SLT to roll out metro Ethernet in capital

Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) plans to roll out a LKR200 million (USD1.95 million) metro Ethernet network to support high-end data, voice, video and internet services, beginning next month, linking around 100 key commercial buildings in and around Colombo as well as selected housing complexes. Voice telephony currently generates about 85% of SLT’s revenues, but the telco is revamping its portfolio to offer end-to-end solutions for corporate and high-end residential users. According to Chief Marketing Officer Kapila Chandrasena, ‘future revenue mix will shift from voice to data, where we will see about a 2%-5% drop. And we are gearing ourselves to compensate the revenue losses.’ In the three months to March 2006, SLTs net profits rose 42% year-on-year to LKR1.29 billion, mainly driven by 43% growth at its fixed line business. Quarterly profits were mainly driven by its CDMA wireless in the local loop (WiLL) operations, with SLT expecting to connect 200,000 WiLL users by end-2006, up from around 125,000 at present.