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Tuesday Dec 03, 2024
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Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 27, 2022—Sri Lanka’s premier connectivity provider, Dialog Axiata PLC
(Dialog), is set to expand and improve broadband connectivity across the country with International
Finance Corporation’s (IFC) support.
IFC’s loan of up to $150 million will help Dialog expand and improve its network capacity through the
upgrading of existing sites and the construction of new 4G sites. Dialog also seeks to increase its fibre
optic network footprint and implement upgrades to increase both capacities and efficiencies in core
network operations.
As the leading telecommunication services provider in Sri Lanka, Dialog represents over 50 percent of
both the mobile and fixed broadband market in the country and is well equipped to effectively expand
quality connectivity options to underserved areas in Sri Lanka.
With over 32 million mobile subscribers, Sri Lanka has made substantial progress in terms of penetration
of mobile services, with 149 percent mobile penetration versus an average 85 percent of its South Asian
peers. While Sri Lanka ranks amongst the top 20 countries for Broadband affordability, the internet quality
and speed has been weak with Sri Lanka ranking 125 th globally (among 141 countries) in download
speed. This significant quality gap in the market is mainly due to heavy reliance on mobile services for
data usage and use of older technologies such as 3G.
“Quality and reliable telecommunication infrastructure has a multiplier effect on a country’s economic
growth. It provides the opportunity to unlock new and innovative sources of growth and jobs—spurring
digital economy, trade, and entrepreneurship—while bringing communities closer,” said Hector Gomez
Ang, IFC’s Regional Director for South Asia. “IFC’s investment in this partnership shows our commitment
to support the development of Sri Lanka’s private sector, even amid current uncertainties.”
Speaking at the occasion, David Nai Pek Lau, Chairman of Dialog Axiata PLC said, “It is heartening to
note the continuing collaboration between IFC, Axiata and Dialog. We are grateful to IFC for their faith in
Dialog and Sri Lanka over the years, and their steadfast support to help address some of the biggest
challenges we are currently facing in our journey of advancing the country’s connectivity infrastructure in
line with our mission of empowering and enriching Sri Lankan lives and enterprises. IFC’s funding will be
critical in meeting Sri Lanka’s future digital connectivity needs, which is fundamental in helping people
and businesses flourish during these challenging times.”
Dialog, part of a leading regional telecom service provider Axiata Group Berhad, has been a longstanding
client of IFC. Apart from previous debt and equity investments in 2004 and 2007, IFC also helped
strengthen the business skills of Dialog’s retail distributors in Sri Lanka, benefitting more than 3,000 small
business owners from rural and post conflict regions of the country. Axiata Group has been a key partner
for IFC in Asia—including in Bangladesh—promoting the development of digital infrastructure and digital
economy in markets where it operates.
Commenting, Director/Group Chief Executive, Supun Weerasinghe of Dialog Axiata PLC said, “Dialog’s
association with IFC goes back to 2004, and we’re grateful for their continued confidence placed in Dialog
and Sri Lanka as a nation. Today, we’re at a crucial juncture as a country, as well as an organization.
With the support of IFC and Axiata, we are able to initiate this next phase of connectivity infrastructure
development in the country and continue our commitment to delivering uninterrupted services and world-
class technology to all Sri Lankans and Enterprises.”
IFC will also ensure that Dialog adopts an enhanced environmental and social management system
(ESMS) according to IFC Performance Standards for their mobile network deployment, in line with
Dialog’s endeavors of pursuing green connectivity, supporting global climate action goals and achieving
net-zero CO2 emission by 2050.
“The need to strengthen connectivity and accelerate growth is critical for Sri Lanka now more than ever.
With this latest investment, IFC-Dialog Axiata synergy marks yet another significant milestone in the
partnership to improve the quality of connectivity for people and businesses across the country,” said
Isabel Chatterton, IFC's Regional Industry Director for Infrastructure Asia and the Pacific. “Continuing to
harness the power of technology can help drive innovation and create better opportunities for more Sri
Lankans.”
As the sector rapidly grows and advances technologically, IFC continues to be one of the leading
development financiers in digital infrastructure across emerging markets, supporting all aspects of the
ecosystem. Over the past decade, IFC committed and mobilized more than $6.5 billion in digital
infrastructure and services, and more than $2 billion over the last two years alone. In addition to
enhancing and enabling digital infrastructure, IFC is helping its portfolio companies to align their
environmental and social practices with IFC's performance standards.
Photographed from Left to Right: Trinesh Fernando, Group General Counsel/Vice President - Group
Legal and Regulatory, Dialog Axiata PLC, Wong Hong Zhou, Group Chief Financial Officer, Dialog Axiata
PLC, Victor Antonypillai, Country Officer, IFC Sri Lanka and Maldives, Supun Weerasinghe,
Director/Group Chief Executive, Dialog Axiata PLC, David Nai Pek Lau, Chairman, Dialog Axiata PLC,
and Ahmed Riza, Head – Corporate Finance, Dialog Axiata PLC.
About IFC
IFC—a member of the World Bank Group—is the largest global development institution focused on the
private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and
influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries. In fiscal year 2021, IFC committed
a record $31.5 billion to private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging
the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity as economies grapple
with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.
About Dialog
Dialog Axiata Group, a subsidiary of Axiata Group Berhad (Axiata), operates Sri Lanka’s Leading Quad-
Play Connectivity Provider. Dialog Axiata PLC, listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange, supplements its
market leading position in the Mobile Telecommunications sector with a robust footprint and market
presence in Sri Lanka’s Fixed Telecommunications, Digital Pay Television, Digital Services, Financial
Services, and IT services markets through its subsidiaries, Dialog Broadband Networks (Private) Limited
(DBN), Dialog Television (Private) Limited (DTV), Digital Holdings Lanka (Private) Limited, Dialog Finance
PLC, and H One (Private) Limited. Dialog Axiata Group is Sri Lanka's largest Foreign Direct Investor
(FDI) with investments totalling USD 3 Billion.
Dialog has been at the forefront of innovation and digitisation in the mobile industry in Sri Lanka since the
late 90’s, propelling the nation’s mobile telephony infrastructure to a level of advancement on par with the
developed world. The Company delivers advanced mobile telephony and high speed mobile broadband
services to a subscriber base of over 17 Million Sri Lankans, via 2.5G and 3G/3.5G and 4G/4.5G
networks, and in December 2018, Dialog showcased the first 5G pilot transmission in South Asia.
The winner of six Global Mobile Awards, Dialog has the distinction of being voted by Sri Lankan
Consumers as the ‘Telecommunication Brand of the Year’ for a record eleventh year and the ‘Service
Brand of the Year’ for the third consecutive year at the SLIM-KANTAR People’s Awards 2022. The
Company was also awarded ‘Sri Lanka's Most Valuable Brand’ for the fourth consecutive year and ‘Most
Valuable Telecommunications Brand’ for the fifteenth consecutive year in the Brand Finance league table.
Dialog is an ISO 9001 certified company, which is certified with the 27001:2013 standard for its
Information Security Management System as well. The company’s Environmental Management System
also received the ISO 14001:2015 standard for its full scope of operations, becoming the first Quad-play
in South Asia to do so. Dialog has received numerous local and international awards, including the
National Quality Award and the Sri Lanka Business Excellence Award. For more information, visit
www.dialog.lk.
