SLT-MOBITEL, the national Information and Communications Technology (ICT) solutions
leader, and global gaming and eSports technology company Swarmio Media, recently
announced the launch of their upgraded SLT Gaming & eSports Platform – www.slt.lk/esports –
the first and only gaming and esports platform owned by a telco in Sri Lanka.
The eSports Gamer Platform is a web-based, user-intuitive portal which provides cyber athletes
with exclusive access to competitive tournaments, challenges, community game servers, private
game servers, eSports content and streamed feeds from some of the world’s best influencers.
The portal will also deliver a fully optimized, ultra-low-latency gaming experience in Sri Lanka.
The upgraded platform will revolve around the 4 major aspects of the Gamer Lifestyle – Play,
Content, Community and Rewards. This will offer customers unique streaming capabilities,
personalized player profiles, loyalty points with many benefits and many more special features
and rewards. SLT-MOBITEL also offers special ‘Gaming Bundles’, comprising a next generation
Gamer Internet solution for gamers and fans across the country. These Gaming Bundles
combined with platform access will give customers the opportunity to have the best gaming
experience in the country at a low data cost for an ever-expanding set of games. The bundle
offers anytime data quotas via Gamer Lite, Gamer Premium and Streamer Premium Gaming
Bundles making this the first time in the history of eSports that gamer specific data bundles
have been provided.
An event marking the launch of the platform was held at the Ministry of Sports, in the presence
of Hon. Namal Rajapaksa MP, Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs; His Excellency David
McKinnon, the High Commissioner for Canada in Sri Lanka; Mr. Rohan Fernando, the Chairman
of SLT Group; Mr. Lalith Seneviratne, Chief Executive Officer of SLT Group; Mr. Kiththi Perera,
Chief Executive Officer of SLT, Mr. Chandika Vitharana, Chief Executive Officer (Acting) of
Mobitel and Mr. Priyantha Fernandez, Chief Operating Officer of SLT.
Speaking at the launch of the new eSports platform, Hon. Namal Rajapaksa, Minister of Sports
and Youth Affairs mentioned the importance of getting Sri Lanka on par with global sport trends.
He also expressed his gratitude towards SLT for supporting the ministry’s vision of developing
the eSports economy in Sri Lanka. “Considering the global reach of gaming, this is definitely a
step in the right direction. My thanks and congratulations to SLT for their innovation, for making
waves in the industry and engaging youth involvement. The youth are the future of this country.
Enabling them to tap into their areas of expertise and develop their skills can only be beneficial
to Sri Lanka.”
Sri Lanka is a member country of the International eSports Federation (IESF) with the Sri Lanka
eSports Association (SLESA) representing the interests of the country in esports and gaming.
eSports also has the distinction of being a sporting discipline recognized by the National
Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka (NOC SL).
Mr. Prabhath Dahanayake, Chief Marketing Officer of SLT articulated the objectives of SLT’s
support in enabling the youth of the country to take their eSports skills to the next level by
making it accessible to all. “eSports and gaming has become one of the most exciting growth
sectors we’ve seen emerge in the last decade. As Sri Lanka’s number 1 digital lifestyle enabler
in the country, we are committed to working with the best industry specialists and taking a
market leading position in Sri Lanka and the Indian subcontinent with gaming and eSports. Our
goal is to ensure that our customers have access to the most state-of-the-art platform in the
market which delivers the ultimate gaming experience. We thank the Ministry of Sports and
Youth Affairs and Swarmio Media for their support and partnership in facilitating recognition of
the importance of eSports, a booming phenomenon due to the global recognition and
development of the industry.”
Understanding that most eSports games were played on internationally hosted gaming
platforms and servers, in 2016 SLT partnered with Swarmio Media, a gaming and eSports
platform that completely integrates an edge computing technology to tackle lag, to host Sri
Lanka’s first and only eSports platform. Swarmio’s proprietary Latency-optimized Edge
Computing (LEC) infrastructure geo-optimizes the game servers in real time to deliver the
ultimate gaming experience for gamers. This partnership ensures that customers have access
to the most state-of-the-art platform on the market which delivers the ultimate gaming
experiences. Established and aspiring cyber athletes, gamers, professional streamers will find
that this is the platform for them.
“We are very excited to partner with SLT-MOBITEL in Sri Lanka,” said Mr. Vijai Karthigesu, the
CEO of Swarmio Media. “With the launch of the new internet gamer platform, SLT-MOBITEL is
taking full advantage of the surging interest in gaming and eSports and delivering to its
customers not only access to the best gaming content but crucially the ultimate lag-free
experience for players.”
SLT-MOBITEL is no stranger to the Sri Lankan eSports arena, having continued to facilitate
eSports in the country since the inaugural SLT eSports Championship in 2015, which proved to
be an instant success. The year 2018 marked the initiation of a new era of countrywide eSports
events presented by SLT-MOBITEL, aimed at promoting eSports and strengthening the SLT
brand offering to the youth segment. SLT eSports is powered exclusively by Sri Lanka’s Number
1 broadband network – SLT Fibre, famous for its ultra-low latency, and dedicated and reliable
connectivity, which is compulsory for eSports and gaming. Showcasing speeds of over
100Mbps and optimized packet routing paths, cyber athletes receive an unparalleled broadband
experience.
About SLT:
Sri Lanka Telecom PLC is the national Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
solutions provider and the leading broadband and backbone infrastructure services provider in
Sri Lanka for over 163 years. SLT enables opportunities that empower Sri Lankans and
elevates the country’s standing in the global arena. SLT’s transformation into a digital service
provider has seen the Company move beyond telecommunications services to provide a variety
of services and solutions that cater to a digital lifestyle. Mobitel, the mobile arm of SLT launched
the First Commercial 4.5G/4G+ Mobile Network in South Asia in 2018 and was the first network
in South Asia to successfully showcase the deployment of 5G over a Mobile Network by
connecting a commercial Mobile smartphone to its 5G network exceeding speeds of 1.55Gbps.
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Mobitel has made great strides in recent years to expand its influence in NB-IoT, Automation,
Artificial Intelligence and Critical Communication technologies and solutions and has been
adjudged as the Fastest 4G-LTE network in Sri Lanka for two consecutive years by Ookla, the
global leader in internet speed and testing applications.