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 does not vary with use.
The mobile operators did not quite understand what the government wanted to do and decided to absorb the tax. They made various pleas and protests and got the tax reduced to Taka 800. Finally, in 2008, they decided they had enough and decided to pass on most of the tax to customers. As a result, it is likely that Bangladesh, which is experiencing the highest mobile…
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 devices. They have a right to receive accurate and honest information about service plans. But these guarantees are not enough to prevent network providers from discriminating in ways that limit the freedom of expression on the Internet. Because most Americans only have a choice of only one or two broadband carriers, carriers are tempted to impose a toll charge on content and services, discriminating against websites that are unwilling to pay…
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 fixed December 01st as the next day of hearing.
A party that opposed not the idea of Environment tax, but the manner it was irrationally applied on mobile usage (not ownership) LIRNEasia takes pride in presenting some of its previous blog posts on the subject below.
Oct 30, 2007: “Green” tax to be imposed on mobiles?
April 10, 2008: Is mobile phone a polluter?
Aug 03, 2008: Taxing poor to clear the e-waste of rich
Aug 14,…
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 Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata shortly. The company is expected to add audio playback for search queries on local news and entertainment.
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 dialogue between serious players in the region. The event will feature keynotes, thought-leadership presentations, interactive discussion panels and real-world case studies on ‘hot topics’ pertinent to the South Asian industry.
Rohan will make a presentation entitled, ‘Introducing broadband: investment conditions, regulatory challenges and addressing QoS’ at a session entitled, ‘Exploiting technologies for future growth and development’. Rohan will also be among panelists at a discussion on ‘Leveraging on next generation technologies to extend the service offering’.
Other…
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 horrendously long time.
So it is with some pleasure that we see that peer review is being melded with blogging in the hope of accelerating the process:
“Although Web 2.0, with its emphasis on user-generated content, has been derided as a commercial cul-de-sac, it may prove to be a path to speedier scientific advancement. According to Adam Bly, Seed’s founder, internet-aided interdisciplinarity and globalisation, coupled with a generational shift, portend a great…
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 up from the indexes, sitting in some corner trying to decide which ones to haul back to the office . . . these were familiar and pleasurable activities.
Then the library catalog (along with those of almost all the university libraries in the state) came online. Now the searching was mostly from the office. Then came the delivery service. I could order the book online and it would turn up in…
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 clothes in the middle of paddy fields would check Dow Jones index, or for that matter, read this blog post. Neither have we believed they would gather at nearby Telecenter to find information about pesticides. Not that they don’t need such info – but we know the difference between their approaches and typical ICT4D thinking. We are interested doing policy research – not academic – and we thrive in making differences.
This…
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.”
As Wikipedia tells us, cigarettes are a significant source of tax revenue in many localities. This fact has historically been an impediment for health groups seeking to discourage cigarette smoking, since governments seek to maximize tax revenues. It is established that higher prices for cigarettes discourage smoking. Every 10 percent increase in the price of cigarettes reduced youth smoking by about seven percent and overall cigarette consumption by about four percent.
We…
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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 by Innovation”. The action research: Evaluating a real-time Biosurveillance program, being pilot tested in the state of Tamil Nadu, India and the District of Kurunegala, Sri Lanka over the next 2 years to come is an innovation emphasizing m-Health. The two ladies: Geetha G (left) and Suma Prashanth (right) in the news articel are managing the RTBP project in India, which includes developing the technology and piloting the ICT system with Village Health…
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 more. The increased Internet access that has come about as a result of more and more people getting onto broadband connections has meant that consumers have been able to scour the web to get the best deals, thus saving money on other products and services.
A recent report from the Post Office service has suggested that homes that do not have broadband access and therefore are not able to get online to…
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 were launched and hence resulted in a surge in the number of mobile subscribers. In 2005, Wataniya enters the market (through a relatively transparent process). The anticipation of this entry results in a large drop in the incumbent prices.
The current market: There is a monopoly on fixed: Dhiraagu. However, the exclusivity ends in 2009. There is a duopoly in the mobile between Dhiraagu and Wataniya. Broadband is also a duopoly between Dhiraagu and…
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 to find time for social networking? Knowing my obsessive self, I know that I will start spending more or more time making sure my entries are up to date and project the right message if I get in to this business. Best to stay away altogether.
Now this may seem some maudling trivia that does not belong in a serious website like LIRNEasia. But it is part of a larger and…
Few weeks back, I was in Davos, with Peter Anderson and Natasha Udu-gama. Nuwan Waidyanatha, the man who carried the HazInfo Last Mile Project on his broad shoulders was there in spirit too. We were there to tell the world about the project and learn about how early warning fits into the big picture of disaster risk reduction.
And we did. Strangely enough, I learned more from one off-print lying on a table than the entire whole conference on the subject that brought me to Davos. The second author happens to be a friend of mine teaching at the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok, but that was not why.
It was just a very good review of the massive scientific literature coming out of the analysis of the aftermath of the…
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 deliver a high volume of emergency messages in a short period of time.
”SMS is touted as being able to deliver critical information during disaster events, and such services have been purchased by universities and municipalities hoping to protect the general public,” stated Patrick Traynor, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the School of Computer Science at the Georgia Institute of Technology. ”Unfortunately, such systems typically will not work as advertised.” Read more.
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