Improvements in broadband coverage and speed urged

Improvements in broadband coverage and speed are vital to the future of the telecoms industry in Sri Lanka, a recently released market report says.

‘Sri Lanka Telecommunications Report Q1 2016’ released by the Business Monitor International says over 74% of mobile phone subscriptions remain prepaid which limits the market for premium services, and Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) has declined steadily as operators compete aggressively on price.

According to the BMI’s Sri Lanka Telecommunications Report, further consolidation is likely in the mobile market with telecoms tax eroding operator revenues.

Although 4G LTE and LTE advanced technology is now present in the Sri Lankan market, the authors of the report believe that take-up of data services is still limited in the medium term due to the price-sensitive nature of the consumer market.

As the high telecoms tax continues to squeeze operator margins, smaller operators have been expressing interests in divesting their local operations; which could lead to consolidation in the sector. SLT’s new fibre-optic network, which is still being rolled out, will bring fixed broadband to the next stage. There is pressure on Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) to complete its fibre-optic network on time by end 2016.

Dialog Axiata meanwhile, continues to dominate the mobile market with an estimated 41.8% share of subscriptions in first half of 2015.

Broadband subscriptions are forecast to reach 3.2m by 2019.

BMI’s report on Sri Lanka telecommunications provides industry professionals and researchers, operators, equipment suppliers and vendors, corporate and financial services analysts and regulatory bodies with independent forecasts and competitive intelligence on the telecoms industry in Sri Lanka.