CONTROVERSIAL LYCAMOBLE SEEKS

From Ceylon Today

By Ishara Gamage

Ceylon Finance Today: United Kingdom-based mobile virtual network operator Lycamobile which is at risk of being struck off the register of UK businesses after failing to file accounts on time, now seeks Sri Lanka's Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) approval to buy Hutchison Telecom Lanka, sources close to negotiations told Ceylon FT on Friday.

It also learned that Lycamobile owner Sri Lankan businessman Subaskaran Allirajah who visited Sri Lanka last December, also had discussions with Hutchison's parent company in Hong Kong.

According to media reports, Lycamobile has been a generous donor to the UK's Conservative party, handing it £1.5m since 2011. Reports also said that another company in Subaskaran Allirajah's business empire is under investigation in Sri Lanka, over allegations it was used to channel cash to the former president.

"Again, there is no suggestion of any link between the Sri Lankan investigation and the rest of the Lycamobile empire," it stated.

Lycamobile is already facing the possibility of a £9.5m bill from HM Revenue & Customs for unpaid tax.

Now Lycamobile, which sells international telephone airtime, has missed a deadline to publish accounts for last year by two months, according to Companies House filings, the media report said.
Companies House is understood to have sent two warning letters to the company, controlled by Sri Lankan businessman Subaskaran Allirajah, which went unanswered, it stated.

Meanwhile, a senior company official of Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) told Ceylon FT that they were planning to conclude the Mobitel- Hutchison deal as early as possible.

Government has already appointed a three-member tender board to oversee the Mobitel- Hutchison deal, he said.
The three-memb

er government tender board is headed by Secretary of the Ministry of Power and Energy Dr.Suren Batagoda. Secretary of the Ministry of Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure Wasantha Deshapriya and Posts Ministry Secretary Wimalasiri Perera, it's learnt. Speaking to Ceylon FT, Batagoda said that his tender board is awaiting the technical evaluation committee report to go ahead with the Mobitel- Hutchison deal.

He also said that he is unaware of that committee's members and their present status on the deal.
Speaking to Ceylon FT earlier, Telecom Chairman P. G. Kumarasinghe said that a reputed International audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers has submitted lower and upper range of pricing for this deal.

Hutchison's spectrum status, asset value and customer base were the main deciding factors of the value of this deal.

It was estimated that the spectrum value is between US$ 72 and 105 million and the asset value is around US$ 115 to 135 million, together with a 400,000 strong customer base.

He also said that there are several government protocols to follow before making any final decision.
"At the moment, Mobitel has only an 'interrupted' spectrum. If they tie up with Hutch, Mobitel will be a powerful mobile operator with a better spectrum", telecoms sector analysts said.