Haven’t had time to analyze this election promise, so was very happy to see a CPRsouth alumnus take an excellent run at it.
Usually, these free Wi-Fi services have lower speeds compared to the average home connection, and often come with a data or a time cap. Perth, for example, offers free public Wi-Fi in a certain area, with a limit of 50MB per connection. Do your stuff, and then get out of the way; let the next user in.
Effective, intelligent limiting is one solution. Lots of bandwidth is the other. New York, for example has a plan called LinkNYC, where they’re replacing telephone boxes with giant consoles that provide free Wi-Fi, 24/7, “upto gigabit speeds”). It’s set to go by late 2015. LinkNYC involves, according to reports, some $200 million spend on fiber. And even so, each giant console has limitation: a radius of a 150 feet, a maximum of 256 devices connected to it, and a total speed of 1 Gbps, with design updates every four years.
The third option is to just have very few users connected to Wi-Fi. Which is what Exporail does; have a small, manageable number of users connected to an Access Point. Everybody’s happy.
Somehow, I doubt we have $200 million to throw around on Wi-Fi at train stations, so it comes down to having technically hamstrung connections. Or, this being Sri Lanka, and it being SLT, option no 3: Majestic City Wi-Fi, which means everybody can connect to it, but nobody can use it.
2 Comments
Grace Mirandilla-Santos
Good insights. Perhaps LKA and PH can learn from each other, as both are embarking on a free public wifi project. PH government recently allocated about USD 32 million to deploy the first wave of WiFi hotspots in unserved and underserved municipalities nationwide. Many of the issues mentioned in the article are critical points that need to be addressed before implementing the project.
Rohan Samarajiva
Free WiFi had a big run around 2005. Here is some discussion from that period: http://lirneasia.net/2005/02/government-supply-of-wifi-in-competition-with-private-suppliers/
Protecting Children Online: What is Missing from Sri Lanka’s Proposed Bill?
In an article published in the Daily FT on 30 June 2026, Attorney-at-Law and LIRNEasia Researcher Sachini Ranasinghe examines the Private Member’s Bill proposed by Opposition MP Faiszer Musthapha, which seeks to restrict social media access for children under the age of 16 in Sri Lanka. She argues that the key question is not whether children need stronger protection online, but whether Sri Lanka is proposing the right solution and has undertaken the groundwork necessary to make such legislation effective.
LIRNEasia leads new Asia Observatory on Responsible AI Innovations for Development
In February 2026, the Asia AI4D Observatory: A policy and innovation network on responsible artificial intelligence was launched with the support of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. LIRNEasia, East-West Management Institute, JustJobs Network, and EngageMedia, this three-year initiative will support Asia’s capacity to design, govern, and scale responsible (i.
LIRNEasia CEO Helani Galpaya at the Launch of State of India’s Digital Economy Report
The ICRIER-PROSUS Center for Internet and Digital Economy (IPCIDE) had its annual conference in New Delhi on the 1st of June 2026 in New Delhi, India. LIRNEasia CEO Helani Galpaya participated in the opening panel and discussed the report.
Links
User Login
Themes
Social
Twitter
Facebook
RSS Feed
Contact
9A 1/1, Balcombe Place
Colombo 08
Sri Lanka
+94 (0)11 267 1160
+94 (0)11 267 5212
info [at] lirneasia [dot] net
Copyright © 2026 LIRNEasia
a regional ICT policy and regulation think tank active across the Asia Pacific