SLT commissions new high capacity communication tower in Jaffna
- Highest Communication tower in Sri Lanka
[February 21, 2005 - 10.00 GMT] 

Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) established a second link to  Jaffna with the recent commissioning of its 2^nd transmission tower in  Jaffna , under its “Project Hope” for the North, launched in 2002. This was a landmark in SLT’s Northern Area Development Programme, by providing for two communication routes to Jaffna.  

The picture shows Mr. Shuhei Anan, CEO/SLT unveiling the plaque marking the commissioning of the new SLT tower at Jaffna. >From left - Mr. S. Canagasooriyar, Head of Region (North & East), Mr. Christie Alwis, Chief Network Officer and Mr. N. Saravanapavan, Regional Manager/Jaffna who also participated in the official commissioning event.

With the commissioning of the new 150 m high stand-alone tower, [The highest such communication tower in the country], the radio transmission link to Jaffna which was till then operating to Jaffna over the sea via Mannar has been upgraded to an ultra-modern high capacity transmission link, entirely land based. The capacity of the new link via Kilinochchi will be 126 Megabits per second (Mbps) generally referred to as a STM 1 (Synchronous Transmission Module) link. SLT established a 34 Megabit radio transmission link over the sea to  Jaffna via Mannar last year under its Project Hope. The upgraded new link bringing two high capacity links to Jaffna operates to Jaffna via Kilinochchi, where too SLT has built a new communication tower.

Mr. Shuhei Anan CEO, SLT who declared open the new tower, addressing those present on the occasion said “this step will allow the provision higher reliability communication and an increase in the capacity of transmission systems.” He also said that an opportunity to use newer technologies such as CDMA will enable SLT to deploy infrastructure more rapidly, and thanked all individuals and organizations who helped to make this endeavour a success. 

In view of the need for rapid implementation of telecommunication facilities in the North, SLT formed a special project team comprising its technical and managerial staff. This team handles all Northern Area Telecommunication Development work and is responsible for Outside Plant Development, Switching, Radio and transmission equipment installation and transportation.

Sri Lanka Telecom ranks high among the country’s vital utility companies with an annual turnover in excess of Rs. 22 billion. The company has a customer base of 850,000 including multinational corporations, large and small corporates, retail and domestic customers. With NTT of Japan as a strategic partner, today SLT provides a wide range of facilities and services to its customers, which are unmatched in scope and accessibility. These range from domestic and international voice, advanced data transmission services which include internet services on leased lines, broadband [on ADSL] and dial up, data circuits, frame relay solutions, IP based services such as IP-VPN, total solutions of a combination of multiple services, satellite uplink services, mobile telephony through its fully owned subsidiary Mobitel, and other customer oriented services. Fitch Ratings Lanka has given SLT its AAA (sri) rating.

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Last Updated Date: February 21, 2005 - 10.00 GMT