SLT-Mobitel shelves privatisation, pivots to strategic partnerships

In a significant policy shift, SLT-Mobitel is moving away from full-scale privatisation as previously planned and will instead pursue strategic partnerships to drive innovation and growth. 

The change in strategy comes on the heels of a remarkable financial recovery in the first half of 2025, positioning the state-owned enterprise as a critical enabler of Sri Lanka’s digital future.

Speaking at a recent media conference, SLT Group Chairman Dr. Mothilal De Silva confirmed the new direction. “The earlier government wanted to privatise. This government has taken a decision to support this entity and make it viable,” he stated.  He clarified that while the company will not be privatised, it will actively seek different partnership models for innovation, network rollout, and infrastructure sharing “without sacrificing the strategic intents of the nation”.

This strategic pivot is bolstered by a dramatic financial turnaround. The company transformed a previous loss of Rs.323 million into an after tax profit of Rs.4.28 billion in the first half of 2025. During the same period, revenue grew to Rs.55.2 billion, and EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation) surged to Rs.21.7 billion.

Dr. De Silva attributed this success to improved operational efficiency, significant cost reductions, prudent capital expenditure, and a 20-25 percent reduction in debt over the past six months.

He was addressing the media conference titled ‘SLT-Mobitel is Powering Sri Lanka’s Digital Future’.

A key pillar of SLT-Mobitel’s future strategy is to leverage its extensive infrastructure to position Sri Lanka as a regional “digital nerve centre,” competing with hubs like Singapore and Dubai. The company’s assets—including five submarine cable landing stations, four data centres (one of which is Tier 3 certified), and a nationwide fiber network—form the foundation for this ambition.

Dr. De Silva highlighted the potential to generate foreign exchange by offering services such as “data embassies,” where other countries can securely back up their data in Sri Lanka. The company is already in negotiations with hyperscale cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft to strengthen these capabilities.

However, this ambitious vision faces a significant challenge. Dr. De Silva noted that data centres are extremely power-intensive, and the need for energy will only increase with the adoption of AI technologies. 

“All the operators in Sri Lanka do not get the industrial tariff,” he explained, calling it a “big impediment to attract investments for our data centres”. He stressed that a reduction in power costs is of “paramount importance” to make Sri Lanka a competitive data hub and confirmed that the company is actively discussing the issue with government authorities.