Sri Lanka Telecom Annual Report 2004  
 
Sri Lanka Telecom - Focussed on Goals Beyond
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  Business Review - Fixed Telephony
   
 
860, 468 Fixed Lines across Sri Lanka ...

A Fibre Optic Super Highway

One of the exciting new developments we are planning will see fibre optic connectivity introduced into the regions.

The Company plans to connect the Southern, Eastern and Northern regions of the island to the centre via optical fibre cabling.

We envisage that a Southern network of 325 km, an Eastern network of 583 km and a Northern network of 564 km will be connected to the Company’s existing Central network by the years 2006, 2007 and 2008 respectively.

Going CDMA
SLT is also planning to deploy a network using CDMA technology, which has the potential of connecting 225,000 customers to our services.

The Company is currently in discussion with the TRC with a view to re-deploying frequency bands used for WLL services for the proposed CDMA operations.

The proposed services would help us grow our customer base for fixed line services from the rural and semi-rural areas of the country. CDMA based services would provide a cost advantage as the cost of expanding the network through a wireless based technologies.

Building Up “Hope”
SLT continued to focus on restoring and developing services and infrastructure in conflict ravaged areas of the North and East. Our aim is to bring an increasing number of customers initially back on line and then to provide access to our value added services, thereby bringing the entire region up to par with the best available service in the country.

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For the year in review, the Company completed network expansion and restoration of services in the areas of Jaffna and Kilinochchi. We expect to complete similar projects for Chunnakam Town and Mullaitivu by 2005.

Similarly we were able to complete work in the Mannar Town area during 2004, and will be completing work in Pesalai, Erukkalampitty, Vankalai and Murunkan in the Mannar District, by 2005.

In Ampara, network expansion was completed in Thirukovil whilst we will be completing work in Uhana in 2005.

One of the landmark achievements for SLT in 2004 was the enhancement of “Project Hope” - our initiative to develop telecommunication facilities in the Jaffna peninsula. This enhancement came in the form of a commissioning of a second link to Jaffna via a new high capacity transmission tower.

Standing over 150 metres tall, the new tower whilst being the tallest of its kind anywhere in Sri Lanka, also facilitates a high capacity transmission link over an entirely land based route in contrast to the radio ransmission link operating to Jaffna over the sea via Mannar.

The new link, classified as an STM 1 link, operates via Kilinochchi offering a capacity of 126 Megabits per second (Mbps). The radio transmission link that was inaugurated last year under “Project Hope” was of a 34 Mbps capacity.


In 2004, SLT Provided 53,656 new connections

The two links together have significantly augmented our services to and from Jaffna.

This rapid deployment of telecommunication facilities in the North has prompted the formation of a special project team to handle development work in terms of telecommunications in the Northern area with responsibility for Outside Plant Development, Switching, Radio and transport and installation of transmission equipment.

Cutting Edge Maintenance for Cutting Edge Technology

One of the key elements of SLT’s new brand image is to be a customer focussed telecommunications service provider. This means that from “connection to call completion”, every step in between must be accomplished with a high degree of professionalism incorporating top class technology.

Since 2002, SLT has introduced the concept of Outside Plant Maintenance Centres or OPMCs as they are known in the industry. These centres are self contained “one stop” locations that offer a comprehensive service be it a new service or the repair of an existing one.

OPMC functions are centralised in terms of human resources, materials and transport facilities and with the deployment of advanced computer technology, they have been able to yield considerable savings and prune costs whilst providing superior maintenance.

Four such centres are in operation in the Colombo Metropolitan area whilst two centres are operational in Jaffna and Kurunegala. Another ten centres will be introduced across the island in 2005.

Revamping Regional Telecommunications Offices ( RTOs)
SLT’s network of 35 RTOs have undergone a major facelift to improve customer comfort and satisfaction as well as to enhance productivity. They have received updated infrastructure that equips them to handle sales, service, billing and collection functions.

These developments dovetail with the Company’s OPMC project, which will see the OPMCs gradually take over all network expansion, new service provisioning related outside plant, preventive maintenance and faults clearance which was hitherto the domain of the RTOs.

New Look Call Centres
The Company’s Call Centre operations across the country are undergoing a phased improvement. Begun in 2003, the improvements are being implemented in two phases.

Under Phase 1, the Company has equipped and trained all personnel manning the Company’s service numbers, 121, 122, 161, 133, 134, 132, 100 and 2555555, in order that a customer inquiry to a single point in this network could yield a solution, instead of the customer being channelled to each individual point in the chain for different queries.

Staff were thus given a broader training to deal with a range of queries and infrastructure was also updated to support them.

The Call Centre operation will be augmented with the opening of centres in Galle, Kandy and nuradhapura.

Phase 1 of this development programme was completed in April 2004.

Phase 2 of the upgrade will involve the introduction of a Computer Telephone Integration system that will automatically channel a customer to the three main areas of Clarity (Fault Rectification and Servicing), Geneva (which is our Billing System) and Directory Information.

In addition to the significant enhancement in service to the customer, staff manning these centres also benefit from vastly improved work processes and working environment.

Their training plus the upgrade of infrastructure in terms of making vital information available to them to help answer the full range of customer queries has empowered them to make a very positive difference in the way they are perceived by the general public.

They have now been designated as Call Centre Officers, which title does more justice to the tasks they perform and in recognising and affording them the rightful dignity that comes with the job, the Company has also been able to enhance motivation.

That we are on the right track is borne out by an 80% increase in productivity.

There is also better communication between staff and the Management and reward in the form of promotions has been linked with the Customer Sales Index, which is an added motivating factor.

In summary, the new Call Centres reflect the changing face of the Company - that of a more customer centric, efficient and professional institution where technology opens many doors to great service whilst invigorating and developing staff at all levels.

New Look Rainbow Pages
The Rainbow Pages classified business section within our National Telephone Directory was given a new identity and logo. The changes fully capture the essence of the product, giving it a contemporary look. At the same time, the Rainbow Pages concept was widened to include three new services - teleRainbow, eRainbow and the Rainbow Pages CD.

TeleRainbow is a 24-hour operator assisted service that provides information on Rainbow Pages. It is an enhanced Directory Service that allows customers to phone in and ask the operator for assistance in their language of choice.

eRainbow is an integrated search facility available to customers over SLT’s website, where information on Rainbow Pages is available on-line. The service also provides banners, pop up messages and special customer pages for listed customers as advertising options, at nominal rates.

The Rainbow Pages CD contains information plus all-island directory information including that of Government and religious institutions, business organisations and personal phone numbers.

The Rainbow’s colour spectrum has become a boon to customers, making their search for listed products easier.

Improved Billing System
The Company’s new Billing system was introduced in 2003. A fully computerised, integrated system now allows the Company to combine billing for its various services, provide itemised billing on the customer’s main bill and market new packaged offers and value added services.

It also allows multi-party billing, including billing on behalf of content providers. The new system also enhances credit control with the ability to set usage limits, monitor international use on-line and programme voice reminders and disconnection.

The Company also established a system of pursuing arrears with customers. This has improved collections quite significantly. For example for the year ending 31 December 1997, the Company’s average telephone customer debtor months stood at 6.5. As at 31 December 2004, we were able to reduce this figure to 5.6 months.

The Proof of the Pudding
The coined phrase is apt when one is considering how to measure the Company’s performance in terms of Quality.

The efforts of the Company over the years to improve the quality of its networks, replacing obsolete equipment, enhancing staff training and improving the management of fault rectification has really paid off today.

The improvement in the Company’s call completion ratios to present levels is primarily due to the expansion of its telecommunications network and to the relocation of equipment to higher usage areas.

Statistically speaking, fault rates in the Colombo Metropolitan area dropped by 0.1% over 2003, whilst on an islandwide basis they increased by 0.8%. Fault clearance rates in the Colombo Metro area stood at 94.5% as against 95% in 2003. On an islandwide basis, fault clearance was 76.8% in 2004 as against 83% in 2003. Call completion stood at 46.4%.

Badges of Honour
SLT has enjoyed a consistent winning streak for a good few years now. If one were looking for an indicator of how well the Company was doing, outside of the obvious Balance Sheet, it would lie in the accolades it has received for the responsible conduct of its business.

At the Awards Ceremony held in December 2004 to bestow honour on those companies whose business practices have been modelled on the Japanese Kaizen systems and who have excelled, SLT was once again honoured when our Matale RTO carried away the prize for the Overall Winner - Taiki Akimoto 5S for 2003.

The Nagaki Yamamoto Kaizen Award (Runner Up) was won by our Kandy RTO.

SLT has also participated at the Asian Regions Convention on Quality and Productivity held at the BMICH during the year in review. The Company’s Quality Circles and Continuous Improvement Teams won several awards at the Service Sector Quality Circle Competition and the Continuous Improvement Team Competition respectively.

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