Sri Lanka's largest mobile phone operator, which is run by Telekom Malaysia, announced on Friday a further 150-million-dollar investment to strengthen its rapidly expanding network.

Dialog Telekom, the Sri Lankan unit of the Malaysian parent, said the money will be spent over the next two years to bring its total investment in Sri Lanka to US$450 million.

"The investment will be targeted at mobile, wireless local loop, fixed telephony, broadband, fibre optic backbone and international gateway infrastructures," the company said in a statement.

Dialog claims 2.3 million out of the three million mobile phone users in Sri Lanka.