Present broadband charges which are higher than competitor countries are deterring foreign ICT and business process outsourcing (BPO) firms from setting up in the island and are partly responsible for poor internet penetration, a report said.
"The cost of commercial broadband and internet links such as IPLC ((international private leased circuit) and leased lines is higher in Sri Lanka when compared to the region," said the ICT draft plan by the ministry of telecommunications and information technology.
"This makes Sri Lanka less attractive for companies setting up, especially in the early days when heavy cash outflows exist.
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The availability of such quality services need to be expanded so that companies can locate regionally where pockets of talent exist, said the paper which was discussed at a meeting of government and industry officials Tuesday.
A fibre optic network that is being laid must have capacity to give 8 Mbps (1 megabytes per second or MBps or about 800 KiloBytes per seco