The Hon. Eranga Weeraratne - Acting Minister of Digital Economy

¶ 01 Hon. Member, telecom is a highly competitive sector. Due to weaknesses in SLT’s management, subscriber numbers and revenue fell, and by 2023 SLT had become loss-making. After this Government assumed office, we turned it back into a profit-making entity. For example, SLT Mobitel had a loss of about Rs. 1.1 billion in the first six months of 2024, but in the first six months of 2025 it made a profit of Rs. 1.1 billion. For the SLT-Mobitel Group together, a loss of Rs. 323 million in the first six months of 2024 became a profit of Rs. 4,276 million in the first six months of 2025. This was achieved through the new management we appointed, led by a highly experienced chairman with over 40 years in the sector. Revenues increased by Rs. 1.6 billion and OpEx was reduced by Rs. 1.1 billion. Also, although SLT and Mobitel were combined, internal systems and operations had not been fully integrated; we are integrating them to reduce costs. Capital expenditure has also been reduced by about 9%. Further, the Group’s debt has been reduced by Rs. 13 billion using these profits, returning the company to profitability.