This paper investigates conditions that need to be met in order to make smart subsidies successful in bridging access gaps in rural telecommunication services. Nepal’s Eastern Development Region project is the case under study.
The final report, Smart subsidies: Getting the conditions right - The experience of expanding rural telecoms in Nepal can be downloaded HERE.
The study finds that while it is possible to use the smart subsidies option to provide rural communities with telecommunications services the real question is whether such services are optimal and whether these projects could be sustained in the medium to long term. The findings throughout the paper converge to the point that unless the right regulatory conditions are in place; particularly with respect to cost-based asymmetric interconnection agreements and effective regulation…
NSF EXPLORATORY WORKSHOP ON SENSOR BASED INFRASTRUCTURE FOR EARLY TSUNAMI DETECTION, Maui, Feb 9-10, 2006
What I learned during my visits to the Civil Defense Center and the Tsunami Museum in Hilo and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach in Hawai’i last January greatly contributed to the disaster communication research program undertaken by LIRNEasia in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Therefore, I welcomed the opportunity to step back and reflect on the research program a year later, also in Hawai’i.
The occasion was a workshop funded by the National Science Foundation of the US. It was organized by Louise Comfort, Daniel Mosse and Taieb Znati, all at the U of Pittsburgh. Louise is from Public Policy and has been working on disasters for…
Tags: Arthur C. Clarke Centre, Chip McCreery, Civil Defense Center, Daniel Mosse, deep-sea sensor devices, Disaster Management Center, early warning systems, Ewa Beach, GPS, India, Indian Ocean, Indonesia, Kenya, Louise Comfort, National Science Foundation, Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, Pittsburgh, public warning systems, Rhett Butler, sensor networks, sensor-based networks, separate systems, Sri Lanka, Taieb Znati, Tanzania, Thailand, Tsunami Museum, United States, Vanguard Foundation, Walter Mooney.
As a part of LIRNEasia’s Telecom Use on a Shoestring project, the use of ’strategic’ behaviour to curb communication costs amongst the financially constrained in Sri Lanka and India was explored. The findings relating to such ’strategic’ behavior are available for comment in the following paper:
Telecom use on a shoestring: Strategic use of telecom services by the financially constrained in South Asia (V2.0 for comment) (February 2006)
Telecom use on a shoestring: Strategic use of telecom services by the financially constrained in South Asia (V2.1 for comment, March 2006)
The Authors invite comments and discussion.
Abstract:
When one talks of a ‘shoestring’ budget, it is understood that reference is being made to constrained finances, where individuals make attempts to cut costs through various methods without harming utility. This paper…
It appears that the Telecom Regulatory Commission is starting work on spectrum refarming. There are enormous gains to be achived if this is done right in an open, informed and consultative manner.
LANKA BUSINESS ONLINE
Knowledge capacity is typically measured in terms of the ‘productivity’ of researchers. In a paper accepted for publication in Information Technology for International Development (ITID_1.pdf) Gamage and Samarajiva argue that researchers need to pay attention to their ‘internet presence’ and ‘connectivity’ as well. The argument is supported by data on researchers on telecom reform from Asia as found in the social science citation index and scholar.google. The focus of this paper is on ‘presence’. ‘Connectivity’ will be addressed in detail in another paper.
Paper on Internet Presence of Telecom Researchers
Colombo, Sri Lanka, 19 December 2005: A recent study has revealed that many financially constrained Jaffnaites spend more than 12 per cent of their monthly regular income on telecommunications. People in Jaffna depend heavily on mobile telecommunication and have the highest demand for international calls in the Sri Lankan sample.
A study of ‘financially constrained’ telecom users in Sri Lanka has shown that compared to similar users in other areas of Sri Lanka, users in Jaffna exhibit markedly different patterns in their telecom use. The study, released today by LIRNEasia, an Asian research organization based in Colombo looks at telecom use amongst people whose monthly incomes are below LKR 10,000 in the Badulla, Colombo, Jaffna and Hambantota areas……
English press release: Jaffnaites spend up to 12% of their…
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