Lanka Bell Pvt Ltd.

active

Bell Lanka received its 20 year license to operate a fixed basic telephony network based on WLL technology on February 22, 1996. The company is owned by Transasia Telecom Limited (60%), Asian Infrastructure Development Co. (26.8%), Northern Telecom International Finance B.V. (5%), and the remaining shares are owned by small local investors. In July 2005, Milford Holdings (Private) Limited, a subsidiary of Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka Limited acquired 76% of the issued capital of Lanka Bell. Lanka Bell was required to install 100,000 lines by 2000 in order to satisfy the license requirements established by the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission. For every line that Lanka Bell installs in a rural area, the government considers it to be ten lines. Nortel was the initial equipment supplier. Lanka Bell also awarded a contract to Alphatel for the supply of 14,000 telephones in 1997. Lanka Bell had 37,000 residential subscribers as of May 2001. The total project cost (for 100,000 lines) was estimated at US$180 million. One third of the required funds are planned to be raised through equity and the rest through debt. The equity in the company as of September 1997 was $36 million. The company had invested $50 million in the project by end 1998. Although the company planned raising $100 million for its required 100,000 lines by debt financing, it was facing difficulties raising additional financing. As of 2003, Lanka Bell had 44,000 subscribers on its network, a market share of only 7%, primarily in Colombo. The company had not made profits since its inception in 1997. Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT), the local fixed-line monopoly, announced in September of 2003 that it had launched a bid to buy Lanka Bell. The deal was almost complete at the end of 2003. http://www.lankabell.net/pressreleases.htm#Expands Email sent to Joey V Mendoza at josem@lankabell.com on 8/12/03