestyle by bridging the information and technology gap through world-class technology. The stall featured an automated operation of home appliances, music and other personal features, which included chatting, facebook, music making and recording as well as fixed mobile convergence.

Connectivity for the stall was provided through the SLT broadband network and M3, Mobitel’s 3.5G mobile broadband network, the first and only HSPA network in South Asia offering the fastest mobile internet access using 3.5G technology. Video calls, video blogging, the Mobile Eye were among the features on offer in addition to mobile TV and the future of home living, where one is able to operate home appliances through the mobile phone. Also customers of Mobitel were able to watch what was happening at the stall live by dialing a video call to 555 on their Mobitel 3G phone.

SLT provided broadband connectivity to the BMICH premises, allowing more than 100 stalls to have access to high speed internet, video and telephone services. Total services provided by the company to the exhibition organisers and stallholders included telephone services for voice communication, PABX services for inter branch voice communication, GSM mobile phones through Mobitel, high capacity dedicated data connectivity on the SLT broadband network and ISDN services for video conferencing facilities.

SLT assured communication requirements of all the stalls by providing broadband internet services for them through SLT SLT Broadband technology, wireless internet through 20 Wi-Fi hotspots at different locations so that people had the opportunity to access wireless internet and also services of Mobitel M3. M3, mobile broadband services facilitated to bring live exhibition coverage on Mobitel’s mobile TV platform by Lanka Puwath.

SLT provided Metro Ethernet connectivity to the BMICH to handle high speed data, Metro Ethernet, which is a fibre optic network operated by SLT delivered high-bandwidth connectivity solutions to corporate offices and important locations like BMICH. SLT has already rolled out its Metro Ethernet services in order to support advanced data, voice, video and higher speed internet services. It is a metro access network of fiber optic rings based on MPLS technology providing connections to high rise buildings. The company’s optical fibre ring network has been designed to provide high transport capacity, which was interconnected to all provinces in the country. The network establishment facilitates seamless connectivity island wide.

The Deyata Kirula National Development Exhibition showcased the country’s history, from the present situation to the future, as well as enlightening the public regarding the development initiatives undertaken by the Government of Sri Lanka.

SLT powers Lanka Government Network
Sri Lanka Telecom has been chosen as the total telecommunication service provider as well as the communication infrastructure provider to the Lanka Government Network (LGN).  The Government aims at encouraging public sector employees to get better acquainted with Information and Communication Technology (ICT), assuring efficiency and smooth flow of information as well as improving standards of service in the public sector to be able to provide efficient citizen services.. LGN project is a strategic project of Re-Engineering Government programme of Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA), which functions under the Presidential Secretariat.  

The IP-VPN (Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network) solution provided by SLT connects government offices to a unified network with a host of products such as voice, video, broadband Internet, networking and hosting services. Taking the government procedures into the realm of modern technology, SLT is responsible to network this mega ICT project titled ‘Lanka Government Network’ (LGN).  This project comes under the e-Sri Lanka initiative. A total of 325 government offices in the Western, Central, Southern and Sabaragamuwa provinces via VPN will be connected under the stage 1 of the project, which includes Ministries, Departments, Districts and Divisional Secretariats. 

The solution will allow island wide government offices to have on-line access to a centralised IT system at any given time, enabling them to communicate with the Network Operation Centre (NOC) located at the LGN. The planned network can carry Internet Protocol (IP) traffic – voice, video, mission critical and standard class data facilitating Government offices located island wide with seamless connectivity. 
The LGN concept was initiated to address issues that came out as the result of a survey research carried out in the usage of ICT in the government sector. It was conducted in 2003 to assess what the situation is in relation to e-government and the roadblocks that we face in implementing it. Later, decided to have an enabling project which would build ICT infrastructure in the government. The scope of the project includes having to address those issues, in terms of providing connectivity to key ministries that provide citizen centric services, that need to be connected for the government to be able to progress towards e-governance. SLT plays an important role in the success of this programme and as a futuristic company has enabled LGN to take major steps towards an ICT enabled government.   

The programme allows LGN communities prompt online access to software driven user interfaces and enhance the effectiveness of service delivery in the office environment. Each Government office will be connected to LGN VPN by using different access speeds based on current requirements. This could be increased to higher data rates on demand. SLT with its dedicated staff is offering reliable and maximum service levels that are required for the project. The latest ICT technology has been selected for the operation of the project, by foreseeing the future requirements in the public service sector. The optical fiber link will help to avoid bottlenecks in the bandwidth. The company will also provide state-of-the-art technology in order to introduce high quality, reliable broadband information artery to the national public service information system, which will provide government offices access to information real time. 
 
The geographical spread of the network allows it to be flexible and scalable to suit any Ministry’s requirement of future expansion needs as and when they arise, to connect more government offices to the LGN. This also means that even as the number of government offices increases, the investment required to make the offices in remote areas fully accessible in terms of communications, remains minimal. The agreement is also projected to cut down costs of inter-branch communication and increase productivity, which results in cost effective real time communication. 

SLT’s partnership with LGN, demonstrates SLT’s commitment to collaborate with the Government of Sri Lanka to take the public service system to greater heights. Since public service is of extreme importance to the country’s development, it will bring the necessary facilities to improve and enhance the methods to serve the general public effectively. The solutions that SLT providing are at minimal cost, making operation of the system smoother and faster as well as enhancing the capabilities of any Ministry and other offices to serve the public efficiently. This will also enable government offices to offer more online services to the general public, such as online applications, online submission of forms, e-Pension services, online examination information, Tax information among others.   

For the LGN project, SLT will act as the telecommunication backbone, providing high speed access to data, video and voice communications in government offices and ministries. Together with the government, we believe that we can create a stronger resource pool for government offices and the general public across the country. The mega network opens the door for tremendous opportunity for the Company to provide integrated solutions, which are a composite of network, connectivity, hosting applications, security management as well as generating new streams of revenue in the future. The LGN initiative has the potential and the ingredients to make it a mega technology driven social project, which encompasses pioneering technology as well as the empowering and uplifting society. SLT’s involvement in a project of this magnitude is reflective of its efforts in being a catalyst in helping to build an ICT enabled Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka Telecom supports Sri Lanka’s first woman badminton player to Olympics

Sri Lanka Telecom, the nation’s telecommunication powerhouse and the driving force behind several major sporting events extends its support to Ms. Thilini Jayasinghe, the number one woman badminton player in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka Telecom has handed over the sponsorship cheque to Ms Jayasinghe, who created history by becoming the first woman Badminton player to represent Sri Lanka at the Olympics. She, who is in the Sri Lankan contingent to upcoming summer Olympic Games in Beijing, is also the number one female Badminton player in the country, according to current rankings. 

Ms Jayasinghe, who began to impress in international tournaments within the last one year period, has won as many as two gold, two silver and one bronze medals in the last seven international badminton federation tournaments.

The significance of the sponsorship is that SLT is mindful of it’s role in helping to develop sporting talent in the country in order for them to make their mark on the international arena. Sports have played an important social and cultural role in Sri Lanka, helping to bring together both individuals and communities as well as crossing social boundaries.

Sri Lanka Telecom has been continuously supporting the Sri Lanka Badminton Association (SLBA), sponsoring their key events over a period of several years. SLT is committed to nurture the future talent in sports by supporting individual players, collaborating with sport governing bodies and partnering with major sporting events.

SLT inter-provincial Twenty/20 tournament concludes with great success
Sri Lanka Telecom is proud to be the title sponsor for the country’s first national lever inter-provincial cricket tournament this year. SLT also partnered with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), the cricket governing body of the country to support them to develop the standard of domestic cricket in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka Telecom Inter-Provincial Twenty20 Tournament ends up with the victory of ‘Wayamba’ team. Team ‘Ruhuna’ were the runners-up of tournament. Wayamba won by 31 runs against Ruhuna at the Welagedara Stadium, Kurunegala recently.

The inter-provincial cricket tournament will be the second highest cricketing event in the country, after the tournaments played by the national team. The series will comprise of three tournaments, one of which was the SLT limited over inter-provincial tournament, concluded in January 2008.  The SLT inter-provincial twenty – 20 tournament, which features six teams – Kandurata, Ruhuna, Wayamba, Basnahira North, Basnahira South and a schools invitation XI played from 17th April– 1st May, 2008, while the 4 dayers will be played by all five provincial teams. There will be three SLT inter-provincial tournament trophies awarded, for the winner, runner up and man of the series for the inter-provincial twenty 20 tournament.

The Provincial Cricket Committee has notified that five cricketers who have played in the inter-provincial limited overs tournament have accommodated into the national team. The Provincial Cricket Committee has moved ahead by appointing provincial coaches and managers, and is in the process of developing the infrastructure at the five provinces so that there is less migration of cricketers to Colombo. It has also decided to invite schools eleven to give them the opportunity to compete with the best players in the country.

The Provincial Cricket Committee has further stated that sponsors like SLT have come forward in providing employment to the cricketers. These are good signs that the inter-provincial tournament is gaining momentum.

SLT’s involvement on this is yet another extension of our commitment to uplift the standard of sport in Sri Lanka. SLT believes that this relationship of merging business and sport is not just about money. At the core of this partnership are complementary values and a uniqueness that drive each other to their absolute best. Also the sport needs corporate patronage in order to develop its outstation resources in order to go forward in spite of stiff international competition.

SLT supports a wide range of sports in the country, and out of those sports, cricket gets the most attention. SLT has clearly showcased its commitment to develop and strengthen relationships through sports, and has supported the uplifting of the Sri Lankan commitment in any environment, providing state of the art communication solutions. SLT recognizes that this cricket tournament as a national sporting event to raise the standards of young Sri Lankan cricketers to a world-class status. There is no doubt that SLT is a social enabler in the country, in every aspect, reaching every corner of the country.

The inter-provincial cricketing structure, which has been advanced by the provincial committee will greatly increase the competitiveness of domestic cricket and will help to bridge the gap between the domestic and international game.

The SLC has embarked on an ambitious programme of uplifting the infrastructure facilities island-wide with the aim of improving the standard of cricket. It also hopes to develop regional centers of excellence to promote the game in the outstations.

Education
The Company has, for some years now, consciously played a supportive role in the sphere of education. There are many reasons for this. We are firmly of the view that whatever we can do in improving the upcoming generation in terms of learning and self improvement, we will do. We have a national take on this issue, recognising the fact that these young people will one day be at the helm of affairs in the country and will require education and skills of the highest order, to contribute to the Nation.

SLT together with the Asia Foundation spreads the wealth of knowledge

Sri Lanka Telecom, the nation's telecommunication powerhouse takes great pride in strengthening its long-term partnership with the Asia Foundation in Sri Lanka to donate a wide range of books to libraries in the country.

With the objective of 'Spreading the Wealth of Knowledge', Sri Lanka Telecom and the Asia Foundation embarked on a book programme in 2003 as a part of the foundation's ongoing 'Books for Asia' initiative. In 2007 it reached the distribution mark – 120,000 and both the organizations expect to achieve the same level of performance in book distribution this year as well.

By the end of May, more than 55,000 books were distributed to libraries in 364 various institutions. Amongst these institutions were 177 schools, 42 public libraries, 47 NGOs and professional institutions, 43 governmental institutions, 24 technical colleges, 11 religious institutions, 13 Sarvodhaya institutions and 7 universities. Uva Wellassa University, The Bandarawela Public Library, The Welimada Base Hospital, The Coastal Resource Management Centre in Alpitiya and Ratgama Pradeshiyasabawa are few institutions to which books have already been distributed this year.

This is a part of the company’s continuous support of the country's educational institutions and its youth to build and further develop capabilities through the provision of books and other educational material to schools, libraries and other learning academies which will undoubtedly enhance the proficiency and skill levels of school children, university students, professionals and others. This will also allow SLT to play a catalytic role in addressing the needs of primary, secondary, tertiary and professional education sectors in this country. SLT, being the single largest donor of this programme in Sri Lanka is committed to addressing the needs of these sectors through this programme for the 6th consecutive year.

SLT not only helps and encourages students to improve their skills, but this programme also helps educators to improve their vocational and research skills. The contributions are aimed at fostering a stronger reading culture among schoolchildren, undergraduates, parents and the general public. SLT and the Asia Foundation are working together to enhance child, adult and professional education through the provision of educational material on a variety of topics. Their joint effort gathers books free of charge from American publishers and brings them into Sri Lanka, to be distributed across the island. The ‘Books for Asia’ Programme in collaboration with the Asia Foundation has been based on our philosophy of stimulating curiosity, fostering knowledge and improving literacy levels.

In a context where, development requires a major investment in terms of accessibility to information, education and English language skills, the ‘Books for Asia’ programme becomes more important to Sri Lanka’s future, especially with the re-introduction of English as a medium of instruction. SLT considers it a privilege to invest in Sri Lanka’s future through its partnership with the Asia Foundation.

With the aim of being both a responsible corporate citizen as well as a catalyst for economic and social prosperity, SLT contributes heavily to broad areas of social reform, comprising of IT knowledge enhancement, education, career guidance, English language skills, nature conservation, arts and culture.

SLT boosts distance education in Sri Lanka through broadband connectivity

Sri Lanka Telecom, the nation’s number one integrated communication services provider has been chosen as the communication infrastructure provider for National On-line Distance Education Service (NODES) operates under Distance Education Modernisation Project (DEMP) of the Ministry of Education. The company will be providing connectivity solutions for National On-line Distance Education Service (NODES) an initiative of DEMP, with a Wide Area Network (WAN), operating on fibre optic based Virtual Private LAN services (VPLS) of SLT Metro Ethernet which can support advanced data, voice, video and higher-speed internet services. This WAN connects the NODES Access Centres (NACs) of DEMP from across the country, facilitating distance learning.

SLT’s solution will allow NODES Access centers to access multi media content over the NODES WAN. The NACs will be connected to the NODES WAN through fibre optics giving different access speeds based on current requirements. The NODES network provides optical fibre to all NODES locations, with the NODES WAN established using Metro Ethernet running on IP-MPLS technology. The solution will allow NODES to support triple-play services (Voice, Video, Broadband internet and Data) with seamless connectivity. It is a secure and fully managed network.

The solution comprises of connecting the NODES Network Operation Centre (NOC) at 45 Mbps speed, Demonstration NODES Access Centre (DNAC) at 4Mbps speed and all nine NACs connected at a 2Mbps bandwiith which is upgradable as an when the needs arises. All NACC’s are located in Open Universities under the first phase of the project. Additional 11 NAC’s will be connected to NODES NOC under the next phase. The NODES will be connected to the internet via SLTnet, largest ISP in Sri Lanka through very high bandwidth optical fibre connectivity with a 10 Mbps bandwidth to avoid bottlenecks in the bandwidth.

The DEMP awarded the establishment of WAN to SLT following its successful bid in a national competitive tender with competitive bids from other service providers. The Ministry of Higher Education chose SLT considering SLT’s network availability, reliability, quality of service, better service levels and customised solution based on requirements

The agreement is projected to provide the modern technological advancements in the field of distance learning. The solution offered by SLT is of minimal cost, making operations smoother and faster based on the SLT’s commitment to continuously support to upliftment of educational infrastructure in Sri Lanka.

The network is flexible and scalable to suit any requirement of future expansion needs as and when they arise to connect more NAC’s into NODES. This also means that as the number of the NAC’s increase, the investment required to make these NAC’s in remote areas fully accessible in terms of communication is minimal.

The aims of NODES is to strengthen the distance learning infrastructure in Sri Lanka, to bring it to the level where it could support instructional courses leading to degrees, master level degrees, diplomas and higher diplomas. The real benefits from human resource development that accrue to both enterprise and nation are results that SLT strongly identifies with.

SLT’s Broadband network connects schools island wide through SchoolNet
Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) is proud to announce that it is the infrastructure and service provider for SchoolNet, a new online educational system, which will improve efficiency and increase academic achievement within public schools across the nation. Part of the Secondary Education Modernization Project under the Ministry of Education, the initiative is set to revolutionize the way school administrators operate, the way teachers teach, the way parents are involved as well as the way in which children learn. SchoolNet allows teachers and students from schools throughout the nation to access reference material, tutorials, emails and other educational programmes over the Internet. In addition, for the first time teachers will be able to access several lesson plans on their computers. 

SLT’s IPVPN solution will connect schools island-wide to one unified network, which is SchoolNet, through the provision of multiple products such as voice, video, broadband Internet, network services and hosting services. A total of 1100 schools are to be connected under the first phase of the project, with 5000 schools to be connected to the network by 2010. SLT’s IPVPN would allow all schools island wide to have access to a centralized IT network at any given time, which will enable them to communicate with Network Operations Centre (NOC), located at the University of Moratuwa. The planned network can carry Internet Protocol (IP) traffic – voice, video, mission critical and standard class data facilitating island wide schools with seamless connectivity. It is a secured and fully managed network. 

The project allows the SchoolNet community prompt online access to educational software and enhances the effectiveness of teaching and learning in the educational environment. The impressive development in audio, video and computer assisted programmes along with computer mediated communications offer many possibilities for teachers to convert activities around interactive learning, watching related videos, online assessments and holding conversations in real time. Each school will be connected to the SchoolNet VPN by using different access speeds based on current requirements. However, this could be increased to higher data rates on demand. 

SLT’s involvement in SchoolNet demonstrates SLT’s commitment to collaborate with the Government of Sri Lanka to take the education system to greater heights. Since education is of extreme importance to the country, it will bring necessary facilities to improve and enhance the methods of learning and teaching further. 

The servers for web applications, databases, intranet and security will be installed at the NOC and maintained by a dedicated staff to offer reliable and maximum service levels. The latest ICT technologies have been selected for the SchoolNet operations, foreseeing future requirements in the education sector. The NOC will be connected to the Internet through 155 Mbps Optical Fiber Link to avoid bottlenecks in the bandwidth. SLT will provide state-of-the-art technology to introduce high quality, reliable broadband information artery to the national education system. This will give rural school access to information and educational content.   

SLT’s customized solution is of minimal cost, making operations smoother, enhancing the capabilities of the Ministry of Education and the education system as well as enabling to offer more online services to school children and teachers.  
SLT believes that they can help to create a stronger resource pool for children and teachers across the country through the implementation of this SchoolNet programme. SchoolNet’s resources will enhance the educational applications through SLT’s technology. The company’s commitment will be a direct cost saving to the Ministry of Education as well as further enhancing the capabilities of students and teachers.