Ring tones remain dead in Jaffna mobile phones

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 December 2006, 01:09 GMT]
Officials of Dialog GSM and Mobitel, the two mobile telephone companies providing cellular telephone service in Jaffna Peninsula, denied widespread rumors Monday that the wireless service, disconnected in August, are to be restored soon, sources from Jaffna said.

More than 40,000 people who had mobile telephone facilities lost the facilities when the Sri Lankan Military cut-off the wireless services following the break out of fresh violence on 11 August.

Dialog GSM, which owns 90 % of the connections and Mobitel, a collaborative company of Sri Lankan Telecom, have their main relay station to the Peninsula in the Palaly Military Base.

Sri Lanka Military consulted neither the wireless carriers nor the customers before suspending the services, according to sources.

The affected customers when complained to the service providers were told that the decision was taken by the Military and they will be able to resume operation only with the permission of the SLA.