Airtel Lanka secures 900MHz spectrum allocation from TRC

Airtel Lanka has announced that it had secured the allocation of 5MHz of the 900MHz spectrum band from the Te l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRC).

The allocation was on an “admininstrative basis” and based on a pre-pubished criteria. The criteria mentioned, among other things, “in order to create a level playing field for all four mobile operators every operator shall have equal amount of spectrum at all possible times in such economical bands. Therefore, during evaluation of applications prominance will be given to minimise unequal distribution of radio frequency spectrum (if any) within the above band.” The criteria further mentioned that the “evaluation will be based on to guarantee interference free spectrum”, the company said in a media release.

“I would like to thank the TRC for taking an approach to create a level playing field, which ultimately benefits the end consumer. We have been awarded the spectrum through a transparent process and have already begun using the allocated frequency after paying the required fee to use this 5MHz of spectrum which had been determined on a formula that was applied to all other operators,” Airtel Lanka Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, Jinesh Hegde said.

The said spectrum results in wider coverage providing Airtel users with enhanced voice and data experience. This is the first step in a bold strategy from Airtel which aims to leapfrog current benchmarks in order to provide an unbeatable user experience, the company said.