Dec 30, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s telecom regulator has begun investigations on broadband speeds advertised by telcos after a private research study found them exaggerating available bandwidth to surfers, a senior official said.

“The Telecom Regulatory Commission is conducting its own investigations on mobile broadband speeds advertized by operators," Priyantha Kariyapperuma, director general of the TRC said.

"If any mobile operator is found guilty of providing slower speeds than advertized, the TRC will take action against them. Our report will be out in about two to three weeks."

A study on broadband speeds in South Asian countries conducted by the regional think-tank LIRNEasia showed Sri Lankan surfers were getting less speed than claimed by telecom companies.

High speed internet connectivity in Sri Lanka is offered by fixed line operator Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT), its subsidiary, celco Mobitel, and Dialog Telekom, the island’s largest celco owned by Axiata of Malaysia.

The ongoing research which began in 2007 showed that by March 2008, Sri Lanka's two main broadband operators could only deliver 20 percent of the two mega bytes per second (mbps) speed marketed.

However Chanuka Wattegama, a senior manager at LIRNEasia said ongoing research showed that the quality of broadband has improved since then.

Over advising is a common problem throughout the region, Wattegama said.

Sri Lankan telcos deliver 75 percent of advertised speeds in the last mile of the network. LIRNEAsia said broadband providers in Sri Lanka like their counterparts in other South Asian countries had focused mainly on the last mile connectivity of the network.

The 'last mile' is the final leg of the distribution network, from a communications provider to a customer.

However the networks suffer bottlenecks that arise from expensive international broadband connectivity.