Sri Lanka Mobile Operators Test LTE-Advanced

Posted June 24, 2016

In Business Model, Internet Access, Mobile, Spectrum

Sri Lanka mobile service provider Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel has successfully tested 4.5G LTE-Advanced, capable of achieving speeds exceeding 1 Gbps, and says it is the first mobile operator in South Asia to do so.

Dialog Axiata separately said it also has tested LTE-Advanced. n 2014, Sri Lanka became the first country in South Asia to launch commercial 4G services, when Dialog Axiata launched its 4G services.

Those moves seem intended to reinforce and maintain the positioning of leading Sri Lanka mobile operators as being at the forefront of new technology adoption. Sri Lanka might also become an early commercial deployer of the Google Project Loon fleet of balloons to support Internet access.

Dialog’s 4G LTE networks have since evolved to deliver burst speeds up to 100MBps and provides a population coverage in excess of 50 percent with respect to ultra-high speed 4G services.

A test is not a commercial deployment, but the announcements indicate both firms are going to launch LTE-Advanced.

Gary Kim

Gary Kim is a communications industry analyst of 30 years, ranked second globally among power influencers in mobile and among the top 10 telecom thought leaders. He currently works as a telecom/Internet conference content developer and speaker. He recently founded the Spectrum Futures conference for the Pacific Telecommunications Council, and acts as a conference advisor for PTC. He is a member of Mensa, the international organization for people with IQs in the top 2 percent.