Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Maxis, TM get Sri Lanka invite to invest in satellite project

Business Times : 5 January 2010

Both Maxis and Telekom Malaysia have expressed interest and said they will invest if the project is commercially viable, says Sri Lanka

NEW DELHI: Sri Lanka is inviting two top Malaysian telco operators Maxis Communications Bhd (6012) and Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) to invest in its US$150 million (RM525 million) maiden satellite project.Plans are in the pipeline to launch the nation's first geostationary satellite after it signed a deal with UK-based Surrey Satellite Technologies Ltd (SSTL) last December.

"We have invited Maxis (Communications) and Telekom Malaysia, both of which have already invested in Sri Lanka," Priyantha Kariyapperuma, director-general of Sri Lanka's Telecom Regulatory Commission, said in a telephone interview from Colombo."They have expressed interest and said they will invest if the project is commercially viable." Dialog, a subsidiary of Axiata Group Bhd (formerly known as TM International), is the top telecommunications service provider in Sri Lanka, with the largest mobile network.

Maxis became another major Malaysian player in the island after its parent company Usaha Tegas purchased a sizeable stake in Sri Lanka Telecom.Kariyapperuma said the invitation is still in a preliminary stage and nothing constructive had emerged yet from the two firms."It is still in preliminary stage, we should be able to get more details later this year," he said.The Sri Lankan government is in the process of setting up its space agency and plans to launch its first satellite, to be named after the famous British physicist Sri Arthur C. Clarke, who made the island his home until his death. - Bernama

http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/maxtel/Article/index_html

No comments:

Post a Comment