The final decision on restructuring Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) will be decided upon, when the report of the Finance Ministry’s state institutions restructuring unit comes out, State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe disclosed.
“A special unit has been appointed to look into the restructuring of state institutions as per the budget, he said adding that this unit will look into how each institution should be restructured. Therefore, the final decision on how SLT is to be restructured will be made after the report is submitted.
Also he assured that the government will not negotiate with country’s security and the approval of the parliament would be sought for restructuring of state institutions.
National telecommunications services provider, Sri Lanka Telecom PLC (SLT), has decided to restructure two of its subsidiaries and its ride-hailing venture, SLT muve,(multi- user virtual environments )after evaluating the past performances and considering the opportunities and challenges in the post-COVID-19 environment.
After extensive discussions, SLT director board recently decided to restructure SLT Human Capital Solutions (Private) Limited and Sri Lanka Telecom (Services) Limited as well as SLT muve venture, which comes under SLT Digital Info Services (Private) Limited.
Accordingly, the SLT management has already commenced the restructuring process on SLT Human Capital Solutions (Private) Limited, which would be soon followed by Sri Lanka Telecom (Services) Limited. Meanwhile, the operations of its ride-hailing venture, SLT muve, remain suspended since late March.
Although the board of directors of SLT has given the nod for the restructure of the venture, SLT also needs the approval of its strategic partner in this venture, Australia-based Technology
Network Australia, to move ahead with the restructuring process. Some SLT employees have also raised concerns on the credibility of Technology Network Australia.
An SLT official noted that SLT is now looking for new investors to expand the ride-hailing service, which was launched last year.
However, Technology Network Australia and SLT are yet to reach an agreement on the future operations of the venture while discussions are continuing, as both parties are revisiting the business case for the venture.
The performance of the ride-hailing industry remains eroded due to COVID-19-related restrictions in Sri Lanka and globally.
Further, the SLT group is also increasingly looking at providing innovative solutions to its cooperate clientele, which include both state and private sector institutions.
It is also currently revisiting the entire business plan for SLT and its key subsidiary Mobitel.
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