Telecom firms racing to set up networks in the North and the East are being encouraged to share infrastructure under a new rebuilding plan.

The master plan includes making it mandatory for at least three operators to share the cost of installing and running network towers.

Work on the first of these common towers will get underway next week with a TRC (Telecommunications Regulatory Commission) -funded 150 million rupee project designed in the shape of a pyramid, official sources said.

This 172 meter tower will come up in the northern area of Kokavil, where government forces crushed the LTTE after 30-year war. The Kokavil site was earlier used by the Tigers to broadcast their television programmes. The premises originally housed a broadcasting tower of the state-run Rupavahini Corporation, which used the site to beam their programs to the North.

The project is due to be completed by December and will have the capacity to host television, radio, wireless and cellular services.

A fiber optic cable owned by Sri Lanka Telecom that runs from the Northern area of Mannar to Vavuniya, which was damaged during the war, has also been earmarked for quick repairs.

The government has also allowed a fiber optic line to be laid along the strategic A9 highway that links the Northern area of Vavuniya and Jaffna.

Currently five mobile and four fixed-line operators service the tropical island of 20 million people. Driven by competition and falling call charges, mobiles outstrip fixed line users with 11.5 million connections as at end April, according to TRC figures.