CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION

Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) is the hub of telecommunication in Sri Lanka and represents the
role of the National Telecom Service provider for the country. Hence its a great pleasure
to have my industrial training at SLT. We were given a special training at SLT Data
Services section for six months. During that period I got the opportunity to actively
participate in areas such as Data Services new connections, Data Services Maintenance,
Network Management etc. And also I was able to gather vital practical knowledge of
Metro Ethernet-VPLS and VLL, IP-VPN, Frame Relay, IPLC, Internet Leased Lines etc
with field visits. During the training period; I got the opportunity to take part of the project
work titled Network Redundancy Planning Project for Uva Province. The project
addresses major aspects of telecommunication engineering such as network planning,
traffic routing transmission and cost analysis.

The motive of SLT is to provide telecom services to each and every customer in the
country. Telecommunication has undergone a rapid growth in the last fifty years, and the
best example is the improvement in mobility. Telecommunication becomes a common
option in all portions in the society such as residential use, business etc. The specialty is
that it becomes a part of the life. SLT has the biggest customer base in telecommunications
in Sri Lanka. And it provides a range of communication solutions to meet the targeted
requirements of the domestic and commercial clients. And also its really important to
figure out the role played by SLT as a responsible organization for Sri Lankan society.

The national transmission network consists of several methodologies. Digital microwave

transmission system and fiber optic transmission system are the most widely used

techniques. SLT starts with the telegraph, and the first circuit was from Galle to Colombo.
And the first international telegraph communication established between Ceylon and India.
From that; the SLT telecommunication network has expand a long way over oceans and
continents. And it provides a wide variety of services. Submarine cables; SEA-ME-WE II,
SEA-ME-WE III, SEA-ME-WE IV complement the two Satellite Earth Stations which are
of standard A earth stations located in Padukka. SLT has three gateways, which facilitates
providing access to the global telecommunications network.

1.1 SLT Vision and Mission

Vision:

To lead Sri Lanka to become the hub of Telecommunications in South Asia.

Mission:

"To anticipate and fulfill the communications requirements of all sectors of the nation, in a
service-oriented work ethic which will provide total customer satisfaction through the most
modern telecommunications facilities"

1.2

History

The milestones of SLT history are listed as below.

Table 1.2.1: SLT History

1858 -

Established the first Telegraphic Circuit from Galle to Colombo.

Established the first international telegraph communication between Ceylon
and India.

1880 -

Integrate Telegraph and Postal services under the guidance of the Government
of Ceylon.

1895 -

Laid the first submarine cable from Ceylon to India.

1896 -

Oriental Telephone Company was taken by the Government of Ceylon with its
manually operated exchange.

1911 -

Opened the Central Telegraph Office.

1931 -

Automatic Telephone Exchange at Kahawatta (Ratnapura District) was

installed.

1935 -

Inaugurated the International Telephone Service.

1941 -

Cable & Wireless Company took over the guidance of the International
operations.

1951 -

Cable & Wireless Company was taken back to the guidance of the Government
of Ceylon.

1963 -

Introduced the Telex Service.

1966 -

Introduced the Subscriber Trunk Dialing (STD) Service.

1976 -

First Earth Satellite Station (Standard A) commissioned in Padukka.

1980 -

Telecommunications and Postal departments were started by seperating Postal

and Telegraph services.

1981 -

Introduced the International Direct Dialing (IDD) service.

Installed the first Digital Master Exchange.

1985 -

SEA-ME-WE I analogue submarine cable was linked up.

1993 -

Introduced the Packet Switching Service.

1994 -

Second Satellite Earth Station (Standard B) commissioned in Colombo.

SEA-ME-WE II (South East Asia - Middle East - Western Europe) digital fiber
optic submarine cable was introduced to SLT international communication
section.

1995 -

Third Satellite Earth Station (Standard A) commissioned in Padukka. (Fully

digitized)

1996 1997 -

Introduced Internet and E-mail Services.

Sri Lanka Telecom Corporation was transformed to a Public Company.
Sri Lanka Telecom privatized with the collaboration of Nippon Telegraph &
Telephone Corporation (NTT) of Japan (Thirty five percent stake from SLT).

1999 2000 2002 -

SEA-ME-WE III digital fiber optic submarine cable was linked up.
Customer base excceds 600,000.
Issue debenture of 1.5billion ruppess.
First optical fiber ring transmission was introdued. (connecting 15 cities)
Acquired the balance 60% of share of Mobitel (Pvt) Ltd.
Signed the MoU (Motion of Understanding) for SE-ME-WE IV digital fiber
optic submarine cable project.

2003 -

SLT shares started trading on the Colombo Stock Exchange.

2005 -

Received license for CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) technology.

2006 -

SLT Hong Kong launched.

2007 -

SLT and BSNL launch Bharat Lanka Submarine Cable System.

SLT to broadcast TV (IPTV).

SLT obtains BOI status and SLT Mobitel signs BOI agreement for Stage 3
GSM and 3G expansion project.

2008 -

SLTnet goes1 Giga bps in international backbone.

SLT boosts distance education in Sri Lanka through broadband connectivity, to

National Online Distance Education System.

1.3 Services

SLT facilitates for wide variety of services for the domestic and corporate customers.
They are presented below.

Domestic Voice Services

Customer Dialed Calls

Operator Assisted Calls

Enhanced Services
o Call Waiting
o Call Forwarding
o Abbreviated Dialing
o Absentee Service

International Voice Services

IDD Calls

International Operator Assisted Calls

Operator Assisted Services

Domestic
o Local Call Bookings (101)
o Wakeup Calls (147)
o Directory Information Services (161)
o Faults Reporting Services (121)

International
o Operator Assistance Service (100)
o International Directory Service (134)
o Collect or Reverse Charge Service

SLT PLUS

International Direct Dialing

Call Forwarding

Call Waiting

Conference Calling

Hot Line

Abbreviated Dialing

Absentee Service

IDD

Globe link Gold Card

Sri Lanka Directory Service

Home Country Direct

Direct Inward Dialing (DID)

SLTNET Internet Services

Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)

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Concert Packet Service

Frame Relay

Data PAC

Vision Carrier

Leased Lines

SLT FLY

SLT DATA

Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL)

Metro Ethernet

1.4 Organizational Structure

SLT has a hierarchical organizational structure. However it has undergone major structural
changes in past few decades. Sri Lanka Telecom Corporation was transformed to a Public
Company in 1996. According to the agreement between the Sri Lankan government and
the NTT Corporation the Chairman was appointed by the Sri Lankan government and NTT
recruited some directors for the top level management for SLT However in general, it is
headed by a Board of Directors, which includes a Chairman and a Chief Executive Officer.

Top management structure of SLT is shown in Figure 1.1.

Chairman and Board of

Directors

CAO

Secretary to the board

Chief Administrative Officer

COTO

Chief Internal Auditor

Chief Operations and Technical

Officer

CEO
Chief Executive Officer

Senior Advisor

Advisors

CFO
Chief Financial Officer

Security Consultant

Regional Sector

Head Quarters

Figure 1.1: Top Management Structure

The current top management composition is as follows.

CEO

Mr. P. A. Abeysekera (Acting)

Chairperson

Mrs. Leisha De Silva Chandrasena

Board of Directors

Mr. Chan Chee Beng

Mr. Sandip Das
Mr. Jeffrey Jay Blatt
Mr. Shelley Geoffrey William
Mr. S.N. Kumar
Mr. Sumith Wijesinghe
Mr. P. A. Abeysekera
Mr. Sidath Fernando

Metro Region, Region 1, Region 2 and Region 3 are the four regional sectors. A Regional
Head stays in the top of the hierarchichy while the provincial heads, deputy heads and
engineers stay down in the hierarchichy. This regional sector is shown in Figure 1.2
Regional Sector

Metro Region
Metropolitan region
from moratuwa
to modara

Region 1

Central, North Central,

North West and Western
(North) Provinces

Region 2
Western (South),
Sabaragamuwa, Southern
and Uva provinces

Region 3
Eastern Province

Figure 1.2: Structure of Regional Sector

Head Quarters operations are carried out under several groups, and also Financial, Human
resources , IT group , Administration , Network Planning and Construction are the sub
divisions of those groups. The head quarters structure is shown in Figure 1.3.

Customer Service
Billing and Collections
New Connections
Regulatory Matters
Maintenance
Operator Services
INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY
systems development

Head Quarters

administraton
stores center
facility management
administration

network planning
and construction
International
Services

network planning

finance

human resources

Accounting
Budget

marketing
IT GROUP

Figure 1.3: Structure of Head Quarters

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Apart from that the administrative hierarchy consists of different layers such as HG, HS,
Engineer, DIT, IPT and assistants. The administrative hierarchy is shown in Figure 1.4.

Top Management

HG

HG

HG

Head of Group

Hs

Hs

Hs

Head of Section

ENG

Engineer

eng

dit

ipt

ipt

Assistant

ipt

Assistant

Figure 1.4: SLT Administrative Hierarchy

1.5 Social Responsibility

Just as every individual has a place in society and the community, so does SLT, as an
institution. SLT occupies a place in peoples lives, not only because providing them with
products and services; but also they are in the business of making people in touch with
each other. SLT form relationships that allow both parties to enter the life of the other.
Their issues become SLTs and vice versa. The one needs the other. And then, we share the

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world we live in, with all its pressing needs of conservation and protection of vital
resources.

SLT share common goals in reaching for a life of value and dignity; a life of peace and
prosperity within whatever social strata we exist.

Molding Intellect

SLT continued to partner The Asia Foundation, a leading non-profit organization working
in Sri Lanka since 1954, in their Books for Asia program.
SLT recognized the vital need that exists in Sri Lanka for providing the means for
education as well as the promotion of English as a link language. Therefore the Company
decided to make a substantial contribution to this program, which facilitated the initial
distribution of 60,000 books valued at over US$ 2 million.
SLT will evaluate the outcome of this initial contribution and plan further involvement
with this program in the years ahead. The companys contribution was the single largest
corporate donation the Foundation has received to date.
In July 2004, SLT joined hands with The Asia Foundation once again under the
Companys Spreading the Wealth of Knowledge program. Identifying the access to good
books as a major requirement in the search for knowledge and skills, the Company entered
into an agreement with The Asia Foundation to promote and provide practical
opportunities for the young and the elderly to gain access to knowledge and learning.

The project kicked off in Anuradhapura where 250 English Language books were donated
to the Rajarata Universitys library. Then in August, 850 books were presented through the
Mawanella Provincial Council, whilst 150 books were presented to the Moratuwa
University. A further consignment of books was presented to the Sarvodaya Movement.
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The Company took its theme; Spreading the Wealth of Knowledge even further a field
and commemorated Reading Month by presenting 3,500 books to the Central Province
Library Services Board, in collaboration with The Asia Foundation. Another 2,000 books
were presented to the Technical College, Maradana.
There are, of course, other ways of molding intellect and sharpening wit. SLT presented a
Challenge Trophy for the winners of the Inter-Schools Debating Competition. Thirty
schools participated at this event which sought to hone their skills in the English Language
as well as develop competence and knowledge.
SLT sponsored the Sri Lankan delegation to the International Olympiad in Informatics
(IOI) in 2004. The team did extremely well, winning 1 Gold and 3 Bronze medals. This
event basically tests technical skill in algorithmic programming, requiring contestants to
compete individually in solving a set of programming issues.
The Company also sponsored the Anatoly Karpov Chess Tournament conducted by the
Russian Centre, Colombo.

The SLT - CIMA Partnership

For some years now, SLT has been partnering the Chartered Institute of Management
Accountants (CIMA) in furthering career opportunities through the avenues of training
provided by CIMA. This signifies the working together of two top entities - SLT a top
corporate and CIMA the custodian of a global management accounting qualification.

Partnering other Professional Institutes

SLT collaborated with four other professional bodies, the Chartered Institute of
Management Accountants, the Chartered Institute of Marketing, The Institute of Personnel

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Management and the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators to present a

mega-program on the theme, To be Number One.
Thus its clear that SLT is carrying out thousands of activities on behalf of the social
responsibility.

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