Broadband Quality of Service

in Sri Lanka

Test Results
Packages tested Advertised Advertised
Download Upload
Speed Speed
India Airtel 512 kbps 512 kbps
  BSNL - Business 2 Mbps 256 kbps
  BSNL - Home 2 Mbps 256 kbps
  Hathway 256 kbps 256 kbps
Sri Lanka Dialog 2 Mbps 512 kbps
  SLT - Business 2 Mbps 512 kbps
  SLT - Home 512 kbps 128 kbps
Singapore StarHub* 1 Mbps 256 kbps
* Partial testing
 Test Results
 Throughput (Download speed/Upload speed)
Business Packages performance in
• ISP domain
• Local domain
• International level
Business vs. Home performance
Sri Lanka vs. India/Singapore performance
 Delay metrics (RTT/jitter)
 Loss metrics (Packet Loss)
 Test Results

Throughput - Download
speed
Download speed (Business Packages):
Relatively healthy in ISP domain…
2 Mbps

> 75%

ISP
Download speed (Business Packages):
… and does not significantly vary among different days
(be it week days or weekend)

SLT (2M/512k) Dialog (2M/512k)

ISP
Download speed (Business Packages):
…poor in Local domain

2 Mbps

> 75%

Local
Download speed (Business Packages): …also variations are
relatively higher among three days (interconnection issues?)

SLT (2M/512k) Dialog (2M/512k)

Local
Download speed (Business Packages):
…even poorer when accessing International sites

2 Mbps

> 75%

Int’l
Download speed (Business Packages):
… that does not significantly vary across days

SLT (2M/512k) Dialog (2M/512k)

Int’l
Download speed (SLT Business vs. SLT Home
packages):
…in % terms, home is better than business
Download speed (SLT Business vs. SLT Home
packages): …and comparable in reaching international
sites
Download speed: India and Sri Lanka (ISP Domain):
Sri Lanka performs slightly better

> 75%

ISP
Download speed: India and Sri Lanka (Local Domain):
India performs better

> 75%

Local
Download speed: India and Sri Lanka (accessing
International servers): India looks good

> 75%

Int’l
Download speed Sri Lanka and Singapore (accessing
International servers): Singapore wins

> 75%

Int’l
 Test Results

Throughput - Upload
speeds
Upload speed (Business packages):
Somewhat healthy in ISP domain

512 kbps

> 75%

ISP
Upload speed (Business packages):
…a bit down at Local Domain

512 kbps

> 75%

Local
Upload speed (Business packages):
…and poor in accessing International sites

512 kbps

> 75%

Int’l
Upload speed (SLT Business vs. SLT Home packages): …here too
in %, home is better than business, but not in actual speeds

(aprox 100 kpbs)

(aprox 200 kpbs)

Upload speed Sri Lanka and Singapore (accessing
International sites): Singapore wins

> 75%

Int’l
 Test Results

Jitter and Packet Loss

Jitter : Sometimes not enough quality for video/high
quality audio (<+10ms) but satisfactory for other apps
Packet Loss : Most of the times, but not always, within
acceptable limits (5%)
ISP –Week Day Local –Week Day INT –Week Day

ISP –Weekend Local –Weekend INT –Weekend

Where is the bottleneck?
Accessing www.lankacom.net through SLT (2M/512k)

170 ms

65 ms

25 ms
10 ms

Local
NB: All IP addresses are within SL (www.whois.net)
Accessing www.yahoo.com through SLT (2M/512k)

170 ms

65 ms

25 ms

10 ms

Int’l
NB: Upto 5 hop IP addresses are within SL (www.whois.net)
th
Using RTT/latency in broadband QoS regulation

Local Network Latency (LNL): Round Trip Time (RTT)

taken to access a national or site hosted within the
country

Requirement: LNL < 85ms for 95% of the peak time

International Network Latency (INL) : Round Trip Time

(RTT) to the first US entry point.

Requirement: INL < 300ms for 95% of the peak time

Where do
we stand?

ISP1 – Out:
Exit from local
ISP

FEP: First Entry

point to USA

Local Network Latency International Network Latency

Package
Requirement Achivement Passed? Requirement Value Passed?

Airtel (512k/512k) 85 ms 8 ms  300 ms 217  

BSNL (2M/256k) 85 ms 191 ms   300 ms 295  
SLT (2M/512k) 85 ms 11 ms  300 ms 258  
Few points to ponder

o Do we always get what is promised, especially when

downloading from International sites?
o Are these trends transitional or long-term?
o Are Home packages better value for money than
Business packages?
o Can we be complacent because the situation is not too
different in India?
o Should we demand better QoS for Games/video?
o Should we adopt Singapore standards or more
stringent ones?
 Thank You!

wattegama@lirne.net
www.lirneasia.net

Thanks to LIRNEasia team, Prof. Timothy Gonsalves and team, Ranga

Kamaladasa, Sriganesh Lokanathan, Sanjana Hattotuwa, Sanath Siriwardena and
all who contributed ideas/opinions in online discussions at LIRNEasia blog.