Lankan mobile growth surpasses India's

FORUM: Sri Lanka's annual mobile growth of around 20 per cent is one of the highest in the region and it also surpasses India, said the Chief Executive Officer Dialog Telekom Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya. Delivering the keynote address at the 15th Lanka Business Report - Lanka Business Online CEO Forum at the World Trade Centre yesterday, he said this was possible since Sri Lanka's mobile operators competition is very high.

He said there would be a 35 per cent tele growth penetration by the end of 2005 and 80 per cent from this would be from the mobile sector concentrating more on the rural areas. He also said that 92 per cent of households earn around Rs. 10,000 per month and this is the wealth mobile operators hope to grow on in the future as well.

He also predicted that mobile usage among youth would intensify at a higher rate in the future. Though the CDMA phones have an advantage on free incoming calls this would not hamper the growth of the mobile industry mainly because mobiles have mobility.

The CEO also spoke extensively on 'driving growth through innovation' said that innovation is the key to success. The principal sponsor of the event was Kelsey Homes while the CoSponsors were Sierra Toshiba, HP Invent and Eagle Insurance. (SS)
