An OECD report, Global Opportunities for Internet Access Developments, says that the next billion Internet users will be very different from the first billion and governments in developing countries, where these users will come from, must adapt strategic regulatory and investment policies to lower access costs.
“The characteristics of these new Internet users will be vastly different from the first billion users,” the report concludes, adding that the majority of the new Internet users will be accessing the Internet on wireless networks and will have incomes of less than US$2 per day.
While the report sees encouraging signs from developing markets that have adopted market liberalisation and who are now starting to enjoy the employment, micro- entrepreneurial and social development benefits of increased competition, there…
The latest figures from the Pakistani telecoms regulator show that the mobile market in Pakistan grew to 78.74m customers at the end of January. The figure for monthly net additions of 1.86m was 17% down on the January 2007 total, and also represented the second lowest figure for two years, the lowest being the 1.52m recorded last October. Read more.
Telecom sector to see funds bonanza, tariff cuts - Business News - News - MSN India - News
India’s booming mobile services market will see investments of over Rs 100,000 crore (around $24 billion) by 2010, the fastest investment ramp-up seen in any telecom market globally even as analysts predict a bruising battle that will see tariffs fall sharply.
The investments include between Rs 48,000 crore and 60,000 crore ($12 billion to $15 billion) from six new telecom players (including Reliance and Tatas’ proposed GSM mobile services) over 12 to 24 months to create capacity for 250 million more mobile subscribers.
This fresh investment will be over and above the estimated Rs 48,000 crore ($12 billion) being put in by incumbents like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone-Essar, Idea Cellular, Bharat…
Broadband Access Data Mischief — SSRC
There is clear consensus that our nation’s ability to compete in the high speed broadband world is essential to our economic future. Unfortunately, the Administration and the Federal Communications Commission continue to rely upon inadequate, highly-flawed data to assess the marketplace for high-speed Internet access. The Administration’s “mission Accomplished” rhetoric does not match reality:
* According to a September 2007 Pew Internet & American Life Project phone survey, roughly half of all Americans don’t have broadband at home. Half is far from universal.
* Fewer than 25% of New Yorkers in rural areas have access to broadband service and nearly two-thirds of people living in New York City lack access to affordable, high-speed broadband. Some New York City neighborhoods — like Sunset…
Tags: America, Broadband, broadband access, broadband technology, Bush, Chicago, China, DSL, Federal Communications Commission, HIGH-speed Internet access, New York City, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Sunset Park, United States, US Department of Commerce.
The main theme of the presentation was that traceability increases the value of the produce. This makes the product more marketable. Farmers dealing with the EU market have to deal with increasingly more stringent levels but this has also allowed those engaged in the traceability process to use it as a tool to market their produce.
Are their other users to the farmer?
- Elimination of the middle man and hence a rise in profit margins
- A degree of knowledge flow of the technical aspects of traceability
- Ability to market the product as a differentiated good.
Is there a net benefit? what are the cost? who pays for traceability? is it a purely private good?
- Is it a public good? it can be used to avoid national catastrophic national implications of the…
A new research study published by the Center for Global Development has looked at the impact of mobile phones on the prices of farm produce in the African country of Niger - which faced serious food shortages in 2005. In theory, the increasing use of mobile phones should have improved distribution efficiency and hence lower the variations in prices around the country. The study set out to see if that was the case.
Rohan Samarajiva chaired the panel discussion on ‘Convergence in Regulation - Designing Regulation for Convergence’ at the GSMA Third Annual Government Mobile Forum on 12 February 2008. The Forum was a part of the 2008 Mobile World Congress, taking place from 11-14 February 2008 in Barcelona 2008.
The panellists included:
Maria Del Rosario Guerra, Minister for Communications, Colombia
Binali Yildirim, Minister of Transport and Communications, Turkey
Daniel Pataki, Chairman European Regulators Group (ERG)
Mickael Gosshein, CEO Orange Jordan
Sol Trujillo, CEO Telstra
The Government Mobile Forum is a unique platform where ministers, regulators and industry leaders come together, face to face, to discuss the opportunities that the mobile industry offers for economic growth and social development and the barriers it faces in meeting this challenge.
…
Tags: Barcelona, Binali Yildirim, Colombia, communications, Daniel Pataki, European Regulators Group, Maria Del Rosario Guerra, Mickael Gosshein, Orange Jordan
Sol Trujillo, Rohan Samarajiva, Turkey, World Congress.
Rohan Samarajiva participated in the Third Annual ‘Joint Roundtable on Communications Policy - The Future of Indian Mobile’ in Kovalam, India from 7-9 February. The Round table was organized by the Aspen Institute India in collaboration with the Aspen Institute, USA.
The objective of the conference was to convene Indian and American business leaders, government policy-makers, leading academics, and other experts to discuss government and business approaches to mobile commerce, mobile banking and m-governance that will have a positive effect on India’s economic and social development.
Microsoft to Buy a Maker of Consumer Smartphones - New York Times
Microsoft said on Monday it would acquire Danger, a maker of consumer smartphones, an indication that the software giant is quickly moving to expand its mobile strategy.
The acquisition came after an on-again, off-again series of talks with Danger, based in Palo Alto, Calif., beginning in the middle of last year. According to a person familiar with the negotiations, Microsoft ultimately doubled what it was willing to pay to keep Danger out of the hands of other suitors, including Google.
Terms of the purchase were not disclosed.
The transaction is evidence of the accelerating shift away from the personal computer and toward a proliferating array of hand-held devices that can access information and entertainment on the Internet.
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Many of us have our own stories how SMS helped in an emergency. Here is mine.
I was at the National Book Exhibition at BMICH on September 12, 2007 evening when a tsunami alert was broadcast. It created instant chaos. I did not have access to a TV or a radio. By then the mobile voice channels were congested.
So it was SMS that I used to:
(a) Find accurate updates about the alert
(b) Make sure my family members are safe and
(c) Inform my family that I am safe
All above was critical for me to decide on my next steps. I did that within 10 minutes, learnt it was low risk, decided to shop for some more time (anyway they closed early on that day) and went home…
The New Digital South website, under its New School of Thought series, features an interview with LIRNEasia’s Director, Strategic Development, Helani Galpaya. Helani talks about the challenges of e-Gov in developing countries. See full interview here.
Please find the concept note added : sustainability-first-concept-note-for-research-version-1.pdf
Please note that this Colloquium is being Skypecast at https://skypecasts.skype.com/skypecasts/skypecast/search.html?search=lirneasia
The Colloquium started out with basic introductions of Dr. Harsha Liyanage and the LIRNEasia crew.
He then went on to explain that he was interested in Telecenters and the Sarvodaya Fusion movement. He went on to tackle the issue of whether Telecenters are sustainable in their own right. He says that there is a negative perception about the sustainability of Telecenters. This is the view often shared by policy makers, regulators, researchers and donors. He went on to speak of the blog site and the telecenter network that has been created to improve the sustainability.
Helani questioned the reasoning behind the reason for focusing on telecenter networks. Harsha responded that prior…
LIRNEasia’s annual report for the year ending 31 March 2007 is now available for download here.
In CBS Test, Mobile Ads Find Users - New York Times
Pssst, hey you! There’s a cheap latte waiting at the coffee shop on the corner!
CBS plans to announce on Wednesday that it is trying one of the first serious experiments with cellphone advertising that is customized for a person’s location. Its CBS Mobile unit is teaming up with the social networking service Loopt, which allows its subscribers to track participating friends and family on their mobile phones.
The ads will appear on two Web sites that are tailored for mobile devices, CBS Mobile News and CBS Mobile Sports.
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