The further you travel from Colombo, the more you wonder whether Sri Lanka too had been an ex-communist state. The roads get narrower and mucky – sometimes even 20 kmph is high speed – and mobiles work intermittently – only when you reach within a cell town. Still you have electricity – almost anywhere. Even at Pitakumbura Navodya School, where we are told some students bring an extra set of clothes to school, during the rainy season – they have to swim across a stream daily.

What about broadband? Yes, it is available, but only in pockets.

WiMax is available in both Bibile (13 km from Pitakumbura) and Ampara (65 km). ADSL is available only in Ampara. Pitakumbura in the middle, is covered by neither.

The solution? Build a 25 meter tower to host a micro-wave antenna at a cost of US$ 2,000 (right, above). This is not something an individual can afford – most of them are farmers. Fortunately for the student of Pitakumbura Navodya School, the monthly bill is currently being footed by the Ministry of Education under an ADB funded project. The day project funds run out, the school will be delinked. The students then might have to travel 13 km to Bibile for an entry point to the web.

This example illustrates Sri Lanka’s efforts of ‘taking ICTs to rural areas’. Broadband is available only in selected towns with some demand. Outside this, a handful of point to point links caters to a limited group of users – with a donor paying the bill. Such mechanism will survive temporarily, but may not withstand the financial pressures of a global recession.

The ideal long term solution will be broadband everywhere – at an affordable cost – just like electricity. It is in Colombo and may be in few other provincial towns, but under present circumstances it will only be a long dream for rural folk.

One local telco CEO recently whined about being viewed as a cigarette manufacturer. “Everybody wants to tax us, as if mobiles are a product more hazardous than cigarettes. Tobacco kills, mobiles don’t; communication facilitates better living conditions and saves environment because it reduces transport. It is gross unfair both are seen in the same light.”

As Wikipedia tells us, cigarettes are a significant source of tax revenue in many localities. This fact has historically been an impediment for health groups seeking to discourage cigarette smoking, since governments seek to maximize tax revenues. It is established that higher prices for cigarettes discourage smoking. Every 10 percent increase in the price of cigarettes reduced youth smoking by about seven percent and overall cigarette consumption by about four percent.

We hope Udaya Prabhath Gammanpila, Chairman Central Environmental Authority, will take note. If you think we use too many mobile phones – yes, taxing usage is the ideal path to bring it down. If not, you are making a dangerous precedent.

Taxing mobile usage by one ministry is an ‘open sesame’ for the rest. Ministry of Health can claim mobiles cancerous. Ministry of Education will find them disrupting studies. Perhaps the ever vigilant Ministry of Women’s Affairs may link mobiles to teen pregnancies – a correlation we would have never know if not for the District Secretary of Badulla. Given the other remarks he makes, to hear IGP saying mobiles increase crime will not surprise us. Almost forgot it – Telecommunication Regulatory Commission itself thinks mobiles are a prime reason for increased terrorist activities.

Bravo! Why not all these gentlemen and ladies tax mobile usage 2% each? (After all, it is about Rs. 10 per month for many, the price of a cup of tea.)

By the way, Rohan Samarajiva, LIRNEasia’s Executive Director had been busy for the past few weeks in making his case against ‘Envy Levy’ for mobile usage. We reproduce two of his articles here to Ravaya and Lankadeepa, in case The Chairman CEA had missed them. (Udaya, please click on images to get a full view)

Article on 'Ravaya'

Article on 'Lankadeepa'

(The cartoon above by Asanga Indunil of Rivira.lk, Aug 17, 2008)

Notebooks, however, have been performing relatively well. IDC forecasts that desktops will post a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.7% from 2006-2011. Notebooks, on the other hand, are expected to register a CAGR of 22.7%, announced IDC on Wednesday.

“Both the consumer and commercial segments have been key drivers for the market’s activity. Heightened vendor marketing efforts has provided consumers with more knowledge while continuing PC price drops has granted buyers more purchasing power,” said Linus Lai, Research & Consulting Director for IDC Emerging Asia.  

Currently, the size of the Sri Lankan notebook market remains relatively small mainly due to the expensive price points for notebooks in the consumer segment. Moreover, enterprise adoption is contained to the higher management positions.

However, a number of factors will drive notebook adoption in the Sri Lanka market. Price competition among vendors will lead to declining prices that will make notebooks more affordable to buyers. Increasing awareness over mobile computing is also expected to be a key factor.

Lastly, vendors working more closely with their channels, as evidenced by the heightened notebook marketing programs that were implemented last year, are expected to continue. 

From the commercial perspective, projects were mainly centered around the financial services industries (FSIs), manufacturing, and telecommunications. In addition, the national government remained a very significant contributor to IT hardware spending through computerization projects involving the Information and Communication Technology Agency, Ministry of Education, and government-owned agencies and banks.

Although the tourism, services (BPO), and logistics sectors are traditionally deemed as important drivers for Sri Lanka’s economic growth, IDC remains positive of the PC market’s performance for both the consumer and commercial segments. Sri Lanka will have to pursue an economic policy that will reflect a positive attitude towards foreign investments while maintaining peace and order internally.