Sri Lanka consumed 1.03 million terabytes of mobile data in the second quarter of 2026, a 31% increase year on year, against 29.4 million mobile subscriptions — figures presented at a Colombo forum on converting digital engagement into commercial returns.
The British High Commission hosted UK digital product consultancy Apadmi at Westminster House, the High Commissioner’s official residence, for an invite-only forum bringing together senior figures from Sri Lanka’s retail, banking, telecommunications, hospitality and public sectors, the Daily Mirror reported from a High Commission statement.
The event, titled “Turning Digital Assets into Growth Engines”, was Apadmi’s first official event in Sri Lanka since it opened a Colombo office in 2025.
Who spoke
Guests were welcomed by High Commissioner Andrew Patrick. The keynote came from Niresh Muthuratnanandan, Head of Omni Commerce, Digital and Loyalty at Keells Supermarkets, who spoke on the launch of the Keells Nexus app and the modernisation of a loyalty programme serving 2.9 million members.
A panel hosted by Apadmi Chief Growth Officer Mark Collin featured Malik Induruwana, CIO at HSBC Sri Lanka and Maldives; Jiffry Zulfer, founder and CEO of PickMe; Uthpala Pinnaduwahewa of Hatton National Bank; and Apadmi Chief Strategy Officer Marcus Hadfield.
“Apadmi’s decision to establish a base in Colombo reflects the confidence that UK companies have in Sri Lanka’s digital economy,” Patrick said.
Reading the numbers
The statement also put 71% of devices in use as smartphones or tablets. That is a different measure from the Census and Statistics Department’s finding that smartphones account for 80.6% of device use in 2025 — a share of activity rather than a share of installed devices — and the two should not be read as contradicting each other.
Heavy mobile use also sits alongside thin fixed computing: census data shows only about one in five households owns a computer, a share static for three years.
The Daily Mirror’s own opening line rendered the quarterly figure as “1.03 terabytes” while its body gives 1.03 million terabytes; the latter is consistent with the subscription base cited. The report attributes the data to an unnamed source, and the underlying regulatory release was not identified.