Growth and latest developments in ICT in Sri Lanka:

ICT for a knowledge-based society

By Indeewara THILAKARATHNE

indeewara@sundayobserver.lk

Q: In a world of fast changing technologies, how do you perceive the Sri Lankan ICT sector and its phenomenal growth momentum in the past few years?

A: ICT is something that Sri Lanka can be proud of. Like the introduction of open economy, Sri Lanka liberalized this industry way back in 1996. As a result, of liberalization of the industry, giant global competitors in the Telecommunication industry came into the scene and made a substantial investment in terms of ICT

 infrastructure development introducing state-of-the-art technology into the industry.

Together with technology, private sector also demonstrated their efficiency in executing their operations in the country. The private sector investment and infusing efficiency into the industry is the key to today’s development in the industry.

For instance, GSM technology, which is one of the best and efficient technologies for mobile communication, has been introduced for the first time to Sri Lanka as early as in 1995. Thus, Sri Lanka became the first country in SAARC to use GSM technology.

This is true to even 3G and now HSPA technology. We are always ahead of the region in terms of introducing state-of-the-art telecommunication technologies.

Q: Now every other person has a mobile phone and there was a time when a fixed line was considered as a status symbol. Against such backdrop, how do you analyze present trend of increasing use of mobile phones and ICT in Sri Lanka?

A: A remarkable factor is the level of penetration which, according to predictions, has been unprecedented. Within the last few years, level of mobile phone penetration has risen from 20 per cent to nearly 50 per cent.

Speed of penetration is extremely high. At present, Sri Lanka has around ten million mobile phones in operation.

When CDMA phones and fixed lines are added to the mobile phones, the figure will stand at thirteen million. This is a remarkable achievement.

Thirty or forty years ago, to possess a telephone was a privilege. Privileged segments of the population such as government bureaucrats and politicians only enjoyed the privilege of having a telephone. There were a lot of restrictions on communication. Today, the situation has changed. Nearly two million people are working abroad.

Those migrant workers will miss their relatives in Sri Lanka creating many social issues if there are restrictions on communication.

Access to information is a human right.

Then, there is the issue of how one can communicate. One communicates through technology. Because of this, the term Information Communication Technology came into being. Earlier, it was known as Information Technology (IT).

Q: Considering the fact that there are healthy trends and latest technologies in Sri Lanka, what is your view on the growing Sri Lankan market for ICT?

A: I Consider Sri Lanka as a model market for the telecommunication industry and also a model state for research and development. When you consider infrastructure facilities like highways, electric railways, nuclear power or alternate power, Sri Lanka is little behind other countries. However, when it comes to telecommunication, Sri Lanka is on par with developed countries. For this, President Mahinda Rajapaksa should be credited.

For, it was President Rajapaksa who, for the first time, introduced high speed internet facilities to rural areas when he was Prime Minister through Nanasala Project.

He set up Nanasala centres in Buddhist temples in rural villages which were not connected to telephone grid and the high speed internet facilities were provided through V-sat disk.

Using satellite technology, one can communicate and access internet through V-Sat. Nanasala project was launched in the immediate aftermath of the tsunami.

The project proved its values even in emergency communication when foreigners came to help Sri Lanka in IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camps where internet facilities were available.

President keeps TRC and ICPA under his wings because he knows the potential that the telecommunication industry has and its impact on the GDP growth.

I must thank the private sector and SLT which was earlier hundred percent owned by the government. The foreign investors joined hands with SLT and improved the efficiency and introduced new technologies. They also demonstrated ways and means of using ICT.

Broadband for all

They were not hesitating to invest heavily in the industry. Now these investors are making money. Now in the Sri Lankan mobile phones market there are four major players; two Malaysian players, a Swedish, Hong Kong and Indian player will join the fray. Basically, Sri Lankan mobile market will be a saturated market. However, the competitors can introduce diverse technologies to give broadband facilities over voice. Voice is the basic.

Once the broadband facilities are in the rural areas people have access to internet. People can become a part of the governance.

They can be a part of e-governance, e-commerce, and e-health. For instance, a person in Moneragala can channel a doctor and even pay from there before coming to Colombo for consultation. When the mobility of people is reduced, people can use that time for economic activities. In short, as Dr. Arthur C. Clarke said, “Do not commute, communicate”, people can save time. As a regulator my role is to regulate the industry for the betterment of the subscriber or public and also facilitate the operators for them to carry out operations without hindrance and red tape.

As regulator we are facilitating service providers and encourage new technologies to come.

At Present, we are working on a new Communication Act considering the fact that media and communication is converging.

In a converged environment, all the technologies come together. For instance, in the telephone, one can listen to the radio, watch television, and use it as a computer and a camera, send pictures and data. Sometimes, voice becomes an accessory. So there is a need for regulation. Countries like Malaysia, Thailand and South Korea have brought all the regulatory mechanisms under one umbrella which makes regulation easy.

As one body regulates, it will make accessibility easy by allied fields such as media, telecommunication and IT.

We have already brought in amendments and are designing a new Communication Act which will be in operation by next year.

International Telecommunication Union which is the oldest UN agency was established in 1885. On an invitation by President Mahinda Rajapaksa ITU Secretary General Dr. Hamadoun I Toure visited Sri Lanka. Another significant event was that GSM Association hosted its 25th anniversary sessions in Colombo and Dr. Hamadoun delivered the keynote address and Sri Lanka became the chair of the Association. Experts in ICT from 27 countries came to Sri Lanka.

Combating cyber crimes

Q: Did the ITU recognize the development of ICT industry in Sri Lanka?

A: In recognizing the singular contribution President Rajapaksa made to ICT industry, ITU Secretary General Dr. Hamadoun presented a medal of excellence in telecommunication to the President.

He has recognized the President’s keen interest and contribution in ICT industry and his initiatives to curb cyber crimes and cyber security.

For instance, President instructed TRC to filter all the phonographic sites in order to protect children. There will be no access to phone-sites in future from Sri Lanka. President has made an initiative to introduce cyber security against cyber war in cyber space as a policy.

When President met all CEOs of all telecommunication companies together with ITU Secretary General Dr. Hamadoun at Temple Trees where Dr. Hamadoun pledged his support for the development of telecommunication industry in Sri Lanka by way of technological support and assistance for the launch of the first communication satellite from Sri Lanka in honour of Dr. Arthur C Clarke. As TRC is member of ITU, ITU supports various initiatives of TRC.

Q: what is the rational behind registering mobile phones and is it an initiative to restrict individual liberty?

A: TRC has “recently introduced” some security to be taken by the service providers to register mobile phones. That action was taken purely for public safety and also considering national security. When there is no proper owner for mobile connection and telephone, it can lead to malpractices and crime. In order to maintain accountability, registering phones is a must.

This step has been taken for public safety and combating crime committed using cellular phones and not to restrict individual liberty.

It is pertinent to mention here when a prison cell was searched, police found 32 mobile telephones with another 12-15 extra SIM cards. In another case, ransom has been demanded from a prison cell in Anuradhapura. So, the prisoner had two mobile telephones and 15 SIM cards with the connection. We asked the entire operators to update their data bases and to announce to the public to register their phones.

So, public should consider it as a safety measure especially in a situation where mobile phones are used for committing crimes and for terrorist activities.

Q: what are the measures that have been taken to improve the ICT infrastructure in Sri Lanka?

A: Fiber Optic network is the backbone for ITC. We are promoting that in Sri Lanka. At the same time wireless solutions can be introduced; Wimax and Wi FI and next generation networks can provide solutions and high speed internet connectivity. However, as a country it is better to have a fiber optic network as electricity and pipe-borne water. This is one of the reasons that Sri Lanka needs to have a communication satellite.Broadband connection will also facilitate online education. For instance, University of Colombo has introduced a degree where SLT is providing the service from its mobile arm Mobitel and broadband connection and laptop was given to students and students can register with the university for learning Programmes. If one wants to qualify in ITC, one can study online.

Government will connect thousand schools under School Net Project. Students can get lessons online, browse internet.

For instance, in Malaysia ten thousand schools have been connected. This School Net which will act also intra-net and subject matter could be transmitted to the system.

Naturally, when internet and ITC is introduced in a mass scale, filtering of unaccepted sites such as porn sites is necessary. So, the President’s initiative is timely. ‘Nanasala’ (Knowledge Centre) is an e-library.

Convergence of diverse technology is a reality. Regulatory role is vital especially in a liberalized environment.

Conducive environment for investment

Sri Lanka offers the best environment for investments in ICT industry in the region. If investors want to introduce new technology as a trial and research on that Sri Lanka is the ideal place for that. This is why I always encourage research and development and laboratory facilities where research can be conducted. Sri Lanka can produce ICT academics. If one considers South Korea’s development, it was an ICT evolution. South Korea now produces mobile phones, computers, and ICT screens.

Sri Lanka can progress not only in the manufacturing sector of ICT related goods, but also in areas like BPO industry.

High speed internet connectivity is the key element in Business Process Outsourcing. It should be mentioned here that ITU Secretary General Dr. Thama Toure mentioned the fact that “Ten growth in the mobile penetration induces 1.2 per cent growth in the GDP”. This alone shows how influential ICT industry is.

Present growth momentum will continue. It will take one and half years. Once the market reached maturity, then Sri Lanka can introduce technologies like Mobil Number Portability (MNP) where a customer can maintain a one number and use any network.

R and D for indigenous knowledge base

Through research and development Sri Lanka, in the long run, developed its own indigenous knowledge base. If country invests heavily in researches in universities, for instance in University of Moratuwa and University of Colombo, researches if developed new technologies, can take patent for them. This is how Japan and Korea leap forward in their economies. Since Sri Lanka has human resources Sri Lankan scientists can come out with innovations.

TRC has given clearance for VOIP (Voice over IP) in Sri Lanka.

BPO industry is already firmly rooted in Sri Lanka and several renowned companies are operating their back offices in Sri Lanka. TRC has opened a separate section for BPO industry where the companies can register with TRC and obtain telecommunication services through TRC. BPO is one mode of curbing brain drain.