‘Gamata Sannivedanaya’ to go nationwide to offer high speed internet

The Government has decided to extend the ‘Gamata Sannivedanaya’ (Communication to the Village) nationwide following the completion of the successful pilot in the Ratnapura district.

A decision to this effect was made by the Cabinet of Ministers at its meeting on Tuesday on the recommendation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa as Minister of Technology.

The initiative is being championed by the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC) following a survey done in 2019 covering all 14,000 Grama Niladhari divisions within the 25 districts. 

The survey had identified a lack of high-speed internet as contributing to the digital divide. 

The pilot in the Ratnapura district was completed by TRC in partnership with telecom providers.

President Rajapaksa had proposed to the Cabinet that the initiative must be expanded, rolling out high speed internet nationwide, which he said would be key towards enhancing digitisation in the country. The Telecommunication Development Fund will finance this project.