Internet for development

AS a developing country, Sri Lanka is heavily dependent on access to technology, especially the internet to fast track its development. However, contrary measures by the Government are putting Sri Lanka’s tech-savvy citizens on the sidelines.

UNP MP Dr. Harsha de Silva on Tuesday urged the Government to give back part of the telecom levy imposed in the 2012 Budget to operators to enable them to aggressively rollout all-important broadband in the country.

Speaking during the debate on the votes on Ministry of Media and Telecommunications, Dr. de Silva said that in Budget 2012, the Government had proposed that the levy on incoming international calls be increased from US$ 7 cents per minute to US$ 9 cents per minute. The UNP MP alleged that this increase could see incoming calls being channelled via grey networks or operators, thereby resulting in the Government losing revenue. Instead, he suggested that the Government should give 50% of the increase (i.e. one cent of the two cent hike) back to the legal operators, who in turn can plough it back to rollout broadband in the country.

Dr. de Silva was originally instrumental in devising the levy way back in 2002/3 to finance the Vishva Gnana Fund, which was to be used to develop the broadband network in the country. The idea was to eventually phase out the levy in tandem with the progress of the broadband rollout.

Though there had been some revenue sharing in the past, since mid-last year the operators have not benefitted, resulting in a setback in the broadband rollout in the country.

Broadband is critical for the future competitiveness of Sri Lanka and to increasingly make Sri Lankans smart global citizens. Therefore, the Government should share the revenue so that private sector operators could be supported to carry out the speedier rollout of broadband in the country.

Apart from the increase in the rate on incoming international calls, Budget 2012 also proposed the levy on outgoing international calls to be increased from Rs. 2 per minute to Rs. 3 per minute.

Even though the Government has put in place plans to introduce IT skills at school level, the project has not met its expected targets, according to a report released by the Auditor General. Given the expense of such a project, it makes more sense to empower the people to purchase their own broadband by making it cheaper.

A recent report by market research company Nielsen estimated that has many as 1.5 million youth in Sri Lanka access the internet through their mobiles and even adults are increasing their presence online more through cell phones than computers. Therefore, clearly the future is not only in promoting internet but promoting it via mobiles, which give easy and affordable access to people living in rural areas. The emergence of savvy rural consumers will be the market for companies to tap into, going forward, as they are capable of absorbing and using technology fast.

Internet penetration in Sri Lanka is still at a low 6% or thereabouts and needs to be encouraged more aggressively. It is too cumbersome a task for the Government to undertake, especially given the hundreds of State enterprises that are already losing billions of public money. Therefore, the most sensible thing to do would be to allow the private companies to do what they have been doing for a long time – increase internet access via mobiles and fixed lines.