Currently very few households have personal computers let alone televisions. In 1992 there were 50 televisions per 1,000 population. Sri Lanka has no cable television as yet and has three television channels that transmit mainly in the evening hours. However, growing use and need of telephones, as well as the desire to access computer networks and the Internet, will mean the country will need a million telephone lines by the end of the century, analysts say.

Since Sri Lanka has to link its telecommunications network with other countries it is very important to have equipment and network which are compatible with the advanced telecommunications network of these countries.

Major Customers:

As Sri Lanka inches its way towards its stated goal of becoming South Asiaís business hub, the countryís businesses - from textile to telecommunications firms - are embracing information technology in a cautious but determined way.

1. The Government

Air Lanka

In late April 1994 Air Lanka, Sri Lankaís state-owned air line service signed up to use Cargoluxís CHAMP Cargohost computer system. The CHAMP (Cargo Handling and Management Planning) system will manage all cargo loading and management functions for Air Lanka around the world putting the company in the cutting edge of air line service and superior customer service. CHAMP has a wide range of functions including cargo revenue accounting, operations analysis, shipment planning and load update status.

Colombo Stock Exchange

The multimillion dollar contract awarded by the CSE to install a trading system offering global access is a good indication of the growth potential of Sri Lankaís vibrant information technology sector. The system will be installed by the authorized dealers for Sun Microsystems in Sri Lanka. Once installed, the CSE will become the worldís first exchange to have such a system, offering global access to shares for investors whether they be in Hong Kong or London via a fully open platform which will be plugged into the Internet. The contract is estimated to be worth US$2-3 million.

The Daily News

Sri Lankaís largest circulation newspaper the Daily News went on-line even before dailies in Hong Kong got hooked on to the global network.

2. Private Sector

The private sector participation in the telecommunications industry has opened the door to competition and technological advance. Accordingly, a number of private operators have been granted licenses to provide some of the basic value added services to Sri Lanka. The participation of the private sector in managing the provision of the value added and data services has recently shown marked improvement. At present, five types of value added services are being provided by the private sector - Radio Paging Services, Cellular Mobile Telephone, Pay Phone, Trunk Telecommunications Network and Mobile Trunking Radio Network

There are a lot of qualified university graduates in the computer field, but they are not being trained in a specific part of the industry that will make them professionals in that sector. Most of them have plenty of theoretical knowledge, but lack practical knowledge. In the major cities computer literacy is high, and many young people are well aware of latest upgrades of soft ware programs. When Microsoft Windows '95 was released it was embraced with open arms.

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Last updated on March 6, 1996 by Ms. Nishanthi Mendis

The URL of this page is located at http://gurukul.ucc.american.edu/mogit/nm9903a/sri_ituse.html