January 2009 — Page 2 of 3 — LIRNEasia


India: The Impact of Mobile Phones

Posted on January 20, 2009  /  0 Comments

A recent report of the same title, published by Vodafone and ICRIER, India, reveal that Indian states with high mobile penetration can be expected to grow faster than those states with lower mobile penetration rates, namely, 1.2% points for every 10% increase in the penetration rate. The research also highlights the role of mobile along with complementary skills and other infrastructure, for the full realization of benefits of access to communications in agriculture and among SMEs.  Importantly, telecommunications cannot be seen in isolation from other parts of the development process. In urban slums, the research reveals the importance of network effects, i.
In August 2008, LIRNEasia made a big push to eliminate the anomaly of intra-SAARC calls that were more expensive than calls to Singapore, UK, USA and other liberalized markets.  This bore fruit in the form of para 6 of the SAARC Summit Declaration: The Heads of State or Government observed that an effective and economical regional tele-communication regime is an essential factor of connectivity, encouraging the growth of people-centric partnerships. They stressed the need for the Member States to endeavour to move towards a uniformly applicable low tariff, for international direct dial calls within the region. While the regulators are cogitating. it appears that the operators are acting.
There are many who think telecom networks should be congestion free, always, like during or just before a disaster.   It is practically impossible because no network can be economically designed and run for unusual peak loads.  The report that mobile companies in the US are asking their customers to go easy on calls and MMS, is illustrative of the phenomenon.  Why would they walk away from an opportunity to make money? The largest cellphone carriers, fearful that a communicative citizenry will overwhelm their networks, have taken the unusual step of asking people to limit their phone calls and to delay sending photos.
The $825 billion proposal from the Obama transition team and House Democrats includes $6 billion to improve the U.S. broadband infrastructure, which is lacking in many rural and mountainous areas, particularly the West. There aren’t a lot of details yet on how that $6 billion would be given out, but it doesn’t seem to encompass the tax breaks phone and cable companies were lobbying for. Even so, the wireless industry was cheering Thursday morning because a summary of the spending released by House Democrats calls for the money to be used on “broadband and wireless grants.
Qatar Telecommunications Co QTEL said on Saturday it would begin tender offers for shares in Indonesian telecoms firm PT Indosat on Tuesday to lift its stake to 65 percent, the maximum allowed. Indonesia limits foreign ownership in the telecommunication sector to a maximum of 65 percent for mobile phone operators and 49 percent for fixed-line operators. Two tender offers would begin concurrently in Indonesia and the United States at 7,388 rupiahs ($0.661) per share and would expire on Feb. 18, Qtel said.
It is good to see that quality of service (QoS) is coming under the Asian regulatory microscopes. The Philippines regulator has called for improved service quality of broadband while India’s TRAI has initiated a public consultation. The region may be exploding with growth but it is also infested with adulterated services. Precisely, the Asian service providers widely deceive the consumers in terms of quality. It is the result of inconsistent policy coupled with the lack of regulatory oversight.
As our regular readers know, LIRNEasia is normally modest about our achievements. We see no reason blowing our own horn when we have others to do so. Still when International Research Development Center (IDRC) profiles Harsha De Silva, we see no reason not reproduce the same – particularly, when it refers to our research. Extract: After his studies, de Silva returned to Sri Lanka to work as the chief economist and treasurer of the country’s largest development bank, declining employment offers in North America. “I belong in my country and that’s how I see it,” says de Silva.
Update: Media coverage – ‘Prudent Trade and Policy Strategies with India will benefit Sri Lanka‘, The Island, 15.01.09 — This work was outside LIRNEasia‘s core research program, but is still relevant because it addresses questions on services trade and investment between two countries LIRNEasia works in.  The forum was Sanvada, a policy dialogue run by the Pathfinder Foundation.   One of the key claims is that a framework agreement with some disciplinary force would be of greater value to Sri Lanka as a small country in its relations with India, and that this is even more true for services trade.
The Internet may not be such a dangerous place for children after all. A task force created by 49 state attorneys general to look into the problem of sexual solicitation of children online has concluded that there really is not a significant problem. The findings ran counter to popular perceptions of online dangers as reinforced by depictions in the news media like NBC’s “To Catch a Predator” series. One attorney general was quick to criticize the group’s report. This was a bunch of Attorneys General, people who face the electorate every few years (or are appointed by the Governors, in a few cases).
According to this research finding, Google is warming the planet by giving us fast websearches. Performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea, according to new research. While millions of people tap into Google without considering the environment, a typical search generates about 7g of CO2 Boiling a kettle generates about 15g. “Google operates huge data centres around the world that consume a great deal of power,” said Alex Wissner-Gross, a Harvard University physicist whose research on the environmental impact of computing is due out soon. “A Google search has a definite environmental impact.
Global economic downturn spares none and its latest victim is the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) Foundation. The OLPC is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachussetts and the organisation’s laudable aim is to provide free “basic” laptop computers to deprived children in poor countries. However, as MIT professor Nicholas Negroponte, the OLPC’s founder admits, “We’re no longer the newest story in town and the economic downturn has hit us, just like it’s hit everybody else”. Read more.

Sri Lanka: Bharti Airtel rates out

Posted on January 12, 2009  /  57 Comments

It looks pretty simple. Incoming free. Outgoing Rs. 2 per minute (to any phone) Local SMS Rs. 1.
Sri Lanka is a small and densely populated country.  When the oldest mobile operator (started business in 1989) says that it is adding 40 towers a month, it shows a real hard push to increase coverage in rural Sri Lanka.  The reward is reaching 2 million customers and high customer satisfaction ratings, according to the CEO. Sri Lankan mobile operator Tigo, a unit of Millicom International Cellular, said it had reached two million subscribers in 2008 after heavy investments to expand its network coverage. A statement from the company, formerly known as Celltel Lanka, attributed the growth to “network expansion, the strength of the brand and excellent customer service.
IT and telecom businesses in Vietnam achieved a revenue of more than US$5.4 billion in 2008, a 38 percent increase over 2007. The IT industry’s revenue alone increased by 20 percent to US$3 billion, and its export turnover from electronic and telecom products reached US$2.4 billion, according to Information and Communications Minister Le Doan Hop. Speaking at a round-up conference for the information and communication sector, Mr.
China’s telecommunications supervisor on Wednesday issued long-awaited third-generation (3G) mobile phone licenses to three mobile operators, a move that is expected to lead to billions of dollars being invested in building new networks. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said China’s biggest mobile operator, China Mobile, was awarded a license for TD-SCDMA, the domestically-developed 3G standard. The other two main carriers, China Telecom and China Unicom, received licenses for the US-developed CDMA2000 and Europe’s WCDMA, respectively. The 3G high-speed networks can handle faster data downloads, allowing handset users to make video calls and watch TV programs. Read the full story in China Daily here.
Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) today published a list of short codes to be used in case of emergencies and to access other e-gov services. They will work on any phone, mobile or fixed from any operator. Emergency calls are free. To access a service, normal call charges apply. Public are advised to use these codes as per the specific nature of emergency.