Nielsen Sri Lanka has published some interesting facts & figures about mobile internet usage in Sri Lanka.

A global market research organization says Sri Lanka’s future consumer patterns will be shaped by the growth in internet usage via mobile phones with greater access to social networking sites, particularly among the 16 to 35 years age bracket.

Some interesting facts,

• Close to 70 percent of the population has a mobile phone
• Ownership of mobile phone is much higher in the 16 to 35 age group
• Mobile penetration stands at over 80 percent (more than 16 million mobile connections among a population of nearly 20 million)
• There are nearly two million internet users in Sri Lanka, representing 14 percent of the population
• 1.2 million users access the internet weekly or more often with the majority being in the 15 to 25 years age group where internet usage is as high as 26 percent
• Broadband penetration stood at a mere 0.5 percent
• Approximately 46 percent of users access the internet through their mobile phones, 10 percent exclusively and 36 percent through a combination of modes including mobile devices
• Of the total number of users accessing the internet through their mobile phone, 42 percent went to social networking sites such as Facebook
• 900,000, or nearly half of the total number of internet users in the country, are on Facebook, with 78 percent in the 18 to 34 age group

These are very interesting figures for me when looking at the Sri Lankan perspective

Read the full article on Lanka Business Report.