(5 February 2010 2:50 pm)

MUMBAI: Sri Lankan national mobile service provider Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel is to offer its customers access to CNN’s latest global news content through one call.

With a few clicks, Mobitel customers can watch CNN breaking news and the latest top stories, weather, business, entertainment, politics and more on an on-demand basis simply by dialing 555.

A key advantage of this service is uninterrupted content delivery when compared to web and WAP based streaming where delays can be experienced due to content being buffered. Mobitel customers can also enjoy the added convenience of replaying previous news stories within the same video portal.

Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel chairperson T. Leisha De Silva Chandrasena says, "The partnership with CNN International is yet another landmark development for Mobitel following its recent partnership with Google the leading global Internet company.”

A further significant advantage is the fact that no software or special configurations are required by customers to access the service. For the benefit of 2G phone users in particular, CNN’s latest global news can also be accessed via WAP by logging onto wap.mobitel.lk.

Turner International India VP, Deputy GM – distribution and business operations, South Asia Siddharth Jain said, “Sri Lanka is an important and exciting market for Turner International and CNN in the region. Partnering with a leading player like Sri Lanka, Telecom Mobitel certainly provides a national footprint for CNN International to reach out to a wide consumer base in Sri Lanka. It is a win-win initiative for the consumers as they get to know what’s happening around the world from the world’s leading global news network via the leading mobile platform of Sri Lanka.”

Since the launch of Sri Lanka’s first super 3.5G HSPA network, Mobitel has already added several other pioneering services such as Mobile TV (Live), Video on Demand, Video Sharing and Blogging to its existing portfolio of infotainment related services which consisted of SMS News Alerts, Voice portals (IVR services), WAP and SIM Menu Based Services. A key feature of most of these services is the providing of breaking news as well as information on a variety of segments such as sports, entertainment, business, politics and weather in a convenient and easily accessible manner.