Sri Lanka - Internet Services, the Broadband Market and Forecasts - Historical

Synopsis

Internet access services in their various forms and associated data services are finally taking off in the country, but coverage and accessibility continue to present challenges. Internet user penetration was estimated at around 30% by 2015. However, the sophistication of the services available is only slowly improving. The early moves to offer broadband internet in the country met with limited success and it seemed that it would be some time before there is a substantial broadband market. However, by 2015 fixed broadband internet services were being supplemented by a rapidly expanding mobile broadband segment. Also during 2015 the availability of e-commerce applications including mobile banking, e-bus ticketing, and mobile points of sale (POS) continued to increase. Demand for broadband data services driven by 3G and 4G adoption and increased smartphone penetration should drive reasonably strong growth in the local market over the next few years.

As well as providing an overview of Sri Lanka’s internet and broadband sector, this report takes a brief look at some of the service providers.

Key developments:

• Fixed internet subscribers continue to grow but at a slow rate of under 4% per annum.
• In February 2015 Ericsson Sri Lanka and SLT Mobitel launched the Connect to Learn initiative for the Kandy region.
• By mid-2015 the government was rolling out WiFi 1,000 hotspots.
• The government plans to deploy Google’s ‘Project Loon’ balloons to increase 3G coverage across the country.
• The Information and Communications Technology Agency (ICTA) launched the Lanka Government Cloud (LGC);
• Sky Network, a subsidiary of SLT, launched its WiMAX service;
• SLT claimed the launch of first FttH service in Sri Lanka;
• Second phase of ‘e-Sri Lanka’ project approved by government.

Companies mentioned in this report:

SLT, SLTNet, SkyNet, Suntel, Lanka Bell, BellNet, Wishya Online (Pvt) Ltd, ITMIN Ltd, Eureka Online (Pvt) Ltd.