Industry veteran Mothilal new Chairman at SLT

• Board gets three new Independent Non-Executive Directors as well

Industry professional Dr. Mothilal de Silva has been appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the Board of Sri Lanka Telecom PLC.



SLT also announced the appointment of Chandrasiri Kalupahana, T.M. Thilakarantne, and Niel D.B. Unamboowe, PC as new Independent Non-Executive Directors. 

With a career spanning many decades, Mothilal is a result oriented multidisciplinary C-level executive in the telecommunications industry, having experience in Sri Lanka and multiple countries in the Asia and Pacific regions. He is a turnaround specialist and a strategist.

Under his leadership as Group Chief Executive Officer, he turned around Fiji’s State-owned telecommunications company Telecom Fiji Ltd., sustainably after five consecutive loss-making years. During his tenure at Telecom Fiji, the company registered consistent growth in profit, dividend, and investment for network modernisation.

Mothilal was also the Group Chief Strategy Officer and Group Chief Corporate Officer of Dialog Axiata, General Manager – Sales, Marketing and Customer Service of MTN Networks Ltd., and Vice President – Process Excellence and Group Operations of Axiata Group Malaysia. 

He sat on the Board of Directors of Lanka Communication Services Ltd., a telecommunications service provider for enterprises in Sri Lanka.

As a C-level executive at Dialog, Mothilal set up Corporate Planning, Strategy, MIS, Business Intelligence, Performance Management, Quality, Process Reengineering, Enterprise Program Management and Corporate Development divisions from scratch while apprenticing a young set of managers who had progressed to become leaders in Dialog and the Axiata Group subsidiary companies. He was also instrumental in winning GSMA awards, the International Asia Pacific Quality Award, Asia CSR award for Dialog Axiata, and many national awards.

Mothilal had delivered over 60 presentations in various international forums as a speaker, panellist, session Chairman, and workshop leader, mainly on next generation networks, corporate venture capital for telco, platform economy, business intelligence, sustainability, and business integral CSR. 

Mothilal received Bizz NXT Awards 2022 under the category of Top 50 Business Growth Leaders in technology at the BizTalk World Conference, Dubai. He served as a member of the High-level Advisory Council of the World Internet Conference, Wuzhen, China as a nominee of Cyberspace Administration Minister, China, from 2015 to 2017.

Mothilal obtained a Doctor of Business Administration from the PPA Business School, Paris, with a distinction for his dissertation “Corporate Venture Capital as an Engagement Model for Co-Creating 5G Ready Services.” He has an MSc in IT from Keele University UK, MBA from PIM, SL, BSc (Engineering) SL, Post Graduate Diploma in Strategic Management from Maastricht School of Management, Netherlands, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing Management from PIM SL.

Niel Unamboowe, President’s Counsel, has approximately 36 years of experience as a lawyer.

Currently engaged in private practice, he served in the Attorney General’s Department, until his retirement in 2019 as Additional Solicitor General. Whilst in the Attorney-General’s Department, he headed the prosecution for the Presidential Commission of Inquiry and Investigation into Alleged Irregularities at SriLankan Airlines, SriLankan Catering Ltd., and Mihin Air Ltd.

Throughout his career in the Attorney General’s Department, he was involved in significant inquiries, including the Presidential Commission into the Affairs of Sri Jayewardenepura General Hospital in 1994 and the inquiry and investigation into involuntary disappearances in 1995. He played a key role in the Revenue Unit, providing legal guidance to the Ministry of Finance and the Treasury, and to various Government departments including Customs and Inland Revenue.

Unamboowe was a recipient of scholarships from the WIPO Worldwide Academy and from the World Bank and holds two Masters Degrees in Intellectual Property Law from the University of Turin, Italy and the second LLM from George Washington University, Washington DC, USA. Further, he holds certificates in Commercial Law, Cyber Law and Air Law from the National University of Singapore and the National Law School of India University (Bangalore). He has received specialised training in areas such as Nuclear Safeguards and Intellectual Property Enforcement.

With extensive supervisory experience across various legal subjects, he has also served as Head of the Civil Division of the Southern Province and as a legal consultant for several governmental organisations, including the Atomic Energy Authority of Sri Lanka, the Sri Lanka Standards Institute, and the National Apprentice and Industrial Training Authority.

Additionally, his commitment to legal education is evident in his roles as a member of the Board of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, a Supervisor for diploma dissertations, and as a visiting lecturer and examiner in legal programs at various institutions, including the National Institute of Social Development and the University of Moratuwa, contributing to shaping the next generation of legal professionals.

Kalupahana is a Fellow Member of the CA Sri Lanka and holds membership in several other professional bodies. He is a seasoned professional whose journey began at KPMG Sri Lanka. He has served as a Governing Council Member and Chairman of the Business School at CA Sri Lanka.

Currently, he sits on the Board Of Directors of Softlogic Finance PLC, where he chairs three committees: Audit, Related Party Transaction Review, and Nomination and Governance.

Additionally, he serves as a member of the Human Resources and Remuneration Committee and the IT Security and Steering Committee. He has also worked as an Independent Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the Audit Committees and Related Party Transactions Committees at Lanka Hospitals Corporation PLC and Lanka Hospitals Diagnostics Ltd.

Kalupahana was formerly a Group Chief Officer at Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT), where he led the Internal Audit, Revenue Assurance, and Fraud Management Departments. Prior to joining SLT, he served as the Chief Financial Officer at the Regional Development Bank and worked as an Assistant General Manager at Pan Asia Bank. He has held the position of General Manager at three regulated companies in Sri Lanka, Tanzania (East Africa), and Angola (West Africa), and has also worked in Saudi Arabia.

He is an Executive Council Member and Treasurer of the Organisation of Professional Associations of Sri Lanka, the apex body of S2 professional member associations representing 34 disciplines, with a total membership of over 60,000 professionals. He has received extensive overseas business exposure and training in various fields, including banking, finance, and auditing.

Thilakarantne is a seasoned telecommunications professional with decades of industry experience, holding a National Diploma in Technology from the University of Moratuwa. He has a strong foundation across Operations, Maintenance, Sales, Marketing, Customer Service, Quality Management, and Project Management, making him a versatile and resourceful professional in the telecom sector.

Throughout his career, he has consulted on numerous telecommunications projects, bringing a wealth of knowledge and insight into both the technical and business domains. His strategic input and operational expertise have been instrumental in driving project success and adapting solutions to meet diverse market needs. 

Additionally, he has worked with Tritel Services Ltd. for over 15 years, where he played a key role in expanding the payphone network across Sri Lanka, contributing significantly to both sales and operations.

He has also undergone extensive training in telecommunications operations and business management, both locally and internationally, enabling him to stay aligned with global standards and industry innovations.