New telephone exchange for Mannar

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 March 1999, 19:41 GMT]
Mannar Telecom has received a new exchange today and this is a new development that will cater to the telecommunication needs of the people of Mannar and the Vanni, said S.Kanagasooriyar Sri Lanka Telecom Regional Head of the Region 3 (Northeast Province) today.

Mannar sources said that due to congestion subscribers were facing difficulties in getting a dial tone.

"When you book a call in the private communication centres, you will have to wait for hours to get your number connected. The communication people will say that there is no dial tone or it is very difficult to get the dial tone" said a telephone user from the Vanni who tried to contact his relatives in Europe.

"We have given a Remote Switching Unit to Mannar which is connected to Anuradhapura with the same code number but you will have to dial '3' in front of the old numbers to contact Mannar", S.Kanagasooriyar said.

He added that hereafter the people of Mannar and the people coming from the Vanni will be able to contact their relatives in foreign countries, without much delay.

Rt.Rev.Rayappu Joseph, Bishop of Mannar, S.M.Croos Government Agent Mannar and other Heads of the Government Departments in the district were present at the opening ceremony of the new telephone exchange this evening.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Telecom sources said that Mannar will get a new exchange in June this year with more telephone lines.

Sources said that measures are underway to provide a new telephone exchange with 2500 lines in April to Vavuniya district. This will be increased with an additional 1000 lines in July the sources added.

According to Telecom sources, Vavuniya and Mannar, are the two districts in the island that provide the most revenue to Sri Lanka Telecom as most of the people in the districts as well as people coming from the Vanni have to use telephones a great deal.