The Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees

¶ 01 We know that with the introduction of the telephone to the world, along with the introduction of the mobile phone, there was a great revolution in global interpersonal communication. Likewise, the discovery of radio waves in the 19th century led to a significant leap forward in communications; that is correct.

¶ 02 Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees, speaking of the development of the communications sector, we know that communications expanded from wired to wireless telephony, through voice transmission, short message transmission, data transmission and image frame transmission, and thus the sector became highly integrated with the public. With the expansion of communications, all countries of the world, with the aspiration to develop communications services, established and implemented the necessary legal frameworks to develop and regulate the sector. In doing so, both the public and private sectors used various strategies and plans to build up communications. Similarly in our country, by the Sri Lanka Telecommunications (Amendment) Act, No. 27 of 1996, the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) was established. The Commission has a purpose. Broadly, the Commission’s main responsibility is to promote the sector and to oversee the sustainable development of the communications sector.

¶ 03 Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees, with the regulations presented to Parliament today, we expect an important outcome. There are currently about 8,633 communication towers in our country. Under the “Communication to the Village” programme, many additional towers are to be constructed in various areas in the future. Through these regulations, our expectation is to regulate all such towers, and to grant the necessary legal authority to enable the shared use and operation of those towers and related infrastructure.

¶ 04 Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees, at present four main institutions are engaged in our country’s telecommunications: Dialog Axiata PLC, Mobitel, Hutch, and Sri Lanka Telecom. As I said earlier, these four institutions either singly, or two or three together, currently use the 8,633 towers. Going forward, under these regulations, by enabling shared use of all towers, significant benefits will accrue institutionally, environmentally, to consumers — the public — and to the country as well.

¶ 05 Institutionally, as many speakers here noted, capital expenditure of operators will decrease. Reduced capital expenditure enables operators to provide a better service to consumers. In the past there was considerable environmental damage due to different institutions erecting towers everywhere and providing associated infrastructure. With sharing, the number of towers will be limited to some extent, reducing anticipated environmental harm. Further, with reduced capital expenditure, operators will necessarily be able to provide higher-quality services to consumers.

¶ 06 As a country, we import all of these technological devices. By limiting such imports, we can save considerable foreign exchange. Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees, during the recent “OOo” cyclone, our messaging networks collapsed due to damage. By identifying the towers affected and those not affected, and enabling shared use and interconnection, we will be able to maintain services even during future disasters without interruption. In 2026, the TRCSL will also introduce regulations relating to the quality of telecommunications services and service standards for their projects.

¶ 07 In conclusion, I state that these regulations will bring significant benefits to the country. Therefore, I conclude by requesting that we all support the implementation of these regulations.

¶ 08 Thank you very much.

¶ 09 Question put, and agreed to.