Sri Lanka: Private sector moves into former Tiger lair

Photo courtesy: Perambara.org

By Shamindra Ferdinando | The Island
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No one would have expected the private sector to launch operations in the former LTTE stronghold of Mullaitivu two years after the war.

A few years ago, the establishment of local and foreign partnership company, especially one engaged in telecommunication infrastructure development would have been unthinkable.

But, with the dawn of peace, Sierra Global Network Private Limited, one of the leading telecommunication infrastructure development and managed services company has established a regional office in Mullaitivu.

A senior military official told The Island that Mullaitivu had been covered by a special security plan due to its strategic importance to their overall strategy. The LTTE set up its longest runway in the Mullaitivu district during eelam war IV, the official said. The LTTE would never have allowed private projects, let alone one involving telecommunication infrastructure development.

Government forces regained Mullaitivu on Jan. 26, 2009, 13 years after losing the town in the single worst debacle in the entire eelam war.

A senior spokesperson for Sierra Global Network Private Limited said that even before the conclusion of the war in May 2009, the company had completed what he called 3G/GSM expansion project in Jaffna for Mobitel at the beginning of 2009.

According to him, the Jaffna project had paved the way for the coverage in the entire peninsula.

"We are helping telecom operators to expand their services in the Northern Province.

Among the major projects was the construction of Fibre Optic Cable network of Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) from Jaffna exchange to Vavuniya exchange providing a seamless broadband connection from Colombo directly to Jaffna. We are also maintaining the Suntel CDMA network as well as Airtel 3G/GSM network in the Northern Province," the spokesman said.

Sierra Global is a strategic partner of Huawei engaged in post-war projects.

Since launching of Airtel’s 3G/GSM service in the Northern Province last year, Sierra Global maintains Airtel base stations situated in Jaffna, Mannar, Kilinochchi, Vavuniya, Trincomalee and Mullaitivu through Huawei. Austin Wang, CEO of Huawei Technologies Lanka Limited expressed confidence that the ongoing projects would further strengthen their working relationship, particularly in the project covering the Northern region.

Jerry Huxtable, Managing Director of Suntel Limited said that setting up of operations at Mullaitivu would be a boon to Suntel. Sierra Global maintains CDMA base stations belonging to Suntel in the Northern Province.

Following a recent visit to Mullaitivu, Dr. Arosha Fernando, Director/CEO of Sierra Global told The Island that they were the first to move to Kilinochchi in September last year. According to him, the company had been engaged in a range of projects, including construction of towers, fibre optic cable networks as well as the new Court Complex and Technical College.

© The Island