SLT hosts Management Committee Meetings of two submarine cable maintenance consortiums
During the period between the 21st and the 24th of March, Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) hosted the Management Committee Meeting of two submarine cable maintenance consortiums at the Hotel Galadari in Colombo.
The Consortium Parties of the South East Asia and Indian Ocean Cable Maintenance Agreement (SEAIOCMA) and the Pacific and Indian Ocean Cable Maintenance Agreement (PIOCMA) met during the mentioned period.
A total of 37 foreign delegates and 2 local parties, representing various international submarine cable maintenance authorities as well as facility providers such as cable ships and submarine cable spare storage depots attended the meeting.
SLT has been a partner of the cable maintenance consortium since the early 80s, investing in SEA-MEWE and two other submarine cable systems. The privilege of hosting the consortiums was awarded to Sri Lanka and SLT due to the proposed submarine cable depot in Galle to facilitate the cable maintenance activities in the region.
SLT has taken the initiative to establish a joint venture company with Indian Ocean Cable Ship Pte Ltd of Singapore to set up a cable depot in Galle. Submarine Cable Depot (Pvt) Ltd will be ready for service during the third quarter of 2017 - and is the only one of its kind currently planned in South Asia. Once the cable depot is established, the Cable ship Asia Restorer will also be stationed in Galle. With the new cable depot in Galle, availability of international communication facilities will be enhanced since it helps to attend the submarine cable repair and maintenance work in the region without any delay.
“It is a tremendous honour for Sri Lanka Telecom to be a part of such a strategic and vital project. It will soon be our responsibility to deliver services via the depot to the international cable systems that connect Asia and Europe”, stated Priyantha Fernandez, Chief Network Officer of Sri Lanka Telecom.