Academic Networking in Sri Lanka Gihan V. Dias Ajantha S. Atukorale Lanka Education and Research Network

Internet in Sri Lanka

Current Status of Internet Approx. 20 ISPs 2 Major (SL Telecom and LankaCom) Approx. 120 Mb/s aggregate bandwidth to Japan, U.S., Singapore, etc.

Current status cont. Wide Internet awareness Wide use in commercial establishments Wide use of e-mail Internet access shops in cities Restrictions on VoIP Local language content still low

Corporate Internet Use Most large and medium companies use Internet Still mostly approx. 64kb/s connections Wide use of e-mail Wide use of web sites Very limited e-commerce

Personal Internet use Fairly wide use of e-mail At work and at home Limited use of web High cost of dial-up access (phone charges)

Academic Networking

LEARN Lanka Academic and Research Network Established in 1990 Approx 20 member institutions universities some research institutes Approx. 10 sites connected at 2Mb Others at low speed

Internet Connection Via ISPs Approx 3Mb/s bandwidth

Network usage in univ. Some universities fully networked usage heavier in science, eng. faculties Govt. developing IT in univ programme to provide computers and networks to universities and institutes Many undergrads have access to Internet Wide use by staff and grad students

Progress in 2002 Increase in international bandwidth 5 smaller sites connected Reserved bandwidth for research and e-learning Pilot e-learning projects

International Bandwidth

Plans for 2003 Connect University of Jaffna Connect 5 smaller universities Increase international bandwidth Routine e-learning

Plans for 2004 High-speed connections (~100Mb/s) between 4 universities High-speed Internatinal connection (45Mb/s?) High-speed research connection

Thanks