August 27, 2010, Colombo. Bharti Airtel Lanka proudly announced the deployment of its 1000th Base Station at Dodangaslanda, Kurunegala recently.  With the rapid acceptance of its services, the construction of 1000 Base stations took place within a record 750 days since commencement of the company’s network rollout. This is another first by Airtel for the entire telecommunications industry of Sri Lanka. 

The opening ceremony was held under the patronage of dignitaries from the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka, The Urban Development Authority, the Central Environmental Authority, the Provincial Environmental Authority, representatives from Airtel’s vendor partners directly responsible for the deployment of its network rollout, as well as Airtel’s comprehensive managed services partner Huawei, who is responsible for the supervision of operations of the network in Sri Lanka.

Amali Nanayakkara, CEO & MD of Bharti Airtel Lanka said that “The deployment of Airtel’s 1000th base station manifests our sincere intention to contribute significantly to the country’s growth agenda for telecom by making mobile communication accessible to more Sri Lankans. Together with a home grown team consisting of local talent assembled from across the construction industry to ably lead the expansion of our network, we have been able to touch well over 70% of addressable population throughout the country in record time. We would like to therefore express our deep gratitude to all of them and also thank the members of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka, the Ministry of Defense, The Urban Development Authority, the Civil Aviation Authority, the Central and Provincial Environmental Authorities and Huawei for the overwhelming support extended for this landmark event.”

Mr. Austin Wang Xin, CEO of Huawei Technologies Lanka (Pvt) Ltd said that, “The partnership entered into with Airtel for the comprehensive management of active infrastructure deployment has been very rewarding for Huawei in commencing the expansion of our footprint in South Asia. We have benefitted immensely by gaining crucial insight into managing a cutting edge network in an Asian market and gathering rich learning in 3G deployment replicable across the region. With the opportunity afforded, Huawei has also widened its scale of services by providing expertise to other establishments in the country. All of this has enabled us to contribute significantly towards developing technological competencies and expertise of Sri Lanka’s national talent, which can easily be transferable across the region, in a business where demand is now reaching apex levels globally.”

Dr. Arosha Fernando, Executive Director/CEO Sierra Global Network (Pvt) Ltd, said “We are happy to have partnered Airtel to construct and deploy the passive infrastructure backbone of one of the fastest network rollouts in recent times in Sri Lanka. The initiative, while ably delivering robust service standards for the benefit of telecommunications, has generated a far reaching impact by strengthening the construction industry to enter into projects of considerable scale within optimal timelines. We are delighted to have supported one of the most significant resource strengthening initiatives that has greatly enhanced the project management skills of local talent across the industry, to develop a locally acclaimed benchmark in line with international best practices.”

Airtel, which has been working towards its vision of expansion in Sri Lanka, is committed to contributing to the growth of telecom in the country by taking networks deep into every geography and providing affordable services to touch every Sri Lankan.  Airtel promises customers across the country with a superior brand experience, delightful customer service and a portfolio of innovative products and services as it also gears itself to introduce services to the North of Sri Lanka shortly.