The country’s strategic location and its island setting has made Sri Lanka well placed to be an international telecommunications exchange centre, with which it can pitch for a premier position as the next knowledge economy hub, according to Priyantha Kariyapperuma, former Director General Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC).
"Sri Lanka has the best telecommunication technology in South Asia and the best tariff, according to a recent World Bank report and this is to the credit of the private sector that runs the industry. The way forward in this industry is to expedite satellite technology and put the national fibre-optic backbone in place,” he told the Business Times.
With a grant from the World Bank, the TRC plans to lay a fibre optic network covering the entire island and connecting all households allowing access to broadband and other high speed communication services. Mr. Kariyapperuma said that the TRC has receivd several bids from six companies (including Sri Lanka Telecom, Dialog and a few Indian companies) and evaluation of the bids for this US$150 million investment is expected to commence shortly.
“This broadband backbone network and the mobile 3G and 3.5G (HSPA) networks will provide high speed Internet access even in the most rural and remote areas,” he said.
He noted that since Sri Lanka is an island, it is well placed to receive all the submarine cables. “With all this in place, we can easily be an international telecommunications exchange hub,” he said, adding this move will help the country pitch for a premier position in the international arena as the next knowledge economy hub. Mr Kariyapperuma quit his position last week and said he was returning to the President’s Office staff team and planned to pursue higher studies.
In 2005, Sri Lanka had three million mobile subscribers and as at last year, it exceeded 13 million, reflecting the level of competition between the five mobile service providers in the country. Mr. Kariyapperuma said that fixed lines, with less than a million subscribers in 2005, now number more than 3.5 million, making it a total of more that 16.5 million phones in the country. |
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