Etisalat is reported to be considering an investment in Sri Lanka now that the military aspect of its decades long civil war has largely concluded. An official from the UAE-based operator is currently visiting the tropical island meeting stakeholders, including the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC).
"I've told the representative from Etisalat that Sri Lanka is open for investments into new or existing operations," TRC director general, Priyantha Kariyapperuma told the Lanka Business. "With the war over in May, there is ample scope for investments into telecom services and infrastructure facilities, especially in the north and east," he added, referring to the area of the island nation that was most affected by the war.
Millicom International, which owns the Tigo mobile network in Sri Lanka has recently expressed an interest in selling the company. According to figures from the Mobile World analysts, the operator ended Q1 '09 with just over 2.1 million subscribers, representing a market share of 18%.
In related news, the regulator has also said that they want to see more tower sharing by the networks as they expand their networks into the former war-torn regions. The operators are rushing to expand thir coverage, and concerns have been expressed that a "forest" of towers could emerge in the region, which is still light on government administration.
There are six mobile networks operating in the country, with a seventh licensed but yet to launch services
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