The Telecommunication Industry

of Sri Lanka

Global Information Society- Term Paper

Submitted by:

Neha Rauniyar (PPE Major)

Submitted to: Soumya Samuel (CS Major)

Professor Faheem Hussain Thushanthini Jeyatissa (CS Major)

 Table of Contents

Country Profile

Introduction

Situation Analysis

• The present status of the ICT/Telecom industry

• Telecom/Internet penetration and market players
• Status of Internet connectivity and market players in ICT industry
• Telecom and ICT regulations/Acts
• Universal service
• New and emerging technologies (i.e. 3G, WiMax, VoIP etc.)
• Status of '3A'

Challenges/Problems identified

Strategic Priorities/Recommendations

Conclusion

Country Profile
Sri Lanka

Capital : Colombo

Population : 20.4 million (2010 data)

Currency : Rupee

Literacy Rate : 91% (2008)

GDP per capita (PPP): 5026 (2010 Est.)

Political System: Republic (2010 Est.)

Source: (Legatum Institute, 2010)

Introduction:
The telecommunication industry of Sri Lanka, though started from a small basis, has
shown a significant growth in the recent years. Sri Lankan telecom sector was liberalized in 1991
and was further advanced with its part-privatized in 1997 (Sri Lanka Telecommunications
Research, 2009). Further, the monopoly status of Sri Lanka was weakened in 1996 with the
increment in fixed-line telephone service operators, reaching 60 by mid-2009 (Sri Lanka
Telecommunications Research, 2009). Also, the challenges faced by Sri Lanka of a nearly two-
decade long conflict between the government and separatist Tamil Tiger rebels facilitated
towards founding the telecom sector well positioned for dynamic growth (Sri Lanka – Key
Statistics, Telecom Market Overview & Forecasts). Today, telecom Industry sector is a $0.8
billion industry, contributing around 2% directly and 5% indirectly to the national output
(News). This paper focuses on the current situation of Sri Lanka telecommunication industry, its
problems and challenges, and suggests some strategies to enhance the present telecom industry
of Sri Lanka.
The present status of the ICT/Telecom industry:
At the present, Sri Lanka has a liberalized telecommunications market which has huge
impacts on economic and social development of the country. The Telecommunication Authority
of Sri Lanka (TASL) is the regulator of telecom industry and TASL is responsible for licensing
for any companies to provide various telecommunication services under the Telecommunication
Act of 1991 (Sri Lanka’s Information Infrastructure, n.d). There are four Fixed Access
Operators, five Cellular Mobile Operators, six Data communications and Internet service
Providers (facilities based), twenty four Data and Internet Service Providers (non facilities
based) and thirty two External Gateway Operators. Also, 7500 public phone services are spread
across the country (List of License Operators, n.d).
The Fixed Access Operators are: (List of License Operators, n.d)
• Sri Lanka Telecom Limited.
• Suntel (Private) Limited
• Lanka Bell (Pvt) Limited
• Dialog Broadband Networks (Pvt) Ltd
Cellular Mobile Operators are:
• Dialog Telekom Limited
 • Hutchison Telecommunications Lanka
• Mobitel (Pvt) Limited
• Celltel Lanka Limited
• Bharti Airtel Lanka (Private) Limited

Telecom/Internet penetration and market players:

The Government of Sri Lanka owns 52% shares of Sri Lanka Telecom Limited (SLT)
which is the only fixed wire-line telecommunications service provider. In 1999, the government
divested the stakes of Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) and assigned the company management control
to Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NIIT) of Japan. This partial privatization of
Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) has a greater level of penetration on fixed line and mobile phone
market (SLT / Vision & Mission, n.d). The SLT is integrated and has monopoly power in
telecommunications market for domestic services, international voice service operations until
2002. Since the privatization, the growth rate of fixed line subscribers is increased and there after
due to the rise of annual tax and marketing prices for domestic services subscriber growth is
declined. However, with this decline in the telecom environment the Code Division Multiple
Access (CDMA) and mobile phone are introduced in the telecom which is the fixed. Due to these
market diffusion the telecommunication services sector has grown significantly and it has 54.5
percent of average growth rate from 1994 to 2004 (Perera, 2010).

In a while, new, faster and more efficient technologies are introduced to the Sri Lankan
telecommunication sector. The telecommunication environment is established by second
generation digital communication systems (2G), automatic international roaming, short
messaging services (SMS), wireless application, protocol mobile internet (WAP) general packet
radio service (GPRS) and band and multimedia messaging services (MMS). In 2004, the
participation of private sectors expands the mobile marketing with new technologies and
enhanced network coverage (Sri Lanka’s Information Infrastructure, n.d). In addition, the access
of Sea Me-We 4 international fiber optic submarine cable is launched on 2005 and that connects
South East Asia to European Countries through Indian Subcontinent and Middle East. Then, SLT
has signed an agreement with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) of India for an under
submarine cable system to connect South India to Colombo (SLT:Our History, n.d). Also Sri
Lanka’s largest mobile operator, Dialog Telekom Limited, become as a shareholder of Telekom
Malaysia in order to have the access of this new cable system (Perera, 2010).

Furthermore, Wireless Internet (WiMAX) network is launched within two years by SLT
and SLT also offers mobile broadband access and internet protocol television (IPTV). The
Telecommunication Regulatory Commission allocates 3.5 gigahertz frequency broadband for
WiMAX and also a test of frequency was allocated to SLT for the rollout of WiMAX project in
Colombo, Kandy, and Galle (Category, n.d). Additionally, Indian’s Bharti Airtel Ltd enters into
Sri Lankan telecommunication market as a fifth mobile phone operator in 2008 and offers 2G
and 3G services (Perera, 2010). In 2008, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NIIT) of
Japan, the shareholder of SLT, sold its entire holding to Global Telecommunications Holdings
N.V. of Netherlands (SLT:Our History, n.d). Overall, expandability of telecom services
providers improves telecommunication’s market penetration.

Status of Internet connectivity and market players in ICT industry:

Sri Lanka telecom industry is established by fixed and wireless local loop operators, and
mobile and public phone operators. ICT industry of Sri Lanka focuses on IT and
telecommunication sectors, such as PC, internet, mobile and fixed telephone services, and
broadband market. However, the broadband penetration level is very low and its cost is high in
Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has developed the available technology for internet connectivity such as
ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) fixed wire-line services to WiMAX fixed wireless
broadband access, and GPRS (General packet radio service) mobile telephony internet to HSPA
(High Speed Packet Access) mobile broadband internet to the consumers. As the result, usage
of internet has a significant growth which is shown by the table in next page (Local Industry
News, n.d).
Table: 01:- Statistic of Internet users and Population of Sri Lanka
Year Users Population %Pen. GDP (US$)
2000 121,500 19,630,230 0.5% N/A
2007 428,000 19,796,874 2.2% 1,623
2008 771,700 21,128,773 3.7% 1,972
2009 1,163,500 21,324,791 5.5% 2,041
2010 1,776,200 21,513,990 8.3% 1,807
Source: International Monetary Fund (Internet Stats, 2010).

Within 10 years number of Internet users throughout Sri Lanka has increased almost 8%.
Table 01 shows in 2000, there is only 0.5% of population have used internet. However, in 2010,
the usage of internet among the country’s population is 8.3% (Internet Stats, 2010).

SLT is fixed wired broadband provider who offers ADSL internet service in the country
and also owns WiMAX broadband network. Besides, Lanka Bell is also a fixed broadband
internet provider in Sri Lanka (Sri Lanka’s Information Infrastructure, n.d). Then, Dialog
provides WiMAX fixed wireless internet access and HSPA mobile broadband internet
connectivity. Moreover, Mobitel provides mobile 3G broadband internet connections under
HSPA and Airtel operator also provides HSPA mobile broadband internet access only (Perera,
2010). However, still now there are only 5 market players and providers for internet service in
the ICT industry of Sri Lanka. Presently the country has the lack of competition within the
internet service market which reflects on the cost.

Telecom and ICT regulations/Acts:

The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) is responsible

for regulating and monitoring the development of the telecommunications sector. Also TRCSL
ensures the competition in the telecommunication industry as open, fair, and effective as
possible. In order to satisfy the public interest in terms of quality, choice and worth for money
there have to be a better relationship between the public and service providers (Legislation, n.d).
Though the TRCSL encouraged private sector investments in telecommunication market, makes
sure that the market players have the resources to fulfill the public’s needs.

The Sri Lanka Telecommunications Act, No. 25 of 1991

 The Sri Lanka Telecommunications Act, No. 25 of 1991 amended by Sri lank a
Telecommunications (Amendment) Act, No. 27of 1996. This Act states that for the rights and
responsibilities of the sectors of telecommunication there have to be a commission which is
called Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL). As the regulator,
TRCSL has the power of decision making of regulation for the telecommunication industry
(Legislation, n.d).
The responsibilities of the Commission include the following:
• Proper creation of a competitive environment
• Encourage Competition for consumer interest
• Facilitate interconnection
• Establish a general framework of taxing, non discriminatory and transparent licensing
for a new entry
• Regulate joint projects, unions and achievements
• Price regulation
• Consumer protection
• Regulation of traffic facilities and scarce resources
• Ensure Universal Access
• Preparation and management for Emergency disaster
• Enforcement of provisions in the Act
Licensing:
The section 17 of Telecommunication Act 1996 is required to obtain a license from
applicable minister to operate a telecommunication system in Sri Lanka. The process of licensing
is non discriminatory, and transparent to encourage the competition and participation in the
market. TRCSL makes the final decision of granting any licenses, and in order to grant a license,
the applied operator has to have the capable resources and skills operate the telecommunication
system. When the TRCSL has the satisfaction on applied operator only the license is granted
(Telecommunications Act Part II, 2010).
Interconnection:
The Telecommunication Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka makes regulations for
interconnections under section 68 of the Sri Lanka Telecommunication Act, No. 25 of 1991 as
amended by Act, No. 27 of 1996. The rules are applied to all connectable operators and the
operators are allowed to connect to any interconnected telecommunication system
(Telecommunications Act Part I, 2010). The regulation required all access service providers to
be connected with each others; however, the Act stated that the interconnection is mandatory to
connectable operators in order to provide an efficient, non discriminatory and cost oriented basis
services (Hattotuwa, 2010 and ).
Market Structure and Competition:
Sri Lanka has a flexible, open, and market oriented environment, these allows private
sectors to enter and develop in response to the demand of consumers and public needs. In order
to have a liberalized environment, the traditional limitations of entering into market are
eliminated. The private sectors are allowed to provide services to encourage fair and effective
competition in market. This extension of the industry brings new technologies and development
to telecommunication industry (Quality of Service, n.d). As a result of Also the competition
between providers, new equipment, technologies and services are introduced and replaced in the
market.
Consumer Protection:
The TRCSL is responsible to protect consumer from unfair and deceptive marketing
practices and unwarranted use of provide customer information. The regulation is established for
monitoring and preventing those practices and behaviors. TRCSL requires all licensed
telecommunication operators and service providers to have their own procedures for responding
to consumer compliant regarding inappropriate behavior and violations of privacy (Hattotuwa,
2010).
Universal service:

Universal service refers to the ability of everyone to have access to the necessities,
regardless of the location, ethnicity, gender and any other type of disability (ict regulation
toolkit, n.d). Since the World War II, Sri Lankan governments have related universal service in
the context of basic health services, primary education, water and sanitation (Abeykoon, n.d).
However, as today ICT is recognized as a pillar of modern society, most of the developing
countries have integrated telecom service under universal service, including Sri Lanka as well
(ict regulation toolkit, n.d). Most of the time, there has been a strong relationship between ICT
use and economic development, meaning ICT as a crucial factor but not an adequate condition
for economic development (Samarajiva, 2004).

In the context of Sri Lanka, they refer universal service as “Vishva Grama Fund” that
ensure towards openness of modern communication services throughout Sri Lanka and
predominantly, in the villages where there is lack of telecom suppliers and policies (Samarajiva,
2008; The World Dialogue on Regulation for Network Economies, 2003).

With the term universal service, universal service fund is greatly interconnected, which is
a new form of targeted financial support to make the universal service available. Sri Lankan
government has also step ahead and started collecting tax from international calls for universal
service. Their intention was to reduce the amounts every year; however, this strategy was
unsuccessful because of some political and improper regulation (Samarajiva, 2009). The main
focus of Sri Lanka has been to utilize universal service funds as a means of stimulating
investment and service levels for rural areas. Above all, the recent key priority of Sri Lankan
government is enabling a digital society; a modern, progressive society that is an outcome of
integrating information and communication technologies at home, work, education and
recreation (TOPS.lk, 2009).
Sri Lankan government has initiated several projects, emphasizing the need of rural areas
and to provide unrestricted sources of information to all its citizens. The Nenasala Project is one
among several implemented under the e-Sri Lanka Initiative, which in addition to providing ICT
to rural areas also assists in poverty reduction, social and economic development, and peace
building (nanasala.org, 2007).

Some of the services provided by Nenasala are:

• Rural Knowledge Centers: It provides many ICT services (email, telephones, and
computer training classes) which is long-term and effective.
• E-Libraries: It is established at the center of villages with large e-library of books, access
to high speed internet for national, international and local information.
 • Distance & e-Learning centers: It helps in providing new information, sharing and
learning opportunities through infrastructure facilities such as a video conferencing room,
multimedia and computer laboratory.
• Tsunami camp computer kiosks: It has established small computer cabin in welfare
camps for people displaced in Tsunami and are provided with free information on health,
education, vocational training in their own local language (nanasala.org, 2007).
Sri Lanka, with such an effective project is doing its level best to provide universal
services importantly, in the rural areas. However, following some other techniques such as
allowing suppliers to extend their services, opening market for competition and effective policy
to address the undersupply of services can help universal service to be achieved more efficiently
in Sri Lanka (Samarajiva, 2004). Hence, in this 21st century, with the advancement in
technological infrastructure, there is an immense need to pause and reflect on the changing
meanings and modify universal service in a way that best serve the vital needs of rural
communities.
New and emerging technologies (i.e. 3G, WiMax, VoIP etc.):
There has been an incredible growth of the telecom industry with innovative and
promising technologies every now and then. In fact, Sri Lanka is one of the first countries in the
Asian region to launch 3G, 3.5G services and High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) technology.
Introducing such technology have enabled subscribers not only to have access to voice
communications but are also provided with broad range of facilities such as video conferencing,
video streaming, mobile TV, music streaming and high speed internet (TOPS.lk, 2009).
Moreover, with the support of the University of Surrey and Surrey Technology Ltd.
situated in UK, Sri Lanka has also move ahead to build up space technology (TOPS.lk, 2009).
Through continuous research and support, Sri Lanka has include EZ Pay (m-payments), VOIP
calling, training/education and retail as well (Ssg-advisors, 2009). Technologies such as HSDPA
and WiMax has also offered high transfer data rates (>512kbps) and established a connectivity
rate structure which is less expensive (Ssg-advisors, 2009).
Project titled, “e-Sri Lanka,” launched in November 2002 is also one step forward for
providing new and emerging services to all the citizens of Sri Lanka. It focuses towards bridging
of the digital divide, meaning reducing the gap between those who have access as well as skills
to use ICT with those who have limited or no access (ifip.org, n.d.). Similarly, Sri Lanka has also
taken initiation to provide telecom facilities for people with disabilities. Payphones are been
fixed at centers where people with disabilities live, learn or work and special telephone
equipment has been installed for hearing impaired children in Sri Lanka (ifip.org, n.d).

Fig.1 The Geography of Technological Innovation and Achievement

Source: UNDP Human Development Report 2001

Sri Lanka

According to the UNDP Development Report 2001, a study done by Wired

Magazine, countries has been categorized according to the significance in
the digital environment. Figure.1 shows that Sri Lanka falls under
"dynamic adopters," meaning Sri Lanka is actively embracing technology
for the workplace and their own work experience. However, countries like
Argentina, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Mexico falls under “potential
leaders” (WIPO, 2001).

Chart 01:- Growth of Software Exports

Sri Lankan software industry has also
shown an average annual growth rate
of around 40% during 1996 to 2001
(UNDP, 2006). Thus, Sri Lanka is
rapidly progressing in the process of
developing new and emerging
technologies.
Source: Sri Lanka Information and Communication Technology Association (SLICTA, 2005)
Status of '3A':
Accessibility, affordability and availability (3A’s) of telecommunication services is a
vital and primarily steps to attain the national development goals and sustainability. Sri Lanka
has defined these three hallmarks as accessibility, connectivity and content and is handled by
Information Infrastructure Program (ICTA, 2009). Accessibility refers to all citizens can use the
services regardless of the location or gender; affordability meaning reasonable price to the
service and availability means service offered in every parts of the country (Thornton.co, 2008).
There has been a strong correlation between accessibility, affordability and availability. For
instance, anything available can only be accessible and similarly, affordability relies on the price
that we can get access to the services.
a) Accessibility:
In context of Sri Lanka, citizens have limited accessibility to telecommunication services.
As estimated by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), user penetration was around
6% by end-2008, probably reaching 8% by late 2009 (BuddeComm, 2010). For Sri Lanka, rather
than a lack of demand for services, low penetration levels have been the rising problem because
of the acute supply constraints (BuddeComm, 2010). It implies that there is a lack of availability
of telecom services rather than the problem of affordability in Sri Lanka. Further, during the
Presidential election, Sri Lankan news websites were inaccessible from government owned
telecom and only accessible by the private owned telecom industry, raising the issue of
censorship (LIRNEasia, 2010).

b) Affordability:
According to the study done by Nokia, Sri Lanka has the lowest Total Cost Ownership
(TCO) for a mobile phone, which is less than US$ 5, thus making its affordability very high
(TOPS.lk, 2009). However, there has always been a difference in context of rural and urban
areas. Rural user most likely use the telephone to make essential phone calls, while urban one
use their phones as more than a basic commodity. Also, affordability is seen as a problem to
expansion in demand for broadband Internet connectivity in Sri Lanka (LankaNewspaper, 2010).
c) Availability:
There is a need for the availability of Internet, email, e-finance, e-commerce and other
services that can play an imperative role in global commercial activity. Further, high priority for
extending infrastructure to those parts of the country which has been most affected by the long-
running civil war that ended in May 2009 is vital (BuddeComm, 2009). Though Internet age
began in Sri Lanka in 1995, rural citizens still remains disconnect from internet facilities
(Wattegama, 2008). There have been very few efforts taken to benefit Internet in the rural
communities. One of the major obstacle to facilitate Internet in Sri Lanka, especially in rural
areas is lack of local language content and using own proprietary standard which limit
documents produced using one application to be accessed by only that application (ifip.org, n.d).
Table 02:- Penetration of telecom services

Category 2008 2009

Fixed-line penetration (population) 17% 17%
Internet subscriber penetration (population) 1.20% 1.30%
Mobile penetration (population) 55% 71%
(Source:BuddeComm)

This graph shows that over the period of one year, mobile penetration has rapidly been
increased while there is no growth in penetration level of fixed-line and only 0.1% growth in
internet subscriber. Thus, Sri Lanka needs to improve over the internet subscriber penetration in
this age of Internet.

Challenges of Sri Lankan telecommunication industry:

 Development in the technology field mainly in telecommunication sector will have a
huge impact on the country’s economic development. In Sri Lanka telecommunication industry
is the fastest growing sector with an average rate of 30% to 35% per year which mainly provides
the major telecommunication services such as telephone (both wire and wireless connection),
cellular connections, internet, and radio paging (Ratnayake,Chang,&Bimanee,2006). Among the
all telecommunication services in Sri Lanka, mobile network has a huge growth of 73% and it
plays the role of a monopoly (Ratnayake, Chang, &Bimanee, 2006). Although Sri Lanka is
having a significant growth in its telecommunication services there are some challenges that the
country is facing which hinders the development of these services. This part of the paper will be
focusing on the four major challenges that hider the telecommunication industry of Sri Lanka
are, disparity of service availability in urban and rural areas, lack of proper planning and policy
making of the government, unavailability of infrastructure and lack of awareness about the
industry, internal problems like war and natural disaster.

Urban and Rural Service Disparity:

One of the major challenges that hinder the growth of the telecommunication industry of
Sri Lanka is the disparity in the availability of the telecommunication services in urban and rural
areas. In comparison to the urban areas, the rural part of Sri Lanka is getting very less facilities
mainly in the telephone services and internet accessibility where the rural areas hold more than
half of the population (ITA, 2004). In Sri Lanka, about 70% of telephone services are
concentrated on the urban areas mainly in the capital city, Colombo which constitutes only 5% of
the whole Sri Lankan population (APDIP, 2006). Figure: 1 shows the status of telephones in the
villages of the main South-Asian villages in 2001 (ITU, 2002). According to this among all the
villages only 11% of the villages have the telephone services (ITU, 2002). One of the main
reasons behind the lack of telecommunication services in the rural parts is the high cost for
establishing and maintaining a new service (ITA, 2004). Along with that the providers are
reluctant to provide service in these area considering the cost and benefit of the establishment in
rural areas than in the cities (ITA, 2004).

Table 03:- Status of telephones in South Asia villages (2001)

 Villages
Country Number Number with Percentage with telephone
telephone service service

Bangladesh 86 000 12 568 15

Bhutan 6000 N/A N/A
India 607 491 468 016 77
Maldives 200 200 100
Nepal 3 914 1 761 45
Pakistan 125 083 12 000 10
Sri Lanka 23 000 2 475 11
Total 851 688 497 020 58
Source: (ITU, 2002)

Lack of proper planning and policy making of the government:

Although the growth rate of the Sri Lankan telecommunication industry is high ,the major
challenges they come across is the lack of proper planning and policy making of the government
in this sector. This is explicit from the fact that the government is spending more money for the
telecommunication services like internet but the facilities that they are getting is less compare to
the money that they spend (Rajapakse& Dissanayake, nd). In addition, the problems with the
policies that the government adopts also act as a barrier for the telecommunication industry
development. For example, there are no specific competition policies which encourage the
competition in Sri Lanka resulting into the absence of a competition market and hence hinder the
quality of the services (Balasooriya, Alam & Coghill, 2006). Moreover, high rate of debt and
spending the money for war in the past rather than developing the country in terms of IT is less
(Asia Internet Plaza, nd). Additionally, the government is lacking in fulfilling the availability of
the telephone services in many parts of the country mainly in the rural areas (Asia Internet Plaza,
nd). Further the Sri Lankan government has a poor regulatory management for the spectrum
allocation for the telecommunication services (Perumal, nd). Moreover the role of debt and
favoritism in terms of spectrum allocation among the country administration also hinders the
actual growth of the telecommunication industry (Perumal, nd).

Non-availability of effective Mechanisms and awareness:

 In Sri Lanka mainly in the case of the internet accessibility the major challenges that the
country faces is the high cost of the software and hardware (Business Monitor
International,2010). For example, buying software and hardware, initial cost of getting internet
connection, monthly charge for subscription is quite high in the sense that it acts as a barrier to
the customers to get connected (Business Monitor International,2010).Such expenses still remain
beyond the reach of most of the individuals in Sri Lanka (Business Monitor
International,2010).At present, affordability is the main limitation to the growth of the internet
connectivity in Sri Lanka (Business Monitor International,2010).It is mainly the urban people,
businesses and private sector corporations who use the Internet (Business Monitor
International,2010).There is also a severe urban and rural disparity related with the Internet,
telephone, and public internet facilities are also limit (Business Monitor International,2010).
Besides, the lack of trained professionals in the IT field also hinders the ICT development in the
country (Business Monitor International, 2010).

Strategic Priorities and Recommendation:

• In order to have a sustainable telecommunication industry, the Sri Lankan telecom sector
should make policies and acts regarding competition where the private sectors can
participate.
• Government should make the service more accessible in rural, urban as well as war prone
areas by providing more public phones and the tele-centers.
• In addition, the government can make surveys and analysis regarding the accessibility,
availability and affordability in different parts of the country.
• Initiatives should be taken for the private-public partnerships to ensure sustainable
growth of industry (Perumal, nd).
• Since, there is lack of trained professionals in Sri Lanka; more people should be trained
in IT fields.
• Comparing to the case of the Bell company which lacked effective policy and
government monitoring, Sri Lanka since is in its phase of IT development should
consider effective policy making and analyze the present legislation.
 • Universal service meaning should be modified from time to time so that it can efficiently
meet the need of the people.
• Full participation in e-Commerce and e-Governance should be empowered to improve
access, transparency and efficiency in the telecom business (ifip.org, n.d.).
• Local ICT products and services should continue to be further promoted.
• Promoting growth of the private sector by outsourcing government services to private
sector using ICT (ifip.org, n.d.).
• If it is difficult to obtain fund from government, fund for universal service can be
collected through regulatory fees.
• Computer literacy to rural people, importance and need of internet usage, bridging the
gap between rural, encouraging people who are reluctance to attain new skills are vital.
• Creating knowledge -based society, meaning government has transparency in its action
and display important statistics about the economy in a manner that the entire citizen can
easily have access to it. This will help in brining potential strength and enhanced skills
from individuals in transforming the ICT industry with regard to greater goods of people
(ITA, 2004).

Conclusion:

Overall, the telecom industry of Sri Lanka has shown a progressive growth with its
initiation in various projects and development of market players. Telecom industry has made an
enormous impact on the daily lives of urban citizens through its influence in health, banking,
communications, research and entertainment; however, has ignored the large part of rural areas.
Thus, the real challenge for the Sri Lankan telecom industry is to deliberately organize the
telecom industry in a manner that simultaneously enhances ordinary citizens’ lives.
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