Monthly Archives: September, 2008
Bangladesh government’s effort to slow down mobile growth finally likely to bear results
In its 2005-06 budget (Khaleda Zia) the Bangladesh government imposed a regressive Taka 900 tax on each SIM that was issued. We describe the tax as regressive because, if it was passed on to customers, it would hurt the low-user segment (generally the poorer segment) of the market more, because it’s a fixed tax that [...]
Barack Obama gives up his plans for ‘Net Neutrality’?
This might not be good news for the proponents of Net Neutrality. Barack Obama has recently edited his website with significant revisions to the technology plans. Guess what goes out. A large paragraph on Net Neutrality! (which is reproduced below): [quote] Users must be free to access content, to use applications, and to attach personal [...]
Small Victory for LIRNEasia: Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court issues Interim Order against Tax on Mobile Phones and Telecom Towers
Considering five fundamental rights applications yesterday (Sept 22), the Supreme Court issued an interim order against the implementation of the Environment Tax, reported Lanka Dissent. The petitioners were Ven. Maduluwawe Sobhitha Thera, Ven. Kiniyawala Palitha Thera, Telshan Network and Swarnavahini. The SC ordered the immediate suspension of the gazette notification announcing the new tax, and [...]
Google entices mobile phone users with voice search
Business Standard | Priyanka Joshi / Mumbai September 21, 2008, 0:31 IST Internet search giant Google hopes to hook the millions of cellular phone subscribers in India who do not use data or SMS-based services with its voice-based search. It is conducting pilot projects in Hyderabad and Delhi, and is expected to roll out more in [...]
LIRNEasia’s ED at Telecoms World South Asia, 2008
Rohan Samarajiva has been invited to speak at the 2008 Telecoms World South Asia Conference, to be held in Dhaka, Bangladesh from 7 – 9 October. This event, designed for South Asia’s top telecommunication players interested in building and managing a business-focused telecommunciations organization, is intended to provide an important platform for information exchange through [...]
Peer review through blogging
LIRNEasia is, among other things, a research organization. Good research is what goes through peer review. But peer review requires a lot of genuflection to the prior literature (not that easy to do, sitting in Sri Lanka/India/etc, and lacking access to all the relevant journals (despite the wonders made possible by Google). It takes a [...]
Does Google reduce our ability to think?
When I started teaching, a weekly visit to the library was a necessary ritual. Physically leafing through the indexes and abstracts, writing down the classification numbers (I still fondly recall the HE 7700s), and then walking into the stacks to pick up the books, scan for others that may be of interest that didn’t come [...]
LIRNEasia needs YOU! (if you are not the photographer!)
This is an old idea in a new photograph. Taken from the Saturday on-line edition of Daily Mirror.lk. One hand typing is fun. Not to mention modem-free Internet. (Or is he doing a Powerpoint presentation?) LIRNEasia believes in taking the benefits of ICTs to the masses. What it does not believe is famers in lion [...]
Digital cigarettes
One local telco CEO recently whined about being viewed as a cigarette manufacturer. “Everybody wants to tax us, as if mobiles are a product more hazardous than cigarettes. Tobacco kills, mobiles don’t; communication facilitates better living conditions and saves environment because it reduces transport. It is gross unfair both are seen in the same light.” [...]
RTBP m-Health Connect in India
![](http://lirneasia.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/rtbp-on-the-hindu-231x300.jpg "Rural Technology and Business Incubator on \\"The Hindu\\"")
This past week, our friends from the Rural Technology and Business Incubator (RTBI) of the Indian Institute of Technology showcased the Real-Time Biosurveillance Program (RTBP) at the Connect 2008 exhibition hosted in Chennai, India from September 11-13. The theme of this year’s event, which is the 8th episode, is – Global Competitiveness and Equitable Growth-Driven [...]
Not having broadband could cost some households a fortune
According to a recent report households that do not have broadband access could be spending a fortune on other household goods and services. Over recent years an increasing number of consumers have started to use the Internet to find the best deals on everything from holidays and cars to household goods, entertainment, finance, services, and [...]
Colloquium: Maldives TRE Study 2008
The study was conducted by Ms. Helani Galpaya. She first went over the overview of the Maldives, both in general and telecommunications. Previous monopoly partially privatized, and Dhiraagu is established in 1988 and continues to dominate the market. 10% of GDP is attributed to communication services, of which telecom is dominant.IN 2001 mobile prepaid services [...]
Scarcity of time for webservices (or why I am not on linkedin)?
I am guilty of not being on any of the social networking sites. All the invitations I receive, I designate as junkmail. It’s not luddism, nor incompetence, nor arrogance. Just simple lack of time. Just to deal with my email and tend to this website, I need 26 hours a day. Where am I going [...]
Report: SMS not ideal for Emergency Communications
US trade group, 3G Americas has published a research report focusing on restrictions on the use of SMS as an emergency alert service. It says there are serious limitations in third party Emergency Alert Systems (EAS). In particular, because of the general architecture of CDMA, TDMA and GSM cellular networks, such systems will not be able to [...]
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