Sri Lanka announces 2025 5G spectrum auction
Daily FT: The Government yesterday formally issued the Notice of Assignment (NoA) for the 2025 5G spectrum auction, setting in motion the long-anticipated process to roll out next-generation mobile services in the country.
The announcement was made at a media briefing hosted by the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA), and officials said the spectrum assignment would pave the way for the introduction of commercial 5G services. The move is expected to strengthen digital infrastructure, support the economy, and drive growth across multiple industries.
The event was attended by Digital Economy Deputy Minister Eng. Eranga Weeraratne, Digital Economy Ministry Acting Secretary Waruna Sri Dhanapal, Telecommunications Regulatory Commission Director General Air Vice Marshal (Rtd.) Bandula Herath, 5G Auction Committee Chairman Dr. Sulakshana Jayawardena and TRCSL Director Shantha Gunanananda.
Deputy Minister Weeraratne said the assignment would provide a strong foundation to expand next-generation telecommunication and ICT services. He stressed that 5G would be central to innovation, economic growth, and industrial transformation. “In agriculture, smart sensors can increase yields and reduce waste, while in the apparel industry, automated systems can enhance quality and production capacity,” he noted.
TRCSL Director General Herath traced the journey toward 5G back to 2017, explaining that regulatory groundwork was completed between 2017 and 2020, followed by consultations with the World Bank, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and GSMA between 2020 and 2022 to determine the most suitable frequency bands.
“Following this long process, the final assignment notice is being issued in 2025. The auction is expected to be completed within two months, after which the public will experience services enabled by this milestone,” he said.
OSL take:
The expansion of Sri Lanka’s digital industry goes hand in hand with the country’s overall economic expansion. The Sri Lankan government has also shown its commitment to transforming Sri Lanka into an e-economy by launching an ambitious digitization drive covering all sectors of the country. This move is also aimed at gearing Sri Lanka to become a hub in the South Asian region by being on par with the fast-evolving global digital industry. Hence, the business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s digital industry and related sectors are manifold. These opportunities also include the expansion in the ICT and digital infrastructure development sectors in the country. The continuous expansion of Sri Lanka’s digital industry has resulted in businesses engaged in the industry recording impressive growth and profits, indicating the growing business potential in the digital industry and related sectors. All these factors indicate that business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s digital industry and related sectors present revolving, lucrative business ventures to foreign businesses/investors interested in doing business in the South Asian region, especially in Sri Lanka. Also, given the strong local businesses in the country’s digital industry, foreign businesses/investors could also looking at expanding operations through partnerships or joint ventures with these local businesses.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20251009/Z_3 |