"Lanka Bell has been successful in penetrating into the urban and rural markets by continuing to meet the needs of urban rural customers by providing connectivity and usage at a low cost which is competitive¦," Jayawardene, chairman of the operator's parent firm, Distilleries, said.
The tie up with FLAG Telecom, part of the Reliance Group of Companies which is India's largest business house, will help propagate a fibre optics telecommunications network for Sri Lanka, Jayawardene said in his annual report to shareholders.
Due to the lower profitability and longer pay back period of the capital-hungry telecom projects, the company forecasts ROI to drop significantly, he said.
While Lanka Bell has increased the number of subscribers much of this has come from low-end users, which has the effect of reducing per line income