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Mobitel (Sri Lanka)
Encyclopedia
Mobitel Ltd. is a mobile phone network in Sri Lanka
. It is wholly owned by Sri Lanka Telecom
(SLT). The network offers a variety of services and currently operates a GSM/GPRS/EDGE
/UMTS/HSPA
network utilising 3.5G technology. Mobitel was the first 3.5G operator in Sri Lanka
and South Asia
. It covers most of Sri Lanka with its GSM network. Mobitel offers both prepaid and postpaid
mobile services, along with mobile broadband services using the 3.5G network.
The company is continuing on its strategy which is positioned around ‘value innovation’ and ‘customer centricity’. Mobitel has a very strong brand image, with high visibility at strategic locations.
Mobitel has shown their competitive position over the years in terms of formidable distribution, product suit and brand. The features and benefits built into the packages that they offer are all designed carefully, with the customer's best interest regarded highly.
, Mobitel has been wholly owned by SLT since November 2002.
Following the successful implementation and operation of an AMPS
/TDMA
network in the country, Mobitel launched its GSM operations in January 2004 with the deployment of a fully fledged GSM network in the 800 MHz and 1800 MHz band, which is EDGE/GPRS enabled. In 2005 and 2006, Mobitel traded the 800 MHz band for slots made available from the 900 MHz spectrum. With this enhancement, Mobitel embarked on a field trial of 3G at the 1st International Buddhist Conference held in 2006, setting the stage for the launch of its 3G services in Sri Lanka.
Investments committed to date for this state-of-the-art technology to provide 3G and GSM totals over US$ 200 million. This included increasing the present number of base stations from 600 to 1,500 by the end of 2008.
In 2009, Mobitel became the official sponsor of the Sri Lankan Cricket Team
.
s to be used in the family of the principle customer, at lower rates.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. It is wholly owned by Sri Lanka Telecom
Sri Lanka Telecom
Sri Lanka Telecom PLC is the premier telecommunications services provider in Sri Lanka and one of the country’s most valuable blue chip companies with an annual turnover in excess of Rs 40 billion...
(SLT). The network offers a variety of services and currently operates a GSM/GPRS/EDGE
Edge
- Aviation :* Leading edge, a line connecting the forward-most points of a wing's profile* Trailing edge, the rear edge of the wing* Zivko Edge 540, an aerobatic aircraft- Mathematics, science and technology :...
/UMTS/HSPA
High Speed Packet Access
High Speed Packet Access is an amalgamation of two mobile telephony protocols, High Speed Downlink Packet Access and High Speed Uplink Packet Access , that extends and improves the performance of existing WCDMA protocols...
network utilising 3.5G technology. Mobitel was the first 3.5G operator in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
and South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
. It covers most of Sri Lanka with its GSM network. Mobitel offers both prepaid and postpaid
Postpaid mobile phone
The post-paid mobile phone is a mobile phone for which service is provided by a prior arrangement with a carriage service provider . The user in this situation is billed after the fact according to their use of mobile services at the end of each month...
mobile services, along with mobile broadband services using the 3.5G network.
About Mobitel
Mobitel is considered to be the country's most dynamic mobile telephone operator and is known the 'National' mobile service provider in Sri Lanka. Since being acquired by Sri Lanka Telecom in 2002, it has grown in leaps and bounds and is now on par technologically with the very latest in the telecommunications industry.The company is continuing on its strategy which is positioned around ‘value innovation’ and ‘customer centricity’. Mobitel has a very strong brand image, with high visibility at strategic locations.
Mobitel has shown their competitive position over the years in terms of formidable distribution, product suit and brand. The features and benefits built into the packages that they offer are all designed carefully, with the customer's best interest regarded highly.
History
Mobitel was incorporated in 1993 as the second mobile telephone provider in the Sri Lankan market. Originally a collaboration between Sri Lanka Telecom and TelstraTelstra
Telstra Corporation Limited is an Australian telecommunications and media company, building and operating telecommunications networks and marketing voice, mobile, internet access and pay television products and services....
, Mobitel has been wholly owned by SLT since November 2002.
Following the successful implementation and operation of an AMPS
Advanced Mobile Phone System
Advanced Mobile Phone System was an analog mobile phone system standard developed by Bell Labs, and officially introduced in the Americas in 1983, Israel in 1986, and Australia in 1987. It was the primary analog mobile phone system in North America through the 1980s and into the 2000s...
/TDMA
Digital AMPS
IS-54 and IS-136 are second-generation mobile phone systems, known as Digital AMPS . It was once prevalent throughout the Americas, particularly in the United States and Canada. D-AMPS is considered end-of-life, and existing networks have mostly been replaced by GSM/GPRS or CDMA2000...
network in the country, Mobitel launched its GSM operations in January 2004 with the deployment of a fully fledged GSM network in the 800 MHz and 1800 MHz band, which is EDGE/GPRS enabled. In 2005 and 2006, Mobitel traded the 800 MHz band for slots made available from the 900 MHz spectrum. With this enhancement, Mobitel embarked on a field trial of 3G at the 1st International Buddhist Conference held in 2006, setting the stage for the launch of its 3G services in Sri Lanka.
Investments committed to date for this state-of-the-art technology to provide 3G and GSM totals over US$ 200 million. This included increasing the present number of base stations from 600 to 1,500 by the end of 2008.
In 2009, Mobitel became the official sponsor of the Sri Lankan Cricket Team
Sri Lankan cricket team
The Sri Lankan cricket team is the national cricket team of Sri Lanka. The team first played international cricket in 1926–27, and were later awarded Test status in 1981, which made Sri Lanka the eighth Test cricket playing nation...
.
Network
Mobitel currently operates a 3.5G network with HSDPA/HSUPA support and downlink speeds of up to 3.6 Mbit/s and uplink speed up to 1.00Mbit/s. According to speedtest.net Mobitel is the operator to issue the fastest internet connections in Sri Lanka via HSPA, while they have also fully tested out 42Mbit/s downlink HSPA MIMO technology in Colombo. It is also serving customers with over 1500 GSM and 400 3.5G base stations islandwide. On 6 May 2011, Mobitel became the first company in South Asia to trial a network based on 4G technology.Tariffs and packages
Mobitel offers SMART prepaid and Double M post paid packages, while the Upahara package was available for Sri Lankan government workers for a limited time period. Upahara offered up to five similar Subscriber Identity ModuleSubscriber Identity Module
A subscriber identity module or subscriber identification module is an integrated circuit that securely stores the International Mobile Subscriber Identity and the related key used to identify and authenticate subscriber on mobile telephony devices .A SIM is held on a removable SIM card, which...
s to be used in the family of the principle customer, at lower rates.
Value Added Services
Mobitel offers a variety of value added services:- WAPWireless Application ProtocolWireless Application Protocol is a technical standard for accessing information over a mobile wireless network.A WAP browser is a web browser for mobile devices such as mobile phones that uses the protocol.Before the introduction of WAP, mobile service providers had limited opportunities to offer...
, - GPRS,
- MMSMultimedia Messaging ServiceMultimedia Messaging Service, or MMS, is a standard way to send messages that include multimedia content to and from mobile phones. It extends the core SMS capability that allowed exchange of text messages only up to 160 characters in length.The most popular use is to send photographs from...
, - Closed User Group services,
- SMS banking,
- echannelling,
- directories,
- M3 3.5G services (video calls, video message, HSDPA with uplink up to 1.00 Mbit/s and downlink up to 3.6 Mbit/s),
- Menu based services (OTA) which are updated to the SIM card,
- International Roaming facilities in over 180 countries while including special services such as the Voice Notification messages which alert a person on roaming status and other features such as Call Home and SMS Roaming.
- mFax
- M3 Apps (Powered by Google apps)
- Mtunes
- Live scores of cricket matches