| New
Connections Developing
the Telecom Network
The SLT has come a long way from those "dark
days" of slow growth, and an inability to
meet the demand for new telephone connections.
As a fixed telephone operator,
even though revenue per line does not reflect
the expected returns, SLT has to expand the local
network gradually, subsidizing costs with revenue
from its international services in an effort to
reduce the 270,000 waiters for our services, throughout
the island.
Today, in all locations in the
Colombo Metro region and other major cities, telephones
are available over the counter. The waiting time
for a telephone has been completely eliminated
in those areas. Even in rural areas, we have been
able to meet demand, and indeed, we have the capacity
to exceed it. At the same time, we are exploring
more cost effective ways of expanding our rural
network, since the financial return from this
sector is poor.
New Connections
| 97 |
 |
|
72,453 |
| 98 |
|
|
143,075 |
| 99 |
|
|
133,709 |
| 00 |
|
|
90,647 |
| 01 |
|
|
78,447 |
2001
Colombo 31,272
Regions 47,175
Telephones are available in
most areas, on demand, where a network is available.
In 2001, we connected 78,447
new customers to our network. Of these, 47,175
new connections were to regions outside Colombo.
SLT's Network Roll-out Expansion has cumulatively
yielded 704,095 connections up to the year of
review. The trend for new connections in the regions
shows growth.
With the supply-demand ratio
well in hand, SLT has decided that one of the
key considerations when contemplating new projects
would be the economic viability factor.
In addition to the utilization
of normal copper loops, Digital Pair Gain Systems
and Wireless Systems such as RLL and WILL were
also used to connect new customers and meet demand.
Of course, radio systems were
only used to connect subscribers in remote villages
and in locations where difficult terrain made
traditional installation impractical.
In addition, public phone
facilities were installed in all parts of the
country, and 125 new connections were provided
to Sub-Post Offices to afford telecommunication
facilities to those without personal access. The
public phone system has contributed significantly
towards raising the quality of life of the populace.
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