Bharti Airtel Lanka Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, India’s largest private cellular player, is looking to expand its operations further to the South Asian region by launching 2G and 3G services in Sri Lanka by the end of this year.

 

Though mobile penetration is growing slowly in the Sri Lankan market, there has been high competition and strong growth recently that has made the market more inviting for international giants to invest in this market. Expansion in coverage adopting latest innovation is the mission of Bharti Airtel which is planning to invest approximately $200 million in the next five years in the Sri Lankan market.

 

The new Airtel Lanka services will be launched under the Airtel brand. "We are committed to offering world-class and affordable 2G and 3G services to customers in Sri Lanka. With mobile penetration of around 30% and growing at a rate of approximately 2 million mobile users per annum, we are excited about our entry into this market," said Sanjay Kapoor, president, mobile services, Bharti Airtel.

 

"Our plans for Sri Lanka clearly demonstrate our commitment to the market and also our confidence in the potential that this market holds in Airtel's overseas expansion journey," he added.

 

Earlier in January, Bharti Airtel received a letter of offer from the Sri Lankan telecom regulator to provide 2G and 3G mobile services in Sri Lanka. As the Sri Lankan market seems to be very promising in terms of growth the idea clearly indicates Bharti Airtel’s desire to establish a strong foothold in the South Asian region.

 

Other than this, Bharti had launched its mobile services in Jersey during June 2007. In September last year, the company got licenses to operate 3G as well as 2G mobile services in Guernsey. In December, Bharti became the first Indian telecom service provider to launch 3G operations in Seychelles.

 

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