Marking a significant milestone in the modernization of Sri Lanka’s television broadcasting sector, "The Next Wave of Television - Stakeholder Engagement Event" was successfully held today at the Cosmic Banquet Hall, Lotus Tower, Colombo.
The high-level session was organized in alignment with the national initiative launched under the leadership of His Excellency President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to modernize core infrastructure and accelerate the country’s overall digital transformation.
The landmark event brought together a distinguished gathering of cabinet ministers, senior government officials, and international dignitaries. Among the key participants were Hon. (Dr.) Nalinda Jayatissa, Minister of Health and Media; Hon. (Dr.) Anil Jayantha, Minister of Labour and Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning; Hon. (Prof.) Krishantha Abeysena, Minister of Science and Technology; Hon. (Eng.) Eranga Weeraratne, Deputy Minister of Digital Economy; Hon. (Dr.) Kaushalya Ariyaratne, Deputy Minister of Media; H.E. Mr. Akio Isomata, Ambassador of Japan to Sri Lanka; Dr. Anil Jasinghe, Secretary to the Ministry of Health and Media; and Mr. Waruna Sri Dhanapala, Secretary to the Ministry of Digital Economy. The audience also featured key representatives from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), regulatory authorities, state and private television broadcasters, as well as leading telecommunications and technology industry stakeholders.
The engagement focused primarily on the strategic execution and future roadmap of the Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting (DTTB) project. The overarching objective of this national project is to transition Sri Lanka’s legacy analogue terrestrial television broadcasting framework which has been in operation for over four decades into a modern, unified digital broadcasting platform. Supported by the Government of Japan and JICA, the initiative adopts the ISDB-T (Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting-Terrestrial) standard, enabling High-Definition (HD) broadcast delivery while optimizing the national radio frequency spectrum.
This digital migration offers widespread benefits across all sectors of the television ecosystem. Viewers will enjoy superior image and sound quality, expanded signal coverage, and access to enhanced HD content. For broadcasting entities, establishing a shared digital transmission platform significantly reduces individual capital and operational expenditures while unlocking new commercial opportunities in digital services. From a governance perspective, the state will achieve more efficient spectrum management, freeing up vital capacity to support future telecommunications and digital innovations.
Currently in its design and technical development phase, the DTTB project is on track to deliver Sri Lanka’s first official digital television broadcast experience to the public by December 2028. Today’s event provided a vital collaborative platform for all key parties to review technical requirements, align on implementation roadmaps, and clarify institutional responsibilities, marking a decisive step forward in building a resilient, state-of-the-art digital broadcasting ecosystem in Sri Lanka.
