The South Asian country of Sri Lanka has become the first to roll out a full nationwide fourth generation 4 G mobile network. Anusha Palpita, the Director General of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, said that he has allocated the airwaves to Dialog Axiata, (which is the largest provider in Sri Lanka) for $26.25 million on March 28, 2013.
Palpita added that the 4G mobile network will allow users to download content from the internet at speeds which are four to five times faster than the currently available 3G speeds. Palpita said, “We will be South Asia’s first with a (country-wide) mobile 4G/LTE (Long Term Evolution) internatnetwork”.
At present, the country has fixed line 4G in key cities, but the new 4G network will allow users to access high speed internet with their hand-held devices across the country. Palpita assured that the 4G network will be rolled out shortly and said that the infrastructure for it is ready.
He also said that the money raised from the spectrum sale was the highest ever earned from an auction of airwaves. Sri Lanka was the first country in South Asia which introduced mobile phones in 1989 and also the first to roll out 3G in 2004.
