Competitive environment to grow telecom industry
• SLT to have competitor soon.
• The Government is planning to form a separate unit similar to Sri Lanka Telecom soon, Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure Minister Harin Fernando said.
• Speaking at the 1st ever Sri Lanka Broadband Summit sponsored by Huawei in Colombo yesterday he said that this is mainly being created to create better competition.
• “I must also say that SLT could be more efficient and through this it too will happen.
• Most importantly I have observed that SLT possesses several monopolies in the industry and by forming another company these too will be reduced.
• This will help the industry to grow faster.
• The Minister also said that SLT is over staffed and over 48% of their expenditure is for salaries.
• “We have observed that over US$ 2 million revenue due to the government is being pilfered and goes unaccounted daily due to institutions not being digitalised.
• “These happen mainly at Sri Lanka Customs, the Pensions Department and several other similar government institutions.”
• “I am confident that by 2020 we would be able to fully implement the government sector digitalisation process.”
“There were several suggestions to offer a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) but we don’t want to do it since it would allow the cream of the workers to move out.
Whenever a VRS is offered the cream of the employees move out since they can find employment.”
Minister Harin Fernando said the government is also seriously looking at their public sector digitalisation process.
The Minister predicted that Sri Lanka is likely to be the 3rd country after Sweden and Estonia to issue passports.
“What we plan to do is to send a thumb imprint, digital phone and the payment via a smart phone to the Immigration Department and the passport delivered home in a few days.
Similarly, this E initiative is to be introduced to the education sector and by 2020 (or the following year) we want all students in Advanced Level classes to use only an IPod for their education.
“Also we will be providing an IPad for all the mid wives sooner than that, so that they will have all dates of their visiting patients on it.”
OSL Take:
New Technology is introduced by the unity government to lift the living standards of the population whilst curbing malpractices in the state sector for the ultimate goal of rising up with the regional economic power players.
According to Minister Harin Fernando, the government is seriously looking at the digitalisation process of the public sector to cut down losses and to increase the productivity and profitability of Sri Lanka Telecom.
The E-initiative will be implemented across education, health and immigration processes to help the country stand on par with regional best achievers.
Therefore, OSL is inviting potential overseas parties to come in on the PPP model to take up the many digitalization investment opportunities with our matchmaking expertise.
Talk to the biz-friendly OSL Team to learn more now.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/09082016/Z-5 |