Connectivity drops

There is a noticeable drop in connectivity and cell phone signals as power outages continue beyond the 10-hour mark. Businesses claimed that their already delayed targets were becoming impossible to meet because internet connectivity would sometimes completely disappear.

"This is because base station backup power isn't built to run for 13-hour blackouts," said Mr Senanayake, former head of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka.

Base stations that manage and provide internet services have battery backups and run on fossil fuel generators during power outages. But the longer they are, the more fuel--not available in required quantities--is needed. And batteries have to be recharged more often.

"Apart from that, the moment these blackouts occur, direct fixed-line usages goes to 0 and everyone hops on their 4G lines through hotspot," Mr Senanayake said continued. “This means mobile broadband consumption skyrockets, using up even more base station power which again significantly bring speed, and consequently bandwidth, down.