Sri Lanka’s telecom sector soared in 2007 to 10.7 million subscribers – more than half the country’s population -, led by a 47.9 % jump in new mobile phone subscribers due to competition and falling call rates, a new research study shows.

Market research company, Research and Markets, in a report titled “Sri Lankan ICT Market Analysis" says fixed-line subscribers (including wire-line and WLL) in the country rose to 2.7 million in 2007 from 1.88 million a year ago. With this, fixed-line subscriber penetration too increased from 4.42 per 100 people in 2001 to 13.1 per 100 people in 2007.

The report provides details on the ICT industry in Sri Lanka. It explains the current and future scenario of the IT and telecom sectors covering Personal Computer, Internet, mobile and fixed telephony, and broadband. The report highlights the key success factors and challenging issues for the Sri Lankan ICT industry and provides a rational analysis on its various aspects.

Among its findings:

- During 2001-2007, total broadband subscribers in Sri Lanka grew at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 143.99%.

- Total Internet users in Sri Lanka expanded at a CAGR of 40.2% during 2004-2007.

- Sri Lanka witnessed a massive increase of around 20% in its IT workforce in 2006 over 2005.

- As of 2007, the western part of Sri Lanka, accounting for 44% of total fixed-line telephone subscribers, had the major fixed-line telephone subscriber base.

The report provided overview and financial information on fixed-line operators like Sri Lanka Telecom and Suntel; mobile operators like Celltel Lanka, Dialog Telekom, Hutchison; and Internet service providers like Lanka Communication Services.