LANKA BUSINESS ONLINE – LBO Sri Lanka has dropped a controversial fixed levy from mobile phones which would have hit the poorest phone users the hardest, but slapped a 7.5 percent tax on calls, telecom minister Rauf Hakeem told parliament Thursday.The government initially proposed a fixed 50 rupee charge which would have hit the poorest or ‘bottom of the pyramid’ users hardest, as well as tripling a usage based charge from 2.5 percent to 7.5 percent.
Sri Lanka would soon be making mobile telephone numbers portable, telecom minister Rauf Hakeem said addressing the Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2007. Financial Times – Daily Mirror – 09-June-2007 The telecom industry will be ensured with a mobile number portability that is expected to result in more growth, Posts and Telecommunications Minister Rauff Hakeem said yesterday.