Open Call

The telecom industry could see a major shift in policy, with the Minister hinting of a technology neutralized licensing regime. The telecom industry could see a major shift in policy, with the Minister hinting of a technology neutralized licensing regime. Post & Telecommunication Minister D M U Jayaratner told reporters in Colombo on Monday an initiative was under way to remove the technology restrictions in current telecom licenses to cut back on waiting lists and speed up technology roll out in rural areas.

For the first three months, the incumbent operator, Sri Lanka Telecom alone had some 300,000 customers on its waiting list, mainly in rural areas.

"The operators told us at a joint meeting that they would deploy their network in the not so profitable rural areas, if they are allowed to use any technology," Jayaratne said.

He said operators have time until July 27, to come up with a feasible proposal to deploy their networks, in a three month period.

A technology neutral license will remove all technology restrictions, which currently limit operators into a service segment like cellular, wireless local lo