Sri Lanka’s total internet connections has increased substantially by 20 per cent in 2017 and this rapid growth was mainly supported by an increase of 31.5 per cent in fixed internet connections, while mobile internet connections also recorded a growth of 17.3 per cent in 2017. However, according to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, the findings of the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) – 2016 of the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) has revealed that 8.5 per cent of households did not have access to telephone facilities.
“In line with the growth in telephone connectivity, telephone penetration (connections per 100 persons) also increased to 143.6 by the end of the year due to the high mobile penetration level, reflecting the rising importance of mobile telecommunication services in the country,” the Central Bank said in its 2017 Annual Report.
According to a countrywide assessment carried out by ICTA on information and communication technology (ICT) access and usage in 2017, it was revealed that the proportion of households with access to internet services in the country is still at the low level of 15.8 per cent, and only 25 per cent of households possess at least one type of computer.
However, the Central Bank report noted that although internet penetration in Sri Lanka is low in comparison to developed Asian countries, the penetration, measured in terms of the number of internet connections, tends to underestimate the total penetration in the country, due to the usage of one internet connection by multiple persons.