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Technology Stocks : IRID - Iridium World Communications IPO Announced! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Joe Brown who wrote (1323)	2/9/1999 7:34:00 PM
From: Joe Brown	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2693

Sri Lanka Telecom in deal with Iridium COLOMBO, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) has entered into an agreement with Iridium India Telecom Ltd, the Indian affiliate of Iridium (Nasdaq:IRIDF - news), to provide satellite phones in the local market, officials said on Tuesday. ''SLT has finalised an agreement with Iridium and the service will be provided in a month or two after approval is obtained by the ministry of defence,'' P. Abeyasekera, head of SLT's international division, told reporters. Buddhi Athauda, regional marketing manager of Iridium in South Asia, said SLT will be responsible for customer service, billing and collection while a private mobile phone firm will maintain the satellite phones. The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) earlier this month said it had decided to allow satellite phones in the country, but was awaiting final security clearance from the defence ministry. The government has not allowed satellite phones in the past, fearing they might be used by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels who have been fighting for a separate homeland for minority Tamils in Sri Lanka's north and east since 1983. There are no telecommunication services in most war-affected areas and the government does not want satellite phones to be operational there. SLT is insisting that the satellite phones be exclusively handled by them since the partly state-owned utility has a monopoly over international direct dialing until 2002. SLT is 35 percent owned and managed by Japan's Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp . The government owns the remainder.