Sri Lanka’s intranet penetration is far below the average internet penetration in Asia, a study by Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) said.
Sri Lanka currently has over 6 million internet users. With a population of 20.9 million, this represents an internet penetration rate of approximately 32%, which is below the average penetration of 46.7% in Asia. Of the many factors influencing internet usage, language plays a key role. With Sinhalese and Tamil being the languages mainly used and English as the main foreign language in Sri Lanka, accessing the internet using Latin script (English letters A-Z) can be a barrier. However, this could change in the near future, thanks to a group of local volunteers. They will be working on a proposal to allow internet access in Sinhala script. Their efforts will pave the way towards better access to the multilingual internet for non-English speaking Sri Lankans in a secure and stable manner.
Another important development that is shaping the future of the internet is the expansion of top-level domains. There are now over 1,200 generic top-level domains (e.g. COM, .ORG, .PHONE, HOTELS, etc.) in use – enabling greater competition, choice and innovation.
This expansion is one of the biggest changes ever in the history of the internet and brings additional opportunities to businesses, communities and brands around the world.
Courtesy : Published on Daily News 13th December 2017
