Dialog Axiata, a Colombo based telecommuniations firm, announced successfully achieving download speeds of up to 1 Gbps making Sri Lanka the first in South Asia to test the latest generation technology.
Dialog, the Sri Lankan unit of Malaysia’s Axiata Group, said they established the capability to deliver super broadband connectivity that is 10 times faster than the fastest connection currently available.
“The demonstration established the capability of the network to deliver throughputs in excess of 1 Gbps on the LTE Radio (Air) Interface,” the company said in a statement.
A company official said that they hoped to roll out a new generation 4.5 network even as the 4th generation network covered more than half of the island.
Sri Lanka became the first country in South Asia to introduce mobile phones in 1989 and the first to roll out a 3G network in 2004. It was also the first in the region to commercially unveil a 4G, or 4th generation, network two years ago.
The 4.5G is expected to give speeds 10 times faster than the 4G network that is available in the island.
Sri Lanka has one of the lowest broadband charges in the region and earlier this year the government taking a 25 percent stake in a joint venture with Google to expand mobile high-speed Internet services across the island.
Official figures show there are 3.3 million mobile Internet connections and 630,000 fixed line Internet subscribers among Sri Lanka’s more than 20 million population at the beginning of this year.
