Sri Lanka is facing one of the greatest challenges in its history as it battles the threat of COVID-19. The Government of Sri Lanka is leading the national effort, strongly supported by the nation’s health care workers, tri-forces and other essential service workers who are coming together in a combined effort to limit the impact of the pandemic in Sri Lanka. The heroism and selfless sacrifice of all the people on the frontline is exemplary. At a time of such national hardship, all businesses have had to gear up to face the challenging road ahead by finding unique workaround solutions to ensure ordinary citizens and the economy are not affected adversely.

Supporting the government’s broader role

As an essential service, telecommunication services have to facilitate the national effort as staying connected becomes a vital requirement for officials in the frontline, people in quarantine centres, businesses and even citizens self-isolating at home. Committed to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the government and to support their efforts, Mobitel, as the National Mobile Service Provider, is working round the clock to ensure every Sri Lankan benefits from its advanced mobile connectivity and superior user experience so that they can conduct their daily operations at their fingertips. Apart from benefitting from its technologically advanced services, Mobitel is fulfilling its national duty by offering a host of health-related benefits and consultancy services to the people of Sri Lanka.

“We as the National Mobile Service Provider understand the critical challenge that the country is facing right now and we are doing everything that we can to support the government and the people of Sri Lanka. We have re-adjusted our operations such as logistics and service delivery to offer continuous connectivity and have further improved our products and services to enable convenience to all our customers at their fingertips. I am honoured to witness the immense contribution displayed by all the people who are on the frontline, risking their lives to keep their fellow countrymen safe. We are confident that both the public and private sector are working around the clock to offer their best of service in order to help the people of Sri Lanka, will enable them to Stay Connected and Stay Safe!. We hope that there is a quick turnaround of this situation and Sri Lanka will return to normalcy” said, Nalin Perera, CEO of Mobitel.

Offering Value-Added Services to help Sri Lankans stay connected

With its commitment to keep Sri Lankans connected with their loved ones, Mobitel has introduced a number of special packages ranging from special Pre-Paid plans to Bonus Data add-ons, Free Health Advisory services, Digital Payment solutions, 100% Data extensions for Post-Paid customers and many more. These services can be simply accessed through Mobitel’s online portals such as the Self Care app and www.mobitel.lk, thus eliminating the need to visit a physical outlet during this challenging period. Further, assisting the great endeavour of the government’s initiative of ‘Work from Home’, Mobitel has introduced many tailor-made packages for the SME and corporate sector, offering abundant data connectivity from 30GB to 140GB based on the business requirement at attractive prices.

Promoting awareness on a national level

Moreover, in promoting awareness about COVID-19, Mobitel is partnering with the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and Sri Lanka Health Promotion Bureau to share certified messaging about COVID-19 and prevention methods amongst the public. Mobitel is also partnering with the Suwaseriya 1990 Ambulance Service to enhance emergency services for the public. Moreover, during the time of the pandemic, it becomes difficult to access doctors but Mobitel has got its customers covered through a free call to doctors and consultants via its eChannelling service to ensure people need not converge at hospitals as per government orders. Further, the company is using its island-wide network as information points by putting up posters and stickers to drive further awareness of COVID-19. Extending its care for the people who are at quarantine centres, Mobitel partnered with the Sri Lanka Army to offer high speed, free WiFi connectivity, so that they can remain connected with their loved ones who are back at home.

Empowering youth to drive innovative solutions

Further leveraging on its technology and innovation platform, Mobitel announced its latest ideathon themed COVID-19, which is a unique initiative done in partnership with the Ministry of Higher Education, Technology and Innovation, to create a virtual platform for tech enthusiasts, university students, school students, industry experts and the passionate general public to ideate, brainstorm, conceptualize and implement solutions to support the drive towards curtailing the COVID-19 outbreak.

At times of uncertainty like the current crisis that Sri Lanka and the rest of the world is facing, mobile phones become a precious and essential tool for people as they need to remain connected at all times and all these caring services by Mobitel have been offered whilst keeping customers’ current needs in mind. The next few months will be challenging for the people and the country; Mobitel stands tall to support and contribute in any way it can towards the national fight against COVID-19. This is a challenge that can only be beaten by a massive joint effort by each and every Sri Lankan coming together to win the war against COVID-19.