Executive Summary

The mobile services industry is one of the fastest growing industries in Sri Lanka with
over 14 million users. The industry provides telecommunication and information
services, including voice calls, short message service (SMS), internet access, picture
and video messaging, and other data services, to 90 percent of the Sri Lankan
population.
Due to the ubiquity of mobile phones, mobile service providers can play a key role in
helping to shape a more sustainable society. Not only do mobile services providers
bring access to telecommunications and information and that drives sustainable
development in emerging markets, but these companies also develop products and
services that can enable a low-carbon society.
The aim of this report is to assess the mobile industrys current state and develop a
business rationale and framework for sustainability that fits the unique needs of the
mobile services industry. In addition, recommendations are given that can further the
mobile industrys sustainability agenda.
Mobile Services Industry Background The mobile services industry is defined as
those companies, which together enable the provision of telecommunication,
information, and entertainment services including voice, internet, SMS, text, and
other data services.
It is comprised of thousands of companies offering mobile services worldwide; some
of the largest include Mobitel, Dialog, Airtel, and Etisalat. Mobitel is narrowly the
largest mobile operator by revenue. However, Dialog is the largest in terms of
subscribers and coverage, with over 1.5 million subscribers.

Table of Contents
Chapter 01
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Introduction to the Local Industry

Mobile service providers- Industry overview
Introduction to the Business Environment
Importance of Business Environment
New Trends in Business Environment
Macro Environment implication on Mobile service providers

Chapter 02
7. Latest changes in Macro Environmental factors (Last five years)
I.
Latest changes in Political and Legal factors
II.
Latest changes in Economic factors
III.
Latest changes in Social-cultural factors
IV. Latest changes in Technological factors
V. Latest changes in Natural factors
VI.
Latest changes in Demographic factors
Chapter 03
8. Marketing Mix strategy on Mobile Service providers
9. How they overcome these challenges (During the last five years)
I.
Political and Legal factors
II.
Economic factors
III.
Social-cultural factors
IV. Technological factors
V. Demographic factors
Chapter 04
10. Recommendations for the Mobile Service Providers
11. Conclusion

Introduction to the Local Industry

What is an Industry?
Any type of Economic Activity producing GOODs or SERVICES.
It is part of a chain from raw materials to finished product, finished product to
service sector, and service sector to research and development.
It includes AGRICULTURE, MANUFACTURING and SERVICEs.
Types of industry
According to the Central Bank annual report in Sri Lanka there are four types of
Industry:

Mining and Quarrying

Manufacturing (i.e. processing of agricultural products, Factory industry,

Cottage Industry)

Electricity, Gas & Water

Construction

Mobile Service Industry Overview.

Mobile industry it has been observed that in the history of the telecom industry,
mobile telephony has made a greater difference to the lives of more people, more
quickly than any other technology.
As the mobile industry globally crossed five million subscribers in 2010 - an
important milestone - the prospect of a whole world consisting of networked people is
becoming a real possibility. The International Telecom Union (ITU) predicts that
within the next decade, if not earlier, global teledensity will surpass 100%. That
would however not mean that everyone has a phone, because many may have more
than a single handset or multiple SIMs.
However, with mobile technology spreading fast due to growing affordability and
ease of adaption, at the current rate of mobile phone adoption, it is likely that sooner
than later, anyone who wants a mobile phone will have one.
And as mobile networks widely offer 3G broadband, everyone will have access to the
Internet, and as expressed by the ITU, that would mean mobile telephony would
have done more than anything else in history, to advance the democratization of
telecoms, and all that comes with it. An interesting development is that the reducing
prices and size of Mobile Phones and the increasing power and versatility of the
mobile handsets, is leading to the Mobile service providers and the mobile handset
converging into a new range of devises that combine power, versatility and greater
portability.
This convergence has increased the power of the mobile handset producers who are
becoming the axis around which operators, platform vendors, software and
application developers, operating system developers, standards alliances and
Chip/Processor manufacturers etc. are building their businesses. Implications of that
development can be significant, and a potential Consequence could be the possibility
of the importance of voice calls as a source of revenue declining and stress on the
revenue streams of operators being applied by the handset manufacturers.

The challenge then is for the mobile operators to assiduously review their existing
business models and redefine their game plan to match the emerging challenge. An
inactive or sleepy operator would obviously be left behind, and the future ready
operator would be best placed to take on the future. For Srilankan Mobile service
providers then, these would be interesting times.

Mobitel Subscriber growth

3500

3238

3000

2769
2516

2500
2000
1500

Subscriber growth in
mobitel

1668
1291

1000
500
0
2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

Dialog subscriber growth

8000

6950

7000

6100

6000
5000

4200

4900

Dialog subscriber
growth

4000
3000

2700

2000
1000
0
2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

MOBITEL
Mobitel was incorporated in 1993 as the second mobile telephone provider in the Sri
Lankan market. Originally collaboration between Sri Lanka Telecom and Telstra,
Mobitel has been wholly owned by SLT since November 2002. The company slogan
is "We Care Always."
Mobitel is considered to be the country's most dynamic mobile telephone operator and
is known the 'National' mobile service provider in Sri Lanka. Since being acquired by
Sri Lanka Telecom in 2002, it has grown in leaps and bounds and is now on par
technologically with the very latest in the telecommunications industry.
The company is continuing on its strategy which is positioned around value
innovation and customer centricity. Mobitel has a very strong brand image, with
high visibility at strategic locations.
Mobitel has shown their competitive position over the years in terms of formidable
distribution, product suit and brand. The features and benefits built into the packages
that they offer are all designed carefully, with the customer's best interest regarded
highly.
Following the successful implementation and operation of an AMPS/TDMA network
in the country, Mobitel launched its GSM operations in January 2004 with the
deployment of a fully-fledged GSM network in the 800 MHz and 1800 MHz band,
which is EDGE/GPRS enabled. In 2005 and 2006, Mobitel traded the 800 MHz band
for slots made available from the 900 MHz range. With this enhancement, Mobitel
embarked on a field trial of 3G at the 1st International Buddhist Conference held in
2006, setting the stage for the launch of its 3G services in Sri Lanka.
Investments committed to date for this state-of-the-art technology to provide 3G and
GSM totals over US$ 200 million. This included increasing the present number of
base stations from 600 to 1,500 by the end of 2008.

Network

Mobitel currently operates a 3.5G network with HSDPA/HSUPA support and

downlink speeds of up to 3.6 Mbit/s and uplink speed up to 1.00Mbit/s. According to
speed test. Mobitel is the operator to issue the fastest internet connections in Sri
Lanka via HSPA, while they have also fully tested out 42Mbit/s downlink HSPA
MIMO technology in Colombo. It is also serving customers with over 1500 GSM and
400 3.5G base stations island wide. On 6 May 2011, Mobitel became the first
company in South Asia to trial a network based on 4G technology.
Taffies and packagers
Mobitel offers SMART prepaid and Double M post paid packages, while the Upahara
package was available for Sri Lankan government workers for a limited time period.
Upahara offered up to five similar Subscriber Identity Modules to be used in the
family of the principle customer, at lower rates.
Value added services
Mobitel offers a variety of value added services:

WAP, GPRS,MMS

Closed User Group services,

SMS banking,

E-channeling,

directories,

M3 3.5G services (video calls, video message, HSDPA with uplink up to 1.00
Mbit/s and downlink up to 3.6 Mbit/s),

Menu based services (OTA) which are updated to the SIM card,

International Roaming facilities in over 180 countries while including special

services such as the Voice Notification messages which alert a person on roaming
status and other features such as Call Home and SMS Roaming.

M-Fax

M3 Apps (Powered by Google apps)

M-tunes

Live scores of cricket matches

DIALOG

Dialog PLC is Sri Lanka's largest telecommunications service provider, which

operates Dialog Mobile, the country's largest mobile phone network with over 6
million subscribers. Dialog is a subsidiary of Axiata Group Berhad and Dialog was
Listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange in 2005 and was the countrys first USD 1
Billion market capitalized company on the Colombo Stock Exchange in terms
of market capitalization. Hans Wijayasuriya is the Director/Group Chief Executive of
Dialog plc.
Dialog launched its services in 1995 as the 4th entrant to Sri Lankas Cellular Market
and was the first digital network in South Asia. Dialog was also the first operator in
the region to deliver international roaming in 1997. Dialog Mobile presently has the
largest number of subscribers and revenue share.
In 2010 the company received the highest "Platinum" rating in the countries first-ever
Corporate

Accountability

Index.

The

company

operates

on 2.5G, 3Gand 3.5G communications networks, and was the first company to launch
commercial 3G and HSPA+ operations in South Asia. In addition, Dialog recently
announced that the company has switched on its 4G LTE Network in Colombo
becoming the first LTE pilot network in South Asia..
In addition to its core business of mobile telephony, the company operates a range of
services including Dialog TV, the country's Direct To Home Satellite TV service and

Dialog Global which provides international telecommunication services. Dialog

Broadband offers fixed-line and broadband internet services, whilst Dialog TeleInfrastructure is the companys national Telco communications arm.
Dialog was the first mobile operator to cover the Jaffna peninsula in Northern Sri
Lanka within 90 days of the ceasefire agreement in 2002 and again in 2009 was the
first mobile operator to extend its GSM network to the areas in the North and East
Province where the war was fought, and presently has 80% market share in the region.
Dialog is an investor under the sponsorship of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka
and has invested over 1 billion US dollars towards the development of
telecommunications infrastructure in Sri Lanka, and is one of the largest investors in
the island while being the largest investor in the telecom sector.

Dialog is also the official Sri Lankan partner of the mobile operator Vodafone.

Dialog Mobile has island wide GSM coverage with over 2000 2.5G Sites. In addition
Dialog offers 3G and 3.5G coverage in Sri Lanka with over 1000 3G sites which
support video calls, mobile TV and broadband internet. In addition, Recently Dialog
Launched a pilot 4G LTE Network becoming the first operator in South Asia to touch
exposition of Long Term Evolution (LTE) service. Its 4G pilot network has
demonstrated the delivery of over 100 Mbps in indoor demonstration mode and 40
50Mbps under outdoor mobile conditions, from Colombo 1 to Colombo 4.

AIRTEL

Airtel Lanka Limited is a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel Limited, the fifth largest mobile
operator in the world, with approximately 200 million mobile customers as of October
2010. Bharti Airtel has been featured in Forbes Asia's Fab 50 list, rated amongst the
best performing companies in the world in the Business Week IT 100 list 2007, and
voted as India's most innovative company in a survey by The Wall Street Journal.
Amali Nanayakkara is the CEO of Airtrl Sri Lanka.
Airtel Sri Lanka commenced commercial operations of services on 13 January 2009.
Granted a license in 2007 in accordance with the Sri Lanka Telecommunications Act
No. 25 of 1991, it is also a registered company under the Board of Investment Sri
Lanka. Under the license, the company provides digital mobile services to Sri Lanka.
This is inclusive of voice telephony, voice mail, data services and GSM based
services. All of these services are provided under the airtel brand.
Airtel Sri Lanka as nationwide coverage and holds 1.4 million subscribers as of
September 2010.
Before launching services officially, Airtel opened up their branch offices island wide
and allowed customers to book their number beforehand. Forms were given at all
branch offices and customers were given an option of choosing five numbers, out of
which one number was given based on availability. This booking system started on
January 5 and was expected to close on January 9 but all numbers had been booked by
January 8, according to notices displayed on the doors of the branch offices.

Airtel currently uses GSM and UMTS/HSPA technologies. Initially Airtel was
offering cheapest Mobile broadband plans starting at 5GB for Rs.299/- but later it
discontinued due lack of International bandwidth and financial loss it had incurred.
Only major cities like Colombo, Kandy , Galle and Ampara are covered by 3.5G
network.
Airtel is improving their GSM coverage rapidly and they have 1000+ Base Station on
operation island-wide, but they haven't taken any steps on widening their 3G coverage
ever since their launch. Airtel started their service in Northern Sri Lanka on October
2010.

Airtel Sri Lanka received many legal threats from other operators as Airtel started to
offer cheaper call rates. This led the industry to a price war and all operators including
Airtel itself had posted a significant loss in the year of 2009.
On July 15, 2010, TRC (Telecommunication Regulation Commission) implemented a
floor price to all the operators to overcome the price war. All the operators increased
their call charges except Airtel which filed Fundamental Rights request in highest
Court on July 19, 2010 saying that this new floor price is unfair to the newcomer to
the industry. But, this petition got rejected by the Supreme court.
So, Airtel revised their tariff on August 3, 2010 for new customers, as previously they
offered 49 cents/min within the network now it's Rs. 1/min and no changes to other
network call as they offered Rs. 2/min earlier also.

ETISALAT

Sri Lanka's first Cellular networks, then called Celltel inaugurated its operations in
1989. A brand name change was done on the 25th of January 2007 and thereafter
named "Tigo" and this was transformed with Milicom disposing its Asian operations.
they are now a company fully owned and operated by the giant Telecom Etisalat
Telecommunication Corporation in the UAE. It has extended operations in Egypt and
Saudi Arabia in the Middle East and further into Asian markets such as India,
Pakistan, Afghanistan, Indonesia and now Sri Lanka, recording over 100 million
subscribers across 18 countries offering opportunities for synergy with our other
operations in the region. Etisalat officially commenced its operations in Sri Lanka on
the 25th of February 2010.
Etisalat is consistently providing not only the widest coverage and an unprecedented
service, but also a host of other Value Added Services. We are dynamic and treat our
customers as our own, and consider customer service as our first priority.
The slogan of our operations is, "It's About You!" as they make public an selection of
services to match the hearts of their customers. Their value and nurture the energy and
dynamism needed to achieve the very best in business. They look forward to future
challenges and opportunities. As a company, they are welcoming, sociable and
friendly to customers, suppliers.

Their aim is to open up opportunities and to actively help people reach their goals.
They always deliver what we say we willed employees. They deal with people in a
clear, direct way and are always honest and fair in business dealings.
Today Etisalat operates in a world where people's reach is not limited by matter or
distance. They are reaching out to where it matters because with Etisalat its about
you. As a responsible business entity Etisalat strives to go beyond the required norm
to make a positive impact on society and the environment.
Through their management and operations they ensure that whatever they do, set out
to demonstrate their commitment and respect to all of thier stakeholders, communities
and environment. Their CSR initiatives focuses on community based investment
programmes and sponsorships. Their management and staff engage themselves with
these community projects through professional service, as a result a continuous
commitment towards CSR initiatives are seen and demonstrated across the company.
Etisalat carries out a range of CSR initiatives which range from both medium-to-long
and short-term projects, namely Education, Community/Livelihood Development,
Environment and Disaster Relief.

HUTCH

Hutch mobile telecommunication provider offering customers a range of value-for

money GSM services fulfilling the diverse needs of all segments. Hutchison
Telecommunications Lanka (Pvt) Ltd. (Hutchison Telecom Lanka) launched its
GSM service in 2004, and has continuously been investing in the expansion of
network coverage with the aim of being a nationwide operator in Sri Lanka.

Hutchison Telecom Lanka is a member of Hutchison Asia Telecom which comprises

mobile telecommunications operations in the emerging markets of Indonesia, Vietnam
and Sri Lanka. Hutchison Asia Telecom is a key part of Hutchison Whampoa Groups
telecommunications division which includes the 3 Group comprising 3G operations in
Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Macau, Sweden and the UK.

Business Environment
The business environment is the aggregate of all conditions, events, and influences
that surround and affect a business firm. Business environment generally refers to the
external factors affecting, either positively or negatively, the operation of a firm. The
most important external factors include economic, legal, political, social and
technological factors. The environmental factors influence almost every aspect of
business, be it its nature, its location, the prices of products, the distribution system, or
the personnel policies.
Business environment is classified as follows: (a) Internal Environment: These are the environmental factors which include:1) Man
2) Machine
3) Material
4) Management
(b) External Environment: they are classified as
Macro Environment
a) Government
b) Political factors
c) Social factors
d) Cultural factors
e) Demographic factors

f) Economic factors
Micro Environment
a) Human resources to include jobs, hygiene, security
b) Company Board
c) Management structure

The Micro Environment

The microenvironment can be separated into the internal environment and the external
environment. The internal environment consists of the firms own management
structure, the organizations strategies and objectives, and the departments within the
company. The characteristics of the firms internal environment affect its ability to
serve its customers. The external environment comprises suppliers, marketing
intermediaries, customers, competitors and publics. As well as obvious groups such as
shareholders, publics can also include local interest groups who may have concerns
about the marketers impact on the environment or on local employment.
The Macro Environment
Changes in the macro-environment may not be as close to the marketing firms dayto-day operations, but they are just as important.
(Often referred to as the PEST factors in the marketing analytical context, a useful
aide-memoire, although in some texts it is sometimes referred to as STEP). To this
is sometimes added Competitive factors and although PEST analysis relates to a
specific organization Competitive factors tend to be subsumed under Economic
factors. Such a PEST analysis means listing all possible points, which may affect the
organization under review of the each P.E.S.T. headings. In order to correctly identify
opportunities and monitor threats, the company must begin with a thorough
understanding of the marketing environment in which the firm operates.

The success of every business depends on adapting itself to the environment within
which it functions. For example, when there is a change in the government policies,
the business has to make the necessary changes to adapt it to the new policies.
Similarly, a change in the technology may render the existing products obsolete, as we
have seen that the introduction of computer has replaced the typewriters; the color
television has made the black and white television out of fashion. All these aspects are
external factors that are beyond the control of the business. So the business units must
have to adapt themselves to these changes in order to survive and succeed in business.
The term business environment connotes external forces, factors and institutions that
are beyond the control of the business and they affect the functioning of a business
enterprise.
These include customers, competitors, suppliers, government, and the social, political,
legal and technological factors etc. While some of these factors or forces may have
direct influence over the business firm, others may operate indirectly. Thus, business
environment may be defined as the total surroundings, which have a direct or indirect
bearing on the functioning of business. It may also be defined as the set of external
factors, such as economic factors, social factors, political and legal factors,
demographic factors, and technical factors etc., which are uncontrollable in nature and
affects the business decisions of a firm.

Social factors

Economic
factors

Political
factors

Macro Environment
Factors

Legal factors

Technical

factors

Demographic factors

IMPORTANCE OF BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

There is a close and continuous interaction between the business and its environment.
This interaction helps in strengthening the business firm and using its resources more
effectively. The business environment is multifaceted, complex, and dynamic in
nature and has a far-reaching impact on the survival and growth of the business. To be
more specific, proper understanding of the social, political, legal and economic
environment helps the business in the following ways:
a) Determining Opportunities and Threats: The interaction between the business
and its environment would identify opportunities for and threats to the
business. It helps the business enterprises for meeting the challenges
successfully.
b) Giving Direction for Growth: The interaction with the environment leads to
opening up new frontiers of growth for the business firms. It enables the
business to identify the areas for growth and expansion of their activities.
c) Continuous Learning: Environmental analysis makes the task of managers
easier in dealing with business challenges. The managers are motivated to
continuously update their knowledge, understanding and skills to meet the
predicted changes in realm of business.
d) Image

Building:

Environmental

understanding

helps

the

business

organizations in improving their image by showing their sensitivity to the

environment within which they are working. For example, in view of the
shortage of power, many companies have set up Captive Power Plants (CPP)
in their factories to meet their own requirement of power.
e) Meeting Competition: It helps the firms to analyze the competitors strategies
and formulate their own strategies accordingly.
f) Identifying Firms Strength and Weakness: Business environment helps to
identify the individual strengths and weaknesses in view of the technological
and global developments.

New Trends in Business Environment

1) Increasing the age limit of a person therefore the demand for the healthy foods
is increasing and smoking and liquor habits are decreasing.
2) In leisure time people like to spend in rural areas.
3) Demand for the take away foods are increasing.
4) People are addicted to do several works at the same time.
5) Increasing the number of nuclear families in the society.
6) Females are the dominant partners in the workforce.
7) Knowledge of the consumer behavior is increasing.
8) Marriages are postponed by younger people, because of the higher education.
9) People are more aware about the concept of SOS- Save Our Society.
10) Increasing the number of elderly people of the society, because of that people
are more attracted to the beauty cultural activities.

Latest Changes in Macro Environmental Factors

Changes in Political and Legal Factors

Political changes in the country have also meant that these markets are now open to
marketers from around the country.
Opportunities for industry.
1. Providing free laptops to undergraduates in local universities & making it a
computer literate society
2. Reduction of Taxs on electronics making the data / handset units much more
affordable
Threats for industry
1. Ad-hoc changes in government regulations impacting penetration promotions
2. Government protection by the use of license.
A lot of new license and consumer protection schemes are introduced by the
government.
3. Increasing the pressure groups.
Pressure groups are more affected to the companies and marketers because they try to
achieve their targets without or with political support. (Eg: Environment groups.
Consumer groups, religious groups, Etc.)
4. International tariffs, rules and regulations.
5. Pressure from Political groups.
Been unable to make full use of economies of scale due to restrictions from the
governments which are in place to reduce price war among telecommunication
operators
6. Government initiatives of increasing data feasibility & the amount of effort
taken in terms of tackling low speed service providers and penalizing them to
increase speeds.
7. Growth of Legal and Regulatory Risks.

Mobile service providers are faced with the risk of changes in the regulatory
environment. Some of their activities continue to be subjected to significant price and
other regulatory controls which may affect their market share, competitive position
and future profitability.
The revenue of their organizations can even be adversely affected by the recently
introduced price revisions of voice services, broadband services, leased circuits and
backhauling services where the prices had to be slashed down due to market and
regulatory pressures towards the achievement of government objectives of increasing
broadband penetration in the country.

Changes in Economic Factors.

The economic environment is important to marketers because it affects the amount of
money people have to spend on products and services.
Opportunities for industry.

1. End of a 30 year civil war opening up two new markets in the Northern &
Eastern Sri Lanka which strengthens the economic situation of the country.
2. Increase of per capita income levels in the country enabling consumers to
reach the high cyber word.
3. Changes in workforce.
A large proportion of women now go out to work. This has resulted in an increase in
the sales of mobile phones. Therefore this is also a greater advantage to the mobile
service industry.
4. Changes in interest rates and lending rates.
The reduced lending rates and lower and stable inflation conditions favoured a
positive business climate.
5. Reduction in taxes on the telecommunication sector.
The decision by the government to simplify the tax structure particularly with regard
to the telecom sector is a welcome move.
The proposed tax modifications effectively favours the mobile subscribers and would
potentially stimulate higher mobile usage, hence improved revenue of the mobile
operator. The removal of VAT as part of the revised concessions to the subscriber,
although enhances the customer affordability, would increase the cost structures of
operators as recovery of input VAT would be constrained.
Threats for industry.
1. Changes in National income and inflation.
2. Changes in income levels of people.
3. Growth of marketing risks.
While there are many factors which contribute to the high level of competition, the
prominent factors include technology substitution, market and service convergence,
customer churn, declining levels of market differentiation, declining market growth
rates, regulatory intervention which is focused on promoting competition, and the
emergence of competitors with distinctive and non-replicable sources of competitive
advantage.
4. Revenue growth.
Mobile service providers face a number of challenges in relation to growing revenues.
A distinct challenge is that their voice and connectivity business is a mature business
subject to price deflation and declining or negative market growth rates leading to
declining revenues, margins and cash flow. The net effect is that they increasingly

have to look beyond the voice market to secure profitable revenue growth from
adjacent markets, both inside and outside the country.

Changes in Social-cultural Factors.

Peoples opinions and tastes are shaped by the society in which they live. It should be
noted that societies are not made up of homogeneous populations. They contain subcultures, which are beliefs and values shared by smaller groups of people. Such
groups may arise out of a common race, religion, social activity or hobby. Subcultures are important to marketers insofar as they may have different consumption
habits from the rest of the population.
Opportunities for industry
1. Shift of life style across the country due to improved media, technology and
communication.
2. New generations born with utmost technology around them create
opportunities for mobile broad band services to grow.
3. Social networking & new media such as face book

/ SMS over internet /

Multimedia services has gain popularity among general public across the
country.
4. The mobile youth culture
Mobile communication and the social consequences associated with it
are experienced by individuals of many walks of life young, old,

rich, poor, the mobile phone can serve as a status symbol and article of
fashion for its users in general . Young people have especially come to
be embracing the technology for its symbolic significance. The mobile
phone has become an icon for contemporary teens in many countries.

Changes in Technological Factors

Mobile service firms usually have a huge base of complex legacy systems. These
systems are disparate with their own data. Integration (system and data) of such
systems has been a problem. All this has a heavy toll on Customer loyalty, Product
lifecycle management, and Process improvements.
Opportunities for industry
1. Extensive use of technology in Education systems / Communication systems /
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Manufacturing / Medicine etc needing data services

Greater emphasis on Research and Development.
Increasing the technological Innovations mobile service industry.
Spreading of Digitalization all over the country.
Increasing the Hi-Technological instruments, High Adoptability to technology.
Internet Facilities are spreading in rural areas.
Mobile Phone users are increasing day by day.

Threats for the industry.

1. Capacity Limitations.
Not having developed fiber infrastructure and 99% MW are used for backhauling
(Limited capacity)
2. Power availability Issues.
Mobile base stations are located in hill areas and the National grid is not available
also the High cost (Diesel generators) and No developed green energy system(Solar
and wind )
3. Network problems.
Network operations are usually designed to address frequent disruptions caused by
equipment failures. Sometimes the Mobile service companies do not address the
catastrophe level incident like fire, earth quake etc.

Changes in Natural Environment

This is important to Mobile service industry insofar as it is the source of many raw
materials and fluctuation in supply can affect the prices paid for purchases.

Opportunities for the industry.

1. Increasing trend of paperless environments is supported by data & internet
2. Major global concern.
Global interest on carbon foot print encouraging more and more use of computer and
e communication.
Threats for the industry.
1. Containing costs while delivering increasingly more complex services and
providing a consistently higher level of customer service across wide
geographical areas.
2. Increased in energy cost.
The increased cost of energy is also having an effect on the types of products that
appeal to consumers.
3. Scarcity of resources.
4. Storage of raw materials.
- Due to inflation.

Changes in Demographic Factors

The demographic environment itself is affected by changes in the mix of age groups
in the population. If the population becomes older, this will lead to rising demand for
products and services consumed by older people and a similar fall in demand for
products consumed by younger people. Demographic environment is also affected by
the level of education in a country, since changes in education have an impact on the
wealth of a nation and the tastes of its people. The lifestyles of a population also have
an impact on the Macro environment to the mobile service industry.
Opportunities for the industry.

1. Changes in family structure and the population.

In the mobile sector subscriber growth continued to be aggressive with the number of
mobile subscriptions increasing by 23% - 17.4 Mn.
2. The fast return to normalcy of the North and East and overall tension free
conditions in all parts of the country offered greater momentum for business
expansion.
The promise of the potential emanating from the opening of hitherto unexplored
geographical areas of the country has led to all mobile service operators racing to
capture pieces of the unfolding markets, and Mobile service providers too with an
already established foothold in those markets will accelerate and execute plans to
further strengthen its position.
3. Increasing the ICT literacy level in Sri lanka.
The Signals to the governments intention to fast develop the ICT literacy level of the
country, which in turn would function as a multiplier in the countrys economic
growth process.

How They Overcome Those Challenges During The Last

Five Years.
Sri Lankas Mobile communication industry has been a trailblazer in the South Asian
region, being the first to introduce latest technologies in the market-be it GSM
(Global Standard for Mobile) telephony. All companies try to change. Because they
want to stay in the market in long time and earn more profits. Every time customers
think that what service providers gives more benefits. But in the present a research

says that people think dialog is the most profitable and useful service among the
others services.

Political and legal factors

Rates are deducted because of the new rules and regulations.

MOBITEL introduced an M Best Friend (MBF) Two Mobitel numbers as My

Best Friend (MBF) numbers.24 hours of the day outgoing (Voice/Video) calls
to My Best Friend numbers at Rs. 1/- for the 1st minute, 75 cents for the 2nd
minute and 50 cents per every minute thereafter. SMS to My Best Friend

numbers are at 25 cents per message.

In the first time in the mobile industry of Sri Lanka Aritel offered earn super

points on every incoming call from another network to the Airtel.

All companies try to attract more customers. In Hutch Company introduce
with this great per minute prepaid plan, customers get 60 minutes and 50 SMS

free for a day, for a daily charge of just Rs. 12.

ETISALAT offer new packages for their customers. These are their packages.

Discover
Monthly Subscription
Price

FREE
Rs. 1

(E to E)
Price

Rs. 2

(Other Networks)
SMS
Etisalat to Etisalat
Etisalat to other networks

10 cents
25 cents

Dream
Free Outgoing mins
(E to E 75 - Other Networks 100)

175

Price

Rs. 2 per min

(To any local network after your free minutes are used up)
Price

Rs.1

(E to E - After your free minutes are used up)

Subscription
SMS

Rs. 275

Etisalat to Etisalat

10 cents

Etisalat to other networks

25 cents

Success
Free outgoing mins

350

(E to E 150 - Other Networks 200)

Price

Rs. 2 per min

(To any local network after your free minutes are used up)
Price

Rs.1

(E to E - After your free minutes are used up)

Subscription
SMS
Etisalat to Etisalat
Etisalat to other networks

Rs. 550
10 cents
25 cents

Reach
Free outgoing mins

700

(E to E 300 - Other Networks 400)

Price

Rs. 2 per min

(To any local network after your free minutes are used up)
Price

Rs.1

(E to E - After your free minutes are used up)

Subscription

Rs. 1100

SMS
Etisalat to Etisalat
Etisalat to other networks

10 cents
25 cents

Talk to 120 friends in ETISALAT its for just Rs.1 a Minute. Now we can
build conference room.

These are the AIRTELs new packages for their customers.

Package
ACTIVATION FEE
MONTHLY
COMMITMENT
FREE DATA BUNDLE
CHARGES FOR USAGE
ABOVE FREE BUNDLE
SMS (A2A, A2O)

Celebration
300
Rs. 500
Rs. 300

Celebration
600
Rs. 500
Rs. 600

Unlimited

1GB
60 cents per
MB
10 cents, 25
cents

3GB
60 cents per MB

Unlimited

10 cents, 25
cents

10 cents, 25
cents

3.6 Mbps
384 Kbps
Not Applicable

3.6 Mbps
384 Kbps
Not Applicable

1.8 Mbps
384 Kbps
Applicable

Rs. 500
Rs.1,499

SPEED
Downlink
Uplink
FAIR USAGE POLICY

HUTCH offered a new bonus reload Rs. 199 and get Rs. 300 worth of IDD.

To increase the facility of high speed internet for their customers.

They offered new data packs to Airtel customers

For the first time in Sri Lanka, get all sorts of mobile applications that
customer want at Etisalat App zone. Now customer can enjoy with games,
alerts, horoscope apps, sms to email, travel apps, voting apps, funs apps and
much more.

They introduced the Mobitel 3G delight BB. Now, make high-speed net
surfing a reality with Mobiltel. Get onto the Internet directly on the mobile
phone or use the USB High Speed Internet modem on the desktop/laptop. All
customers need is the 3G Delight suite of services from Mobitel

Economic Factors
Mobile service providers entered in to the new market in northern Sri lanka.

Now Airtel 3G is available in the North science august, bringing you closer to

the things you love.

In Northern Sri Lanka. They introduced a new Top up for Rs. 98 and enjoy Rs.
150 worth IDD TALK TIME on the Airtel. Its valid for a month.

To reduce the market risk they sell mobile Phones with more benefits.

As well as they offered a star points methods. Winners can get Samsung
galaxy tab10.1 and Samsung galaxy sill.

ETISALAT introduced the new unbelievable offers to HNB credit card holder.
Now customers can buy black berry cure 8520, 9300 phones and bold 9700
and torch 9800 phones by using their credit card. As well as their customers
can save money 50%.

ETISALAT introduced the Huawei IDEOS X3. Its only available with
Etisalat. It has more facilities.

MOBITEL offered the Pre-paid Broadband Smart Dongle for just Rs. 3490 in
July.

As well as Mobitel introduced a srilankas first 3D Smartphone partnership

with Abans.
Its the worlds first tri-dual architecture. It has more facilities. There are 1GHZ
dual core, dual channel processors, 8 GB memory and 4GB LP DDR2, 3D
recording, viewing and sharing.

HUTCH offered 10% Bonus on Online Re-charge!

ETISALAT introduced new refresh cards to the market ETISALAT

INTERNET PLUS +

ETISALAT, DAILOG, MOBITEL, AIRTEL AND HUTCH have General

News in Sinhala, English and Tamil medium.

ETISALAT offered new Etisalat dongle for the lowest price in the market
rs.1999 in September.

Technological Factors
To overcome from, increasing the Hi-Technological instruments, High
Adoptability to technology the mobile service providers used the following
methods.

MOBITEL was the first 3.5G operator in Sri Lanka and South Asia. It covers

most of Sri Lanka with its GSM network.

MOBITEL offers both prepaid and postpaid mobile services, along with
mobile broadband services using the 3.5G network.

Following the successful implementation and operation of an AMPS/TDMA network

in the country, Mobitel launched its GSM operations in January 2004 with the
deployment of a fully-fledged GSM network in the 800 MHz and 1800 MHz band,
which is EDGE/GPRS enabled.

In 2005 and 2006, Mobitel traded the 800 MHz band for slots made available

from the 900 MHz spectrum.

Dialog launched a pilot 4G LTE Network becoming the first operator in South
Asia.

AIRTEL lunched the M-commerce with Airtel. All Airtel customers who have
an account at BOC or Commercial Bank now they can do mobile banking/
top-up their account and pay their bills.

MOBITEL introduced 1717 the new Customer Care Hotline Number of

Mobitel.
MOBITEL offered SMS with Gmail Now we can send FREE SMS to your
Mobitel friends via Gmail.

DIALOG introduced a new Password method to protect our SMS Inbox

In recently DIALOG offered Mobile TV, SMS banking, E- Channeling,

Directories, Fax number for every service holder.

ETISALAT launched new method in February 2011. With their Eze top
service now customer can send a reload to Etisalat friends anywhere in the
world. To send credit through eze top.

Social-cultural Factors

Job alert service via SMS

Etisalat Sri Lanka and Dialog launches Jobs Alert via SMS service for its
subscribers for the first time in Sri Lanka. The service is launched in
association with Jobs website. Get instant SMS updates about the latest jobs
on offer at Sri Lankas premier online job portal www.topjobs.lk.

Send text messages to any Dialog Mobile via your Google account, absolutely
free.

Latest gossips about of famous persons.

Demographic factors

In 2009, Mobitel became the official sponsor of the Sri Lankan Cricket Team.
And they launched a concept called I am Sri lanka.

In first time MOBITEL launched of priority services for war heroes.

Due to changes in age mix and the changes in family structure they offer these
facilities.

HUTCH launched a couple package for monthly rental is rs.200. Their main
target customers are young students.

DIALOG offered free health tips till in November 24th

Recommendations for the Mobile Service Providers

1. Implementation of National fiber backbone & Develop fiber infrastructure in
the country. (fiber to sites)
2. Use of green power sources to reduce the cost of the added selling prices and
call, sms and other charges, for that they can use :
Solar Power Solution
Solarwind Hybrid Power Solution
Solardiesel generator Hybrid Power Solution
3. More Infrastructure Sharing.
4. Because of the Limited stability for Mobile base stations in the market, should
increase the number of Service providers to the industry. Because Mobile
service industry is an oligopoly Market.
5. Advertising via MMS.
MMS mobile marketing can contain a timed slideshow of images, text, audio and
video. This mobile content is delivered via MMS (Multimedia Message Service).
Nearly all new phones produced with a color screen are capable of sending and
receiving standard MMS message. Brands are able to both send (mobile terminated)
and receive (mobile originated) rich content through MMS A2P (application-toperson) mobile networks to mobile subscribers. In some networks, brands are also
able to sponsor messages that are sent P2P (person-to-person).
Mobile MMS videos increase user interest and boost direct response rates offering
marketers and advertisers a viable mobile channel to deliver richer media content.

Increased Direct Response Rate

Because of its interactivity, MMS videos increase user interest and

boost direct response rates from people that are tired of just seeing
boring text. It's also the perfect way to showcase to your customers that
the business is on top of the latest technologies.

Interactive MMS
MMS creates a more interactive and emotional appeal on mobile
devices compared to SMS through elements of sound, animation and
images. MMS creates a modern mobile experience with powerful
visual branding possibilities.

6. Parent Guide- Find out all that customer need to know about bringing up
children queries related to food, nutrition, growth, development, behavior
patterns, disciplining, and more.

7. Baby Names- Customers precious babies here and now its time to find a
suitable name. A name that reflects all emotions, hopes and aspirations of
customers. Browse through extensive listings and find the one that is perfect
for customers bundle of joy.

8. Baby Care- Be aware of all the caregiving needed for bundle of joy food
habits, immunization, safety, basic health tips, toys, and more. Keep baby
healthy and happy.

9. Recipes- Get to know the secret to make lip-smacking recipes from one of Sri
Lanka's most famous cooks and delight friends and family.

10. Homemaker- Get tips on how to be frugal and organized in customers

homemaking skills. Know how to keep customers home safe, comfortable
and cozy and household running efficiently.

GROUP MEMBERS

Chamudi Herath
Pavan Chandrasiri
Anushani Thilakarathna
N Z Sapideen
Ayesha Iroshani
Prabashana wijesinghe

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