Sri Lankan ISP – Review

I just bought my 1^st Mobitel HSDPA connection yesterday and I’m disappointed to say it’s just as bad as the rest of ISP solutions in Sri Lanka. I bought the package “zoom 1290” which is supposed to have the following.

Free data bundle – 8GB
Download Speed up to – 3.6Mbps

I have been doing some speed testing with the speedtest.net web site and as usual I get a similar response to what I get with my 2Mb ADSL connection. (Testing done after 8pm)

SLT (2Mbps)

Mobitel (Zoom 1290)

I’m a heavy downloader and I NEED a high speed internet connection. Some people might ask me “Why do I need this much of internet speed?” To answer it in a simple manner would be to “satisfy my daily entertainment needs”. Just like most Sri Lankan youngsters, I too download a lot of tv episodes and movies. I don’t download them cuz I’m too greedy to spend money on them. On the contrary, I spend more money on downloading them rather than going to the movies.

The reason for me to download these is because I don’t want to waste my time on the road. It takes about 1 hour for me to reach a decent film hall and I would have to be at the counter at least 45mins before the start of the movie. Add another 1 hour for me to get back and I total falls at around 3 hours. This means every time I want to watch a 3 hour long move at a decent place I have to spend 6 hours total.

With the addition of new Mobitel connection, I have to spend around 9000.00Rs (around 90US$) for my internet connections monthly. So how do I justify all this spending? Assume I watch 2 movies and 5 tv episodes per week. If I had to watch them as a normal Sri Lankan I would have to spend 6 hours a week on the road for the movies and I would have to wait 2 or 3 years till they air the tv series. In other words, I spend 9000.00Rs to save 24 hours and to watch 20 tv episodes 2 years earlier.

If an ISP service comes to Sri Lanka that can offer better service even for the same price I would switch my ISP providers in hart beat. But sadly I’m stuck with SLT and Mobitel for the time being.

FYI – I had a look at the Verizon US site and found the following details.

Verizon High Speed Internet – Fastest Plan (Download 4 to 7 Mbps) – Regular price is $54.99/mo.

FiOS Internet – Tier 2: Faster (Download 25 Mbps) – $69.99/mo.

I wonder how much our ISP providers will charge for a 25Mbps connection.