Our desk in Colombo runs hands-on tests across fibre, ADSL, 4G and the early 5G rollout. No sponsored placements, no reseller links — just measured notes on what actually works on the island.
Full write-ups, field notes and scorecards on the operators serving Sri Lankan households and businesses.
The largest operator continues to lead on 4G penetration and is first to a live 5G footprint. Home broadband has closed part of the gap with SLT.
State-run SLT maintains its lead in FTTH coverage, with the most consistent evening throughput across our Colombo and Gampaha test nodes.
A head-to-head between SLT Fibre, Dialog Home Broadband and Lanka Bell. Value, peak speeds, evening drop-off and support all measured side-by-side.
Aggregated from 1,200 editorial tests across Colombo, Kandy, Galle and Jaffna. Numbers indicate medians, not marketing peaks.
Methodology: tri-daily tests (09:00, 15:00, 21:00 IST) across 12 sample locations. Ookla-compatible endpoints, wired Ethernet for fibre, handset tethering for mobile.
Fibre rollout is no longer a Colombo story. Western-province districts now see FTTH availability approaching 70%, while the upcountry and southern provinces are catching up on the back of Dialog and SLT's parallel buildouts.
Mobile is the more interesting race. Dialog's 5G pilot has expanded beyond Colombo into Kandy and Galle, and SLT-Mobitel's spectrum readiness suggests commercial 5G by late 2026. In our testing, however, raw 4G throughput remains the headline story for most users outside the capital.
Read the full analysisVisual summaries of fibre availability, 4G signal quality and the rollout of early 5G cells.
Colombo · Gampaha · Kalutara
Deepest fibre penetration on the island. Live 5G trial cells present.
Kandy · Matale · Nuwara Eliya
Strong 4G, growing fibre footprint. 5G cells around Kandy.
Galle · Matara · Hambantota
Coastal fibre corridor established. Mobile signal consistent along the A2.
Why your "100 Mbps" plan downloads at "12 MB/s" — and why both numbers are right.
How copper-based connections compare to FTTH in a humid tropical climate.
Contention ratios, fair-usage throttles and the real reason 8 p.m. feels sluggish.
What today's early 5G in Colombo actually delivers versus the brochure.