Lanka sets ambitious goal to be top internet provider

(Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka has set an ambitious goal to provide fast internet speeds to the entire country and be the top internet service providing country in the region.

Minister of Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure Harin Fernando Tuesday said Sri Lanka is looking at increasing the number of internet users in the country to 50 percent by the end of this year from the current 25 percent.

He told a seminar on internet governance held in Colombo, that Sri Lanka hopes to use the Google Loon project to have the entire country covered with 10 MBPS internet coverage. The minister said that if the Google Loon project is successful, Sri Lanka will be the first country in the region to have 10 MBPS internet coverage in the entire country.

He noted that some people are skeptical when people strive to innovate but it was innovation that led to creating the internet. The minister also said that a process is underway for Sri Lanka to be a fully fiber optic enabled country in two years. "Sri Lanka is going to be a regional hub which will have the fastest internet speeds for 5-10 years," he said.