Mobitel revs up mobile telecom market by giving more for less

Smart Freedom enhanced with one hour M2M free communication for just Rs. 25

Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel yesterday announced the launch of SMART Freedom Hourly Option in response to the huge popularity it has experienced for its forerunners - namely SMART Freedom Weekly and Daily options, which were launched in June this year. This is an extension of the popular SMART Freedom suite of features which introduced for the first time in Sri Lanka the concept of calling free within the network for Pre Paid subscribers.

The launch is set to create a stir in the local mobile telecommunications arena at a time the market is moving towards smaller units of measurements - from per minute to per second billing. Mobitel is determined to focus on a single dimension in the competition by providing subscribers with the lowest call charges rather than smaller units of measurements.

The option will be made available to all SMART Pre Paid users and they can activate this feature by simply dialing 141 and keying in 9 and then following the prompts.

The option is only available as immediate activation. Upon activation, the subscribers will be able to enjoy up to 60 minutes of voice calls, up to 60 minutes of video calls and up to 60 SMS’s all within Mobitel network for an hour (60 minutes) immediately following activation irrespective of the time of activation.

Speaking on the significance of this hourly enhancement, Suren J. Amarasekera, CEO, Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel said, “ In many of our interactions with our subscribers we have found that what they value most is a communications package which allows them to focus on communication rather than the time spent”.

He continued “we have introduced the concept of worry-free M2M communication SMART Freedom. With SMART Freedom on the hour we have brought Freedom ever more closer to our SMART Pre Paid subscribers”.

Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel, the National Mobile Services Provider, is a wholly owned subsidiary of  Sri Lanka Telecom. In January 2004, the company launched its full-fledged 2.5G GSM network that is EDGE/GPRS enabled and designed to operate on dual band. In December 2007 the company launched its 3.5G HSPA network which was the first Super 3.5G network in South Asia. Investments committed to date in its 3.5G/2.5G networks and service offering totals over US$ 300 mn and are set to increase its present 1000+ base stations to 1500 base stations by the end of 2008.