Etisalat launches post-war phone campaign in Sri Lanka

Etisalat has launched its Sri Lankan subsidiary to focus on new customers in the country's war-torn regions. Etisalat Lanka was launched yesterday and will begin offering mobile services in regions affected by the country's civil war from today, starting with the Jaffna Peninsula, said Dumindra Ratnayaka, the chief executive of the subsidiary. The UAE's largest telecommunications company bought Tigo Sri Lanka - the country's third-largest operator, with 17.2 per cent of the mobile market - for US$207 million (Dh760.4m) last October. "We will add 450 new 2G stations this year, mostly in the north and east," Mr Ratnayaka said.