Eight pieces in print as of this issue: four operator-level reviews of Sri Lanka's national mobile networks, and four thematic explainers on the structure of the local market. Every piece is read against the operator's own current public listing and updated when the listing changes meaningfully.
Operators
Dialog is the largest mobile operator in Sri Lanka by subscribers and the most visible brand in Colombo's telecom market. A reader's review of the network's coverage, its prepaid and postpaid line-ups in 2026, and where its public listings genuinely help compared with other operators.
Operators
Mobitel — formally Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel since the 2021 group restructuring — is the country's second-largest mobile network and the only operator with a state shareholder. A review of its public plan listings, its rural coverage, and how its position in the SLT group shapes what it offers subscribers.
Operators
Hutch — Hutchison Telecommunications Lanka — is the smallest of Sri Lanka's four national mobile operators by subscriber count, and the one our editors find most often misrepresented in foreign-language coverage. A review of what the network is currently publishing and what its smaller scale means in practice for everyday users.
Operators
Bharti Airtel's Sri Lankan subsidiary has been a quiet presence in the local mobile sector since 2009, with a smaller subscriber base than the three majors and a focus on entry-level prepaid users. A reader's review of the operator's current public plan information and how it compares with the rest of the market.
Explainers
Roughly nine in ten Sri Lankan mobile subscribers are on prepaid lines, an unusual ratio by global standards and one that shapes how operators present their plans. A reader's explainer on the practical differences between prepaid and postpaid in the local market, written for readers trying to read public listings.
Explainers
A typical operator data-plan page in Sri Lanka contains a dozen line items, three or four asterisks, and at least one footnote about night-time-only allowances. We slow down and read one carefully, explaining what each line tends to mean and where the footnotes hide.
Travellers
Travellers arriving in Sri Lanka on a roaming line, or planning to use a local SIM, face a different set of public information than residents do. A reader's guide to how the four operators describe their tourist-oriented offerings and how to read the airport-counter listings without overcommitting.
Sector
Sri Lanka's commercial 5G rollout began in earnest in 2024 after the regulator's spectrum-allocation framework was finalised, and the picture in 2026 is uneven. A reader's update on which operators currently advertise 5G coverage, where, and what the public information actually tells subscribers.