Boston, MA -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/13/2013 -- Compared with many of its South Asian neighbours, Sri Lanka's telecoms market is mature: penetration rates are high, 3G licences were first available in 2007, and in late 2012, two Sri Lankan operators launched 4G LTE services. Sri Lanka is also seeking to improve speeds in the wireline market, with plans to launch a national broadband policy in a move that aims to facilitate internet access. Market development has been beset with delays, however, as the civil war prevented the development of telecoms infrastructure in affected areas in the north of the island. Since then, private and public sectors are aggressively investing in the reconstruction and expansion process.

Key Data

- The mobile sector continued to recover from the disappointing performance in 2011 after recording net additions of 1.3mn in 9M12. Nevertheless, we expect only modest growth over our forecast period to 2017 owing to market saturation.
- Our view that Sri Lanka's fixed-line sector will contract has been brought forward to 2013 after another lacklustre performance in Q312.
- In the broadband sector, mobile broadband subscriber numbers continue to grow much faster than wireline broadband subscribers. We envisage 5.7mn broadband subscribers in the country by end-2017.

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Key Trends And Developments

In December 2012, Dialog Axiata and Mobitel won the race to become the first operators in Sri Lanka to launch LTE service. Dialog Axiata introduced commercial LTE services in Colombo through fixed broadband arm Dialog Broadband Networks, with launches in other major cities and towns planned in the immediate future. Mobitel has not disclosed much information about its LTE launch.

Mobitel announced in January 2013 plans to expand the number of its base stations from 1,800 to 3,500 to offer 100% population coverage, Bharti Airtel Lanka said it is providing nationwide coverage through 1,600 towers in all 25 districts, of which 650 towers offer 3G services.

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