By IANS,
New Delhi : Major telecom service provider Bharti Airtel Thursday said it would start operations in Sri Lanka by the end of this calendar year with $200 million already set aside for the project.
“Discussions are going on with the Sri Lankan telecom regulator and the existing operators there relating to the interconnection issue. It should be sorted out shortly,” Bharti Airtel CEO and joint managing director Manoj Kohli told reporters here.
“We should be in a position to start our operations there before the end of 2008, which is as per our schedule,” he added.
Bharti last year announced it would invest $200 million in Sri Lanka.
The announcement comes a day after Sri Lankan mobile operators lashed out against Bharti president for mobility Sanjay Kapoor for accusing them of cartelisation.
“They have come together to delay the launch by not providing interconnection to Airtel on the same terms as applicable to them,” Kapoor had said.
Responding to this, the four Sri Lankan operators had issued a joint statement yesterday terming Bharti’s allegations as false.
The four operators – Dialog, Hutch, Mobitel and Tigo – lashed out at Bharti Airtel on being accused that they are preventing the Indian company’s entry into the island by not providing interconnection on equal terms.
“As strong believers in competition and the resulting dividends to consumers and market growth, Sri Lanka’s mobile operators welcome additional competition,” the joint statement said Wednesday.
The statement said inter-operator aspersions could only serve to disrupt the industry, and undo the good work carried out by regulators and investors alike.
Bharti Airtel will be the fifth mobile phone operator in Sri Lanka and had bagged the license ahead of Reliance Communications and Maxis Telecom.
This will be the first international operation of Bharti Airtel and is in line with the company’s plans to expand its telecom operations in the South Asian region.