Author Archive for Chanuka Wattegama

India: 3G Auction on Jan 30

by
Chanuka Wattegama
on January 3, 2009
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India’s Department of Telecommunications, or DoT, Friday said the auction of radio bandwidth for third generation, or 3G, mobile phone services will take place as per schedule on Jan. 30 and that there will be no further delay.

Analysts and industry players, however, expect the process not just to be further delayed, but also to attract fewer participants for the bidding process.

Their apprehension follows recent media reports, citing government documents, that the finance ministry has sought to double the auction price for pan-India 3G radio bandwidth, or spectrum, to INR40.40 billion.

“There is no (further) delay. The auction is on schedule,” said Akshay Rout, a spokesman for India’s ministry of communication, told Dow Jones Newswires.

The Indian government had already delayed the auction to Jan. 30 from Jan.…

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India: Telecom sector to create 150,000 jobs in 2009

by
Chanuka Wattegama
on January 2, 2009
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While others worry about the looming recession and job losses, the country’s telecom companies beg to differ. The sector will need up to 1,50,000 additional hands in 2009, according to the hiring consultants.

While new players are launching operations, existing ones are beginning to scale up. Now that the government has issued 120 new licences, telecom industry officials fear a talent crunch that could push salaries in core operations by up to 30% in the next few quarters.

“Conservative estimates put the demand from new players at one lakh people in the first phase. With rolling out of 3G and Wimax, existing players will need another 50,000 people,” said Kris Lakshmikanth, CEO of Bangalore-based Headhunters India.

Read the full stiry in The Economic Times here.

…

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India: Interconnection charges to change after 2002-3?

by
Chanuka Wattegama
on January 2, 2009
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The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is set to review interconnect usage charges (IUC) after they were fixed back in 2002-03 and not revised since then.

TRAI has set the ball rolling to revise IUC, particularly termination charge from Rs0.3/minute to Rs0.1/minute and carriage charge from Rs0.65/minute to as low as Rs0.16/minute.

IUC is payable by one telecom operator to others for use of their networks either for origination, termination or carriage of a call. Inter-operator calls constitute a major part of the total calls handled by the telecom network. These charges are important as they can transfer network costs between operators.

Although reduction in these charges would lead to a lower tariff for customers, as benefits would be passed on due to intense competition, it would…

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Maldives: Dhiraagu license renewed, but no more exclusivities

by
Chanuka Wattegama
on December 29, 2008
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Dhiraagu, the incumbent telecom operator of the Maldives had its license renewed for a term of 15 years. Since its establishment in 1988, Dhiraagu enjoyed an exclusivity on the provision of fixed line services. It was also the only company allowed to carry international traffic into the island nation and terminate on any network. We are happy to note that the Telecom Authority of Maldives (TAM) has not extended these exclusivities in the new license that will be effective from January 2009. The move should, at a minimum, have an impact on international incoming call prices to the Maldives, since Dhiraagu’s competitor Wataniya will now be able to carry inward bound traffic and terminate on any network.

Dhiraagu is owned by the Government of Maldives (GoM) and Cable &…

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Indonesia to implement Wimax broadband in 2009

by
Chanuka Wattegama
on December 29, 2008
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Indonesia will implement Wimax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) broadband technology next year to improve access to the Internet across the country, an official said Sunday.

Engkos Koswara, an expert adviser to the state minister for research and technology, told Antara news agency the government was still testing the 2.3 GHz frequency for the Wimax technology.

“We hope that by next year, Wimax technology will be implemented,” he said in Medan, North Sumatra, adding the government would encourage the use of domestic products to support the technology.

Indonesia ranks very low in the region in the use of broadband for Internet access.

Read the full story in Jakarta Post here.

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Sri Lanka: Whither onshore BPOs @BOP?

by
Chanuka Wattegama
on December 29, 2008
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Recessions are not bad for everybody. Proverbial silver line in the cloud, they bring hope to some. Success of the India BPO industry can partially be attributed to the post 9/11 recession. Tighter the economy, cheaper the solutions business looks for.

How far onshore rural BPOs cater to the needs of their clients? It might not exactly be toy manufacturing outsourced to rural China, but close. The connectivity issues still exist, and capacity building too remains a challenge. The good news is in spite of all that things do happen.

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Isura Seneviratne, 22, runs OnTime Technologies at Mahavilachchiya – the first rural BPO in Sri Lanka, born as a joint effort of Horizon Lanka Academy and FARO (Foundation for Advancing Rural Opportunities). Isuru and its first manager…

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Mobile Content Developer: An Unusually High-Paying Job – Yahoo

by
Chanuka Wattegama
on December 29, 2008
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As our world rapidly evolves, it’s no surprise that the work landscape is evolving as well. You can prepare for and keep up with the changes by updating your training and credentials.

One of the six high-flying jobs Yahoo! Hotjobs featured in its latest article is about designing content for mobile platform. Here is the full description. (with an eulogized version of the job title) In US it guarantees a six figure salary, apparently. Cannot be as high as that in the developing world, but something worth keeping an eye on.

Mobile Experience Architect

The cool streaming videos and eye-popping CD covers that get delivered to the screens of millions of cell phones and PDAs each hour are designed to make you spend money. Information architects create the…

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Broadband Internet helps rural community

by
Chanuka Wattegama
on December 28, 2008
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There was a time when Mira Lira wasn’t able to run her online business effectively out of this former mining town 60 miles east of Phoenix. Not on a dial-up connection.

“I use the Internet daily for e-mail and marketing,” Lira said.

But today Lira is enjoying broadband Internet access as she provides virtual administrative help for offices around the country through Miracle Executive Services.

The relief came in the form of small white boxes with tiny antennas atop homes, the school, even a light pole at the baseball field. Lira happily shows these to a visitor to illustrate what a wireless Internet network means to this community.

“Having high-speed in rural communities is like having a sewer system; it’s needed for a healthy community,” Lira said. Since 2007,…

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India Telecom: The ringtone is loud and clear

by
Chanuka Wattegama
on December 28, 2008
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Everyone is betting big on the telecom growth story as it is steadily gaining traction amidst the global financial turmoil. This sector has emerged as a big contributor to the GDP and has recorded a 42.2% growth in the quarter ended Sep ‘08.

Telecom is being seen as a significant contributor to the country’s foreign direct investment (FDI). The launch of 3G will give a big boost to services. The ministry has allowed foreign players to bid for 3G licences, that will in turn ensure increased attention from foreign investors. The industry attracted about $2bn as FDI during April to September this year, which is a significant jump from $1.2bn during the last calendar year.

India currently has a subscriber base of 373 million. The figures are…

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2008: Watershed year for telecom sector in India

by
Chanuka Wattegama
on December 27, 2008
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For a country that stood at the bottom of the pyramid in terms of telecom penetration a decade ago, 2008 was a watershed when India’s subscriber base topped 350 million users to make its network the second largest in the world after China, displacing the US.

The significant achievement was made possible by the mobile telephony segment of communications, which was once thought to be a gizmo for the rich - what with a tariff of Rs.16.80 per call when the telecom revolution began in the country in the early 1990s. But with tariff falling to 40 paise a call and incoming calls becoming free, mobile telephony began to appeal to the masses.

In fact, 2008 also saw Indian telecom operators add a whopping 8-10 million new…

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Sri Lanka Telecenter connectivity story 4: Pocketed Broadband

by
Chanuka Wattegama
on December 26, 2008
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Electricity is said to be the only infrastructure the twentieth century communist rulers have truly cared for.  The practice may have had its origins in Lenin’s efforts for full electrification of the Soviet state, started in 1920 (aka GOELRO Plan). Nevertheless it makes perfect sense. Let the masses have electricity so that they can switch on television sets. They will not worry about anything else.

The further you travel from Colombo, the more you wonder whether Sri Lanka too had been an ex-communist state. The roads get narrower and mucky – sometimes even 20 kmph is high speed - and mobiles work intermittently – only when you reach within a cell town. Still you have electricity – almost anywhere. Even at Pitakumbura Navodya School, where we…

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Four years after Tsunami 2004 : Your smiles are ours

by
Chanuka Wattegama
on December 26, 2008
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Four years to history, ‘Your tears are mine’ (see below) was my reaction to Asian tsunami. Reproduced in multiple sites, it was recited once in a remembrance event. Though written more in a Sri Lankan context, let me pick it again today, to remember all 225,000 lives lost, in the worst tsunami in recent history - that caused vast damage to four countries LIRNEasia closely works in, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and India.

Not my every wish was granted. The aftermath of tsunami, instead of creating a division-free society demonstrated how pathetically the disparities were amplified. Still the humanity did not collapse on December 2004. We did not let tsunami block our way.

Four years later, having completed the recovery process, most tsunami victimized societies stand on…

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Sri Lanka Telecentre connectivity story 3: The 128 kpbs umbilical cord is not too bad…

by
Chanuka Wattegama
on December 25, 2008
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The looks may deceive, but this is a radio station. Prabhavi Community Radio - the first Internet community radio in Sri Lanka comes from Prabhavi Resources Center, Weranketagoda, Ampara - the post-conflict district in Eastern province (8 hours travel from Colombo). It operates from a Nenasala, one of the 500 odd telecenters funded by the World Bank under e-Sri Lanka program. A brainchild of Ajith Karunarathne, it runs as a nonprofit venture entirely by volunteers Asiri (red shirt, first photo) and his team.

Strangely, this radio station connects to Internet thru a 128 kbps pipe. That is all available, though both major broadband providers claim they cover the Ampara town – 15 km away. The link is from not any of them. The unidirectional antenna - in…

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Sri Lanka telecenter connectivity story 2: If there is a will there is a way…

by
Chanuka Wattegama
on December 23, 2008
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On January 16, 2008 a bus bomb went off killing 25 and injuring more than 60, in a remote area of Moneragala, arguably the least connected district in the island. Within less than two hours, the international news channels were up with clips. Nuwan Sameera (inset) FTPed them from his Nenasala telecenter in Bibile town – about one hour journey away.

Nuwan operates just within 200 m from a telecom tower (see photo) but bureaucracy is bureaucracy. Spending World Bank money generously, ICTA, the implementation agency of Nenasala telecenter network under the e-Sri Lanka program, first provided a VSAT link from a different operator. (Perhaps the tower came later and fortunately, and Nuwan does not have to foot the bill, about US$ 750 per month, in…

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Sri Lanka telecenter connectivity story 1: Not an infrastructure issue always…

by
Chanuka Wattegama
on December 21, 2008
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Ambuluwawa, about 1,100 m above sea level, is probably the highest point in the vicinity of Gampola. Not surprisingly, all telecom operators exploit the geography. Transmission stations/towers encircle the summit. (See above) That is what one calls infrastructure.

Just 10 km away, Sirimalwatte Ananda thero, a young and energetic Buddhist monk, runs a Nenasala, a telecenter established under the World Bank funded e-Sri Lanka program. He is not content with the Internet facilities. He pays Rs. 11,250 (about USD 100) per month for a 128 kbps link of inconsistent speed. This is twice more what a user in Colombo pay for her, not 128 k but 2 Mbps link – from the same operator.

Use simple maths. Ananda thero pays THIRTY TWO (32) times more per kbps than…

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