Monthly Archives: March, 2011
CPRafrica 2012/CPRsouth7: call for abstracts and young scholar applications. Click here for details.
Public phones salvaging Japan
Japan is shattered by the catastrophic earthquake in every respect and communication has become critical thereafter. Mobile phone is one among the first victims at infrastructure front. The rescuers have immediately switched on two-way radio and possibly satellite communication gears. But the citizens’ mobile phones are predictably sunk into silence. And the emergency hot-lines were [...]
Sympathies to the victims of the 2011 Pacific Ocean tsunami
We are saddened by the multiple tragedies of the earthquake, dam break, nuclear station problem, local tsunami and teletsunami. We offer our condolences to the victims and our admiration and encouragement to the brave men and women doing the hard work of providing succor to the survivors. More concretely, we are working on a media [...]
Sri Lanka: Leased line prices to be lowered to encourage BPO business and Internet use
A news report indicates that lowering leased line prices (described as commercial broadband in the report has risen on the policy agenda in Sri Lanka. This is excellent news, though, of course, I would have preferred a story in the past tense: i.e., “domestic and international leased line prices have been reduced.” Present broadband charges [...]
LIRNEasia Senior Research Manager at Malaysian event
LIRNEasia Senior Research Manager, Sriganesh Lokanathan was invited by Wetlands International to speak on issues pertaining to the access and use markets and ICTs for livelihood resilience. The conference titled “Building Livelihood Resilience in Changing Climate”, was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 3-5 March, 2011 and brought together practitioners, researchers and donors working on [...]
Shall we all agree to let the Internet be a free space for expression?
Since Harvard Forum II, we have been engaged in a low-key conversation about the liberating potential for ICTs, especially networks. For understandable reasons, the pace has picked up in recent times, especially in relation to the use of the kill switch by cornered tyrants. Now here’s a piece that is relevant to the discussion about [...]
More time spent on apps than on talk; not all smartphones are equally friendly to apps
For a number of reasons, including our conclusion that for most of the BOP the path to the Internet runs through a mobile handset, LIRNEasia is interested in how people use smartphones. Here is a report summarizing research findings: The average smartphone owner spends 667 minutes a month using apps. That is more time spent [...]
Improving the understanding of telecom policy and regulation by journalists
I have been invited to speak at an event in Dhaka on March 10th intended to improve the understanding of the complexities of telecom policy and regulation by Bangladeshi journalists. I am here responding to a question whether speaking at events such as this organized by operators could create a negative perception about LIRNEasia. Is [...]
Breaking the chokehold on communication
In a recent piece in Himal, I summarized the ideas I have been developing on the nation state and its control of telecom networks used by its citizens. The thesis was that in countries above a certain threshold of electronic connectivity, shutting down networks was futile. The regime would fall. Now here’s a new spin. [...]
MNP backfires in India
Regulator proposes and market disposes. MNP has backfired in India since its introduction three months back. Hindustan Times said, Reliance and BSNL lose. Vodafone, Idea and Airtel win. CDMA is out, GSM is in. That’s the verdict on mobile number portability (MNP), which came into force nationwide on January 20. It is a trend that [...]
LIRNEasia Senior Research Manager at Sesame Workshop, New Delhi
LIRNEasia Senior Research Manager, Ayesha Zainudeen, was recently invited by Sesame Workshop India to give a special address at an action forum entitled, “M for Mobile: Exploring Technology for Social Development in India”, in New Delhi, India. It was organized with support from the Ford Foundation. The two-and-a-half day workshop brought together experts from mobile [...]
LIRNEasia Consultant Lead Economist at IFAD Governing Council Meeting
Dr. Harsha de Silva, LIRNEasia’s Consultant Lead Economist, was among the invited speakers at the 34th Governing Council meeting of the International Fund for Agricultural Development at its headquarters in Rome from 19 – 20 February 2011. Delegates from the 167 member states met to hear prominent international figures, high-ranking government officials and emerging leaders on [...]
Namibia: What to do when mobile termination is reduced but offnet charges don’t follow
Namibia poses an interesting question. The regulator acts to reduce one of the key costs of providing offnet calls, the mobile termination rate. But the operator holding 85 percent market share refuses to make a corresponding reduction in offnet call charges. Now the regulator has responded by ordering reduction of offnet call charges. Namibia has [...]
People’s power, powered by technology
The people of Philippines stunned the world when they mobilized demonstration through text messaging and toppled the government in 2001. Communication technology got embedded among the protesters worldwide thereafter. Rohan’s recent visit in Iran has evidently prompted him to revisit the increasingly inseparable bond between technology and freedom movements. Demonstrators throw stones, possibly, because the [...]
LIRNEasia Senior Research Managers at Singapore conference on the impacts of mobile phones
LIRNEasia Senior Research Managers Sriganesh Lokanathan and Ayesha Zainudeen represented LIRNEasia at a conference organized by the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) of the National University of Singapore (NUS), titled “Celling South Asia: The Mobile Phone’s Impact on a Region” (17 – 18 February 2011). Sriganesh made a presentation on “Price Transparency through ICTs – [...]
Ofcom slams fraudband (for fixed ISPs only)
Ofcom has warned that the UK’s landline ISPs are still delivering less than half of the peak-download speeds they advertise. The regulator’s research shows that the average broadband speed increased from 5.2 Mbps (May 2010) to 6.2 Mbps (November/December 2010) but was less than half (45 per cent) of the average advertised broadband speed of [...]
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