SLT fiber migration is raising questions over a Rs.5,000 fee, higher copper rentals and what happens to customer deposits already held by the company.
The SLT fiber migration from traditional copper telephone lines is raising fresh questions over customer deposits, new charges and the financial treatment of long-standing subscribers.
For decades, customers seeking fixed telephone connections from Sri Lanka Telecom were required to pay deposits.
Many of those subscribers have continued using their original copper connections for years. During that time, they paid monthly rental charges and maintained their accounts with SLT.
Now, as the company replaces ageing copper infrastructure with fiber technology, some customers say they are being asked to pay again.
Existing copper-line subscribers moving to fiber are reportedly required to pay a migration fee of Rs.5,000.
Customers are questioning why they should face another charge to adopt a technology that SLT itself is promoting as the replacement for its older copper network.
SLT Fiber Migration Comes With Higher Copper Costs
The dispute has intensified after SLT increased the monthly rental for copper telephone lines.
The charge previously stood at Rs.525. It has now increased to Rs.730.
That leaves long-standing subscribers with a difficult choice.
They can remain on copper and pay the higher monthly rental, or move to fiber and incur the additional Rs.5,000 migration charge.
However, the larger financial question concerns what happens to deposits collected from customers over many years.
SLT’s 2025 financial statements disclose subscriber deposits of Rs.516 million at Group level as of December 31, 2025.
Of that amount, Rs.8 million is recorded under Sri Lanka Telecom PLC itself.
The published accounts do not provide a clear breakdown showing how much of those deposits came from traditional copper telephone customers.
They also do not clearly explain how deposits are treated when copper services are replaced by fiber connections.
Customers Seek Answers on Original Deposits
That leaves several questions requiring a transparent response from SLT.
What happens to a customer’s original deposit when a copper connection moves to fiber?
Does SLT refund that deposit?
Does the company transfer it to the subscriber’s new fiber account?
If SLT continues holding the money, does the customer receive any interest accumulated during the years the deposit remained with the company?
There is also the question of why a subscriber who already paid a deposit for telephone service should pay another Rs.5,000 to move from the old network to its replacement.
For customers, the issue is not simply technological modernisation. It is also about how money they previously paid is being accounted for during the transition.
Copper and Fiber Differ During Power Failures
Customers have also highlighted an important practical difference between the two technologies.
Traditional copper telephone lines can continue working during a power failure.
Fiber-based telephone services, however, generally require electricity at the customer’s premises.
That difference can matter to elderly subscribers, businesses and households that depend on fixed telephone services during emergencies.
The shift to fiber may be technologically necessary as SLT modernises its network.
However, modernisation should not leave unanswered questions about money collected from generations of subscribers.
SLT has already disclosed hundreds of millions of rupees in subscriber deposits in its financial accounts.
Customers therefore have reason to seek a clear explanation of how those deposits will be handled as copper services disappear.
The SLT fiber migration debate is ultimately bigger than the Rs.5,000 charge itself.
It is about whether customers who paid to obtain a telephone connection years ago are now being required to pay again while the status of their original deposits remains unclear.
