Monthly Archives: August, 2008
International gateway monopoly dies in Bangladesh
Government’s monopoly over the international telephony is finally breathing its last in Bangladesh. Bangla Trac, Mir Telecom and Novotel are commencing their international gateway services today. The government had asked the telecoms regulator way back in 2003 to liberalize the international gateway. But the illegal call bypassing outfits had succeeded to block that initiative. The bypassing ventures [...]
Sri Lanka: Udaya Gammanpila says Environmental Levy does not burden public
Responding to Rohan Samarajiva’s views on newly implemented Environmental levy in Lankadeepa last week, Central Environmental Authority Chairman Udaya Gammanpila calls it essential and the ‘first progressive tax’ in Sri Lanka. Assuring it does not burden public, he says any tax can be initially unpopular but the impact should be seen in long term. (Lankadeepa, [...]
No kidding! Operator pays YOU for incoming calls!!
Strange will be the telecom world in emerging markets. Free incoming calls are the norm in many counties. Ever thought it can get even better? Operator paying the mobile users for incoming? Where on earth such crazy things happen? Answer: In India. Virgin Mobile pays 10 paise (about 0.25 US cents) for every incoming call [...]
LIRNEasia’s 2005-06 work on dam safety pays off, but incompletely
We welcome the USD 71 million project to improve dam safety in Sri Lanka. LIRNEasia , together with several partners including the Sri Lanka Committee on Large Dams, Vanguard Management and Sarvodaya, did a lot of work on raising awareness of the impending dangers posed by ill-maintained dams, going as far as saying that a [...]
Sri Lanka: Same Broadband; Different Taxes?
We all missed the obvious flaw, but not Malinda. The full credit for detecting that you are taxed differently for the same service should go to the eighteen year old from Kurunegala – the ever vigilant consumer. He pointed out in the latest post in his local language blog for a 512/128 kpbs Wi-Max connection you [...]
Nigeria smiles with telecoms growth
The Nigerian telecoms sector, one of the greatest success stories not just in Africa but also the whole of the rest of the world, just keeps on going from strength-to-strength. New figures just released by the Nigerian regulator show that, since May of this year, Nigeria’s telephony subscriber base has expanded by a further 3.7 million [...]
Siemens exits telecoms sector after 160 years
It’s been a long and glorious history. The German company Siemens was one of the very first companies ever to lay telephone cables and make telephony switches, but today it is exiting the industry after more than a century and a half. The company was founded by Werner von Siemens on October 1, 1847, (the [...]
Grameenphone fined for illegal VoIP services
Grameenphone has agreed to pay an administrative fine of BDT 2500 million (US$37.3 million) to the telecoms regulator, the BTRC, for providing E1 connectivity to third parties, enabling the use of Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) technology which is unlawful and illegal. “We deeply regret that such unlawful practices were carried out and not disclosed [...]
TRAI and DoT lock horns on India’s 3G policy
TRAI’s recent letter to DoT, highlighting shortcomings in the government 3G policy, has kicked up differences between the telecom regulator and DoT. TRAI, in its letter, has highlighted six shortcomings in the 3G auction guidelines that were announced recently. The most significant one that can impact exchequer revenue relates to the need for an “amended’ [...]
You may need guarantors to buy a mobile connection in India
Want to buy a SIM while travelling to India? Passport and other identification papers may not be good enough. You will need two guarantors to get a new mobile connection, said The Economic Times.
Sri Lanka: Road to ‘Dharma Rajya’ does not look ‘toll-free’
Central Environmental Authority Chairman Udaya Gammanpila calls the new ‘Environmental tax’ essential, pro-poor and progressive. Releasing used mobile phones and CFL bulbs to environment is dangerous, he warns, with a long list of hazardous chemicals that would perhaps put a chemistry professor to shame. He wants to collect them for recycling. The tax money will [...]
Another LIRNEasia researcher joins Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy
Upon being awarded a full scholarship, LIRNEasia researcher Tahani Iqbal has moved to Singapore to commence her graduate studies in public policy at the LKY School at the National University of Singapore. She joins Senior Researcher Sriganesh Lokanathan who is in his second year at the Lee Kuan Yew School. He was also awarded [...]
Is Indonesia the next big thing in broadband?
Indonesia is emerging as a hot broadband market, mainly as a result of the increasing availability of high-speed 3G and HSDPA mobile services. According to Arjun Trivedi, the head of business in Indonesia for Nokia Siemens Networks, high speed mobile services are now the dominant form of broadband access in the country. He says, “In [...]
Colloquium: Sarvodaya Satellite and Web Radio as precursor to Sarvodaya Community Radio – The way forward and the challenges
The Colloquium hopes to assess how the project can be sustained within the Sarvodaya arena. Chaminda Rajakaruna opened the presentation with a brief introduction to Sarvodaya. Sarvodaya is a widely expanded grassroots levels organisation. He went on to present the vision of the Deshodaya as well. Purpose of the intervention was to take the mssge [...]
Envy tax on mobile phones shows TRC doesn’t have a clue
Lakbima News, 10 August 2008: An article published in the Lakbima News documents an interview held with Prof. Rohan Samarajiva on the proposed mobile phone taxes in Sri Lanka: “Economic incentives are used to help the environment. The objective of such measures is not to make money – the sole objective should be to prevent [...]
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