Airtel to merge Sri Lanka ops with Dialog to make nation's largest telco

 

Bharti Airtel stated on Tuesday that Dailog and its Bharti Airtel Lanka operations would merge. Axiata Group Berhata, a multinational telecommunications firm based in Malaysia, owns Dialogue. In terms of market capitalization, Dialog is one of the biggest listed firms on the Colombo stock exchange. The honour of being the first and only business in Sri Lanka to reach a market valuation of $1 billion belongs to Dialogue.

In 2009, Bharti Airtel Lanka became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bharti Airtel. Following the transaction's conclusion, Airtel will issue additional shares in Dialog. The parties are now in conversation regarding the proposed transaction in compliance with the applicable laws and regulations. The proposed transaction is subject to the execution of definitive agreements and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions, including the approval of applicable regulatory and shareholder bodies. As a result of this acquisition, Airtel should have access to more customers. They would become the largest telecom provider in the nation as a result of this strategy. The second-largest player in the market would be the government-owned firm SL-Mobitel. The business argues that its technologically innovative products or activities are to blame for its success, which ultimately led to increased adoption rates among Sri Lanka's young people. This innovation includes the launch of several initiatives such as lowest rates for voice services, lowest rates for IDD(International Direct Dialing), and international voice and data roaming rates.

Bharti Airtel has also taken initiatives to increase network capacity and conducted trials of 5G technology through commercial networks. The trial version was intended to achieve download speeds of 1.9 GBps or higher. This is said to be the highest record ever in the country in terms of download speed. As of 2021, the number of subscribers in Sri Lanka has reached 30.76 million, with mobile network coverage of around 99%, reports Sri Lanka's International Telecommunications Union. Sri Lanka has taken very active initiatives to implement 5G commercial services this year. But the economic crisis seems to hinder the whole process. Sri Lanka is reported to be the first country to take the lead in rolling out her 3G and her 4G in the country, but the rollout of 5G has been slow for the country's people and consumers due to inflation. It may not be viable. An unstable political system may also be another factor that prevents the country from expanding its grid. Aside from the fact that the telecommunications tax on operators fluctuates between 11.25% and 15%, tax rate hikes could also hinder the 5G deployment.