The nation’s fastest growing telco, Airtel Sri Lanka, announced another
landmark agreement with the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI) that will channel foreign currency
investments towards the development of national telecommunications infrastructure, with emphasis on
expansion and optimization of networks and IT systems.
Accordingly, over the next two years, Airtel will be channeling its latest round of investments towards
additional enhancements to its network, in addition to introducing significant software upgrades, in
order to strengthen 2G and 4G services island-wide.
“Since our entry into Sri Lanka in 2007, Airtel has continuously invested to develop a world class
network. Today, these efforts are empowering more than 3 million Sri Lankans to stay connected, in
addition to providing more than 2,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities and generating
income for a further 65,000 Sri Lankans through our extensive distribution network.
“Particularly at a time when every foreign direct investment into Sri Lanka has become vital, our
investment demonstrates Airtel’s continuing confidence in the resilience and vast potential of the Sri
Lankan people, and recommit ourselves to the nation-wide efforts to help revive the Sri Lankan
economy,” Airtel Sri Lanka MD/CEO, Ashish Chandra stated.
Airtel will also be replacing or upgrading existing network infrastructure including but not limited to its
core network, as well as introducing significant software upgrades.
Moving forward, Ashish also stated that Airtel Sri Lanka will continue to pursue every opportunity to
support the development of the Sri Lankan telco sector. In particular he noted that the company would
leverage on Airtel’s unique strength as one of the top 3 largest telco’s in the world in order to create
cross-border synergies and facilitate strategic investments towards the creation of vibrant 5G
ecosystems in Sri Lanka.
“We are grateful to Airtel Sri Lanka for stepping forward at a crucial moment for the nation, and with
such a substantial foreign direct investment. This major contribution towards the enhancement of Sri
Lanka’s ICT infrastructure will also create new opportunities across all sectors of the economy, and
stands as an ideal example of the kind of FDI inflows we are working to generate,” stated Chairman,
BOI, Mr. Raja Edirisuriya stated.
The recent agreement marks the latest in a series of foreign direct investments made by Airtel Sri Lanka
into enhancing mobile telco experiences for the average Sri Lankan. These measures follow on upgrades
made by Airtel to its presence, capacity and capabilities in the Sri Lankan market. Most recently, these
included the launch of Airtel’s revolutionary 4G Freedom Unlimited packages, and its record-breaking
5G trials.
