SLT-MOBITEL, ZTE sign historic MOU

SLT Group Chairman Rohan Fernando with ZTE CEO Yang Min

• Initiative to collaborate for local device manufacturing and talent development

To unlock the potential of Sri Lanka’s digital economy and leverage advanced technologies, SLT-MOBITEL, the National ICT Solutions Provider signed a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with ZTE Corporation, a major international provider of telecommunications, enterprise and consumer technology solutions to collaborate on manufacturing devices on a local scale.

The MOU was signed by SLT Group CEO Lalith Seneviratne, SLT COO Priyantha Fernandez, Mobitel CEO Chandika Vitharana, and ZTE Director for Core Network for Asia-Pacific region Yang Chenhui at The Embryo, and Group R&D Center of SLT-MOBITEL, at Trace Express City, Colombo 10. 

SLT Group Chairman Rohan Fernando, ZTE Chief Executive Officer Yang Min and Deputy CEO Li Shuhai also attended the signing ceremony together with senior management and executives from both companies.

Under the MOU, SLT-MOBITEL and ZTE will collaborate with potential parties to jointly provide expertise and resources to establish a local manufacturing plant for the production of customer premises equipment, dongles and mobile phones.

According to the agreement, both parties have also agreed to collaborate based on a mutually beneficial framework of research and development facilitating greater cooperation in advancing the innovation landscape of the country.

Importantly, this is the first partnership of its kind in Sri Lanka with ZTE, demonstrating SLT-MOBITEL’s commitment to support the nation’s digitalisation journey. 

SLT Chairman Fernando said: “We take great pride in announcing our MOU with ZTE Corporation, one of the leaders in advanced telecommunications technology. 

This strategic partnership supports SLT-MOBITEL’s efforts to incorporate best practices in manufacturing processes, accelerate the development of technological solutions and provide a world-class telecom infrastructure for the people of Sri Lanka leveraging the technical expertise of ZTE Corporation and while pursuing our vision of enriching people’s digital lives. We look forward to working with ZTE Corporation on this exciting new initiative.”

ZTE CEO Yang said: “We are pleased to partner with SLT-MOBITEL, the nation’s ICT leader, providing important technological developments and sharing of expertise supporting Sri Lanka to build an industry ecosystem based on open collaboration. We are encouraged to note Sri Lanka has an enabling environment providing international businesses the requisite confidence to invest especially in technological ventures, and also participate in the telecommunication revolution taking place in the country.”

Consequent to this landmark announcement, SLT-MOBITEL and ZTE signed a strategic Bilateral MOU in the areas of resource sharing and talent development programs to be conducted at the SLT Training Centre (SLTTC), the company’s technical training institution.