Investment Opportunities in the ICT sector of Sri Lanka (part 2)

In latest years, the telecommunications industry in Sri Lanka has been liable for significant foreign direct investment (FDI). The use of telecommunications has risen, and the overall fixed-line and mobile phone density have been increased to 161 per 100 people, driven by a rise in mobile users.

There seems to be a saturation point in the demand for essential speech services. Mobile telephone operators dominate the industry. Continued infrastructure development has allowed a sophisticated telecommunications service level across the nation.

 There is substantial competition among existing operators, consisting of three fixed-line operators, five mobile operators, and eleven Internet service providers. In 2017, the U.S. exported to Sri Lanka about $2 million in telecommunications equipment.

Sri Lanka is connected to the South East Asia-Middle East-West Europe 4 project (SEA-ME-WE IV), the submarine cable system that connects South East Asia to Europe via the Indian Sub-Continent and Middle East.

The project aims to bring these regions to the forefront of global communication by significantly increasing users ' bandwidth and global connectivity along its Singapore-France route. SEA-ME-WE 4 fiber optics cables provide a bandwidth capacity of 1.28 terabits per second, ensuring the technology's lifespan of 25 years. This submarine cable system offers a vast bandwidth advantage to Sri Lanka and paves the way for Sri Lanka to become a globally competitive business hub.

OSL Take: The Telecommunications Ministry is finalizing a digital identification card international tender. Over $55 million total cost will cover nearly the entire population. Another business/investment opportunity for foreign businesses/investors looking to enter the Sri Lankan economy is the Lotus Tower project of Sri Lanka.

The emphasis on developing Sri Lanka's digital infrastructure and enhancing its ICT sector will not only enable the country to become a digitized economy but will also provide enterprising individuals with ample opportunities to invest, innovate and introduce new techniques into this sector. Furthermore, Sri Lanka Telecom's launch of the ' National Digital Roadmap ' would pave the way for the digital journey of Sri Lanka would also open up a host of business/investment opportunities in the digital infrastructure sector of the country.

VBS/AT/14102019/TB2

 For the previous article :Investment Opportunities in the ICT sector of Sri Lanka