Sangamitra, currently attached to the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford, UK, presented the paper titled, “The Price Sensitivity of Mobile Use Among Low Income Households in Six Countries of Asia”. The paper analysed data from the six country survey, Teleuse at the Bottom of the Pyramid (T@BOP), conducted by LIRNEasia in 2008. Sangamitra first participated at CPRsouth1 as a young scholar. She then engaged with CPRsouth as a paper presenter at CPRsouth3, 4 and 6 where she presented chapters of her PhD thesis relevant to communication policy.

Faheem is currently attached to the Asian University for Women (AUW), Bangladesh as an Assistant Professor of ICT and Computer Science. His paper titled “Telecom Regulatory Environment in Digital Bangladesh: Exploring the Disconnects Between Public Policies/Regulations and Real World Sector Performance”, used data from LIRNEasia’s study on the Telecom Regulatory Environment (TRE), 2010.

LIRNEasia’s study on Broadband Quality of Service Experience (BBQoSE) began in 2007. Since then, more than six rounds of testing has been conducted in over five countries, using the AT-Tester (developed by the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras).

LIRNEasia has used multiple means on conveying the results. These ranged from public forums which provided a platform for interaction between the different stakeholders to responding to public consultations by Telecom Regulatory Agencies to advertising campaigns in the local newspapers.

A more detailed description of the communications strategy used for the project can be viewed in the form of a video HERE

Present day practices in developing countries like Bhutan do not allow for the much needed real-time disease surveillance. The aim of LIRNEasia’s recently concluded Real-Time Biosurveillance Program (RTBP)  action research in India and Sri Lanka proved that mobile phones can bridge the information communication inefficiencies and spatio-temporal statistical data mining tools can rapidly detect heath events, from those received patient case data, in near-real-time. Detected disease events of significance (infectious or life-style diseases) are then relayed to health workers’ mobile phones for interventions.

Nuwan Waidyanatha presented the findings of the RTBP at the event, jointly organized by LIRNEasia and the Bhutan Infocomm and Media Authority. The RTBP evidence showed the effective use of the mobile application and bio-surveillance algorithms to enable early detection of diseases. The presentation was well received; especially by the Secretary of Health, Dr Gado Tshering.
One of the questions posed was whether or not such a system would be cost effective for Bhutan, given its population size. Nuwan explained that the pilots was conducted in the districts of Sivagangai in Tamil Nadu and Kurunegala in Sri Lanka, both those districts have a population equivalent to that of Bhutan. RTBP economic analysis shows that the monthly total cost of owning and operating the RTBP in a population that of the size of Bhutan would be as little as ONE Ngultram (equivalent to USD 0.025) per citizen.

The slides used in the presentation can be downloaded HERE

According to the World Bank, nearly half the labour force in Bhutan is engaged in Agriculture, however as in most South Asia countries, the sector’s contribution to GDP is less than proportional.

LIRNEasia’s research on agriculture has highlighted the importance of access to accurate, timely and actionable information improved the efficiency of the agriculture value chains. The presentation looked at the services available for delivering information to farmers in South Asia. Tradenet, based on an initiative by Govi Gnana Seva or Farmer Knowledge Service, in Sri Lanka, Reuters Market Light (RML) and Iffco Kisan Sanchar Limited (IKSL) in India were some of the services highlighted.

A similar service is available in Bhutan, done as a joint effort by the Ministry of Agriculture, Bhutan and SNV. The system uses an Interactive Voice Recording (IVR) system, as a way of counteracting the illiteracy among farmers.   The system provides market price information to subscribers (or farmers) and is currently sourcing prices from three agriculture auction markets in Bhutan. It is hoped that the information on market price would help them get a better price for their produce.

The system implementers hope to expand the number of markets it sources the information from. As mentioned before the system currently only takes prices from the auction markets however, there are a number of agriculture markets scattered around Bhutan where the prices are set through negotiated traders between the buyers and sellers. If the current system is to be successfully expanded, then one of the key challenges would be the sourcing of the prices from the markets with the negotiated trades.

The system was launched in November 2009.

The slides used at the presentation can be downloaded from HERE

The project hopes to do a ranking survey done. This maybe done by the government now as they are now looking to find the 5 best and 5 worst muncipal councils. Sujata then went on to describe some of the literature of knowledge management and practioner networks and communities of practice. Most of the literature is at an enterprise level.

Networks as the  communities of practice (CoP): How does one recognise a CoP? According to the literature, it has a has a domain of share interest (in this case solid waste management), it is made up of practitioners, promotes and safeguards the profession, Seeks information from others, responds to others information, Improve one’s practice using new knowledge, Share good practices, Document good practices, engages in capacity building and joint initiatives. But these are not seen empirically in Sri Lanka and it isnt very common in the developed world either.

Therefore the research looked at self organising systems. The literature speaks of the following conditions; At least one of the components in the system must exhibit auto-catalysis, At least two of the components in the systems must be mutually causal, The system must be open to the environment with respect to the energy and matter [or knowledge and people], The system must operate far from equilibrium conditions

Networks as self organising sustems are governed by power law, characterised by hubs and rich get richer.

A survey was conducted on the 119 local authorities in 3 provices. The question asked was, who did you contact in the last 12 months to seek information you needed to improve your practice. Lcoal authorities are conneted. Most of the information were from peer to peer interactions. The most number of interactions were with the Balangoda local government authority with 31 incoming linkages. Balangoda is also a high performer and contact . Networks are not flat and there are prefereantial attachments. A geography matters.

She concluded that emergent patterns ahve to be looked at before attempting to engineer netowrks. As future work, the project will look at to see the emergent hubs in the next year.

The tutorials included topics such as “Communicating for policy influence” and “supply and demand side research”. The workshop included presentations of LIRNEasia’s mobile 2.0 project as well “ICTs and climate change” and “Political Mobilization in Philippines” from CNM, NUS.

Complete agenda is available HERE

Presentations:

21 June

22 June

• Political Mobilization in Philippines, Cheryl Soriano, CNM/NUS
• ICTs and Climate Change, Catherine Candano, CNM/NUS
• Online citizens in India, Anuradha Rao, CNM/NUS
• The alternate narrative: Emerging Asia’s path to the “Internet Economy” through  Mobile 2.0Rohan Samarajiva, LIRNEasia
• m-Gov (ZMF, India), Rohan Samarajiva
• Mobile based financial services (Experiences from the South), Nilusha Kapugama, LIRNEasia
• m-Early Warning, Rohan Samarajiva
• m-Commerce (Cellbazaar, Bangladesh) Sriganesh Lokanathan, LIRNEasia
• Mobile 2.0 for Agricultural VAS Sriganesh Lokanathan
• ICT Localization Rachel Amtzis, CNM/NUS
• Youth, ICTs and Political Engagement in Asia: A six-country comparative study Weiyu Zhang (CNM/NUS)

Data was collected from Jan – Apr 2009.

Profile of Afghanistan. 25 Mn Population. Land locked country.

MoU per year 399 incoming, 414 outgoing. Due to high prices.

Most investment from FDI. 55Mn comes from local sources additional 40 mn came from Afghan telecom. 6 year CAGR stands at around 131%.

2 regulatory bodies work on the telecom sector, the ministry of commincation and Information technology andtheAfghanistan Telecom Regulatory Authority.

Telecom act only introduced in 2005. ATRA started in 2006 asindependent regulator. Operators preceded the regulator in 2003.

1 fixed operator. Unified licensing therefore can go into any form of technology.

4 Mobile Operators
Roshan – 2003
AWCC – 2003
MTN – 2005
Etisalat – 2006

4-5 small operators for rural areas – Local Fixed Service Providers (LFSP). Only 2 were functioning quite well. They are local monopolies? Yes. Mobiles have the option of going to these areas but they havent.

How are the LFSP selected? Some through biding process but some through beauty contests. Operates on CDMA technology. Monopoly in practice but its not meant to be monopolies. burden is on Afghan telecom to provide them interconnection.

Many ISPs almost 100 licenses were issued, but only about 19 are operational.

Mobile SIMS/ 100 in 2008: 30.72

Access to fixed lines/ 100 in 2008 : 0.18

Penetration mostly in the main cities

TRE figures: Only the numbers for mobile will be presented

Sample size around 12. Reflect a micro state numbers.

Market entry: very hgh figures, 4.4. Low variance.
Policy is to encourage private sector. Low barriers to entry. No issues with network rollout or rights of way (eg. placement of base stations). No infrastructure sharing, but regulator wants to start it out.
Only the fixed operator has a unified licence all mobile operators operate on GSMA.

Allocation of scarce resources: 3.5 High variance of 0.93 suggest different viewpoints with respect to spectrum.
MTN & Etisalat given less spectrum than previous two operators. 4Mhz in 900 band versus 8 Mhz in 900 band for Roshan & AWCC. Additional spectrum was to be requested based on subscriber numbers
Issues with frequency interference and resolving inferance issues takes about 4-5 months after approaching the regulator.
Lack of Frequency Allocation Table till 2005.
No issues with numbering. ATRA established number plan with provision for atleast 5 more operators. No one seemed to have a problem with it.

Interconnection: 4.0. Low variance of score 0.22
Interconnection is Mandatory for all license holders and must be given at technically feasible location. ATRA determines interconnection rate. Telecom Act doesn’t specify method but ATRA uses BULRIC method
Rates:
Until January 2007: USD 0.05 / minute
January 2007 – December 2008: USD 0.029/ minute
January 2009 onwards: USD 0.026/ minute
ATRA mentions rates as high due to fuel & security for towers outside of Kabul. Technically if one is using BULRIC’s (Bottom-up) it should be low. Its the most efficient.
No disputes b/w fixed and mobile operators with respect to interconnection. Fixed and mobile termination rates are the same.
However some disputes b/w LFSP providers and Afghan Telecom about the rates. Burden is on Afghan telecom to ensure interconnection.
Access to international backbone? There is no backbone they can rely on locally. Internationally they were building a Optic fibre ring network connected to Iran, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and maybe India. Funding came from World Bank and some money came from Afghan Telecom. Afghan telecom was supposed to manage it. Not sure if its up and running.

Ranmalee Gamage: Afghan IDD rates came down in Sept 09. All operator can carry their international traffic in and out.
Incoming international is 23 mins, while out going in 12 mins.

Regulation of anti competitive rules: 2.4
Telecom Act covers: Issues related to competitive process, Determination of SMP (SMP is 40% of market share determined), Abuse of SMP status issues, Guidelines dealing with anti-competitive practices
However it hasn’t translated into specific rules & regulations, which means regulatory regime is arbitrary and unpredictable
Complaints have been about clarity of rules. The rule for SMP: operator with atleast 40% of gross revenue from a specific market. But no-one meets that definition right now.
Two operators are engaged in preatory pricing but no one has complained Mainly because they are small players

Universal Service Obligation: 2.3. Lowest score.
About USD 26-40 mn (different sources) available disbursement by 2008.
Universal service charge of 2.5% of net revenues on all operators since 2003
Universal Access Policy (UAP) as well as Manual of operating procedures for utilization of the Telecom Development Fund (TDF) came out only in late 2008. Low TRE score reflective of past confusion (probably):. Pressure to expand from regulator without any help earlier
Perception of lack of capacity at the Universal Access Department (UAD) to administer the UAP

Tariff Regulation: 2.7. High variance of the score.
Difficult to explain the low score. Results not reflective of ground realities
Just cause mobile tariffs are high compared to the region doesn’t answer the reason for the low score
Prior approval of tariffs required for SMP, but there is no SMP. All other required to file tariffs
In principle ATRA can regulate, but so far no record of it intervening
Some predatory pricing but only by small operators

Quality of Service: 2.5. Low variance of 0.45 suggests most find the regulatory environment with respect to QoS as being poor
No benchmarks or rules have been established by ATRA and was only being addressed from late 2008 onwards
Poor perception of regulator’s capacity on QoS
Network congestion is an issue

Policy recommendations for the Afghan Telecom Sector.
Regulatory Capacity: Poor perception of the regulator’s capabilities especially in monitoring and enforcement of rules. This translates into: Lack of clarity on procedures, Some level of arbitrariness on decisions, Lack of comprehensive competition legislation, More important as the sector matures.
Issues related to “forced” utilization of new countrywide optic cable for backhaul traffic by all operators but managed by Afghan telecom
Capacity building for ATRA is necessary as they lack the knowledge and the know how in terms of technical and economic regulation.
More clarity on USO
Lack of clarity of QoS parameters. Benchmarks were only recently established, but still not enough. Fines are arbitrary

75% of passenger transport is via public transport and of that 93% by bus and 7% by train. Roughly 5500 SLCTB and 18000 private buses. The fare is regulated by National Transport Commission (NTC). They also have timetables which are n0t implemented.

Shortest distance (~2KM) LKR 6:00.

Longest distance 260 KM – LKR 655.00.

Most of the BOP uses bus transport. 36% of the BOP use mobile and fixed phones.

SLTB buses use both ticket books and manual ticket machines to issue tickets to commuters

Private buses primarily use digital ticketing machines that prints out tickets. Can store data, process memory. Can even tell you how may people have to get off at the next bus stop.  The one in use now is also lighter in weight.

These are mainly used in the Western Province and on a few inter provincial buses.  Manual ticket machines are used in other areas.

Issues with the current ticketting system:

Money lost in Transit. Bus conductors and Drivers take the money, or tickets are not issued, or passengers do not buy the tickets. CTB estimates a 15% loss of revenue and private bus owners 25%.

Chanuka: How is the estimates done?

RS: through Load share.

HdS: Bus owners want to reduce leakage.  They wold like to issue a e-bus tickets. So the solution is either a card system or a mobile. So from the suply side there is a need but what about the demand side?

A  simple survey was done at the Fort railway station. Not a Sample survey but to get an idea. 2/3: 1/3 male: female. There maybe selection bias as it is a starting point.

What is the real cost of a ticket? Do the passengers receive the balance after getting a ticket? only 5% said that they always get there balance. Most people carry exact change. And only 50% of the people receive a bus ticket. Ticket checkers are used both in public and private sector. Some private companies have their own people to check for tickets.

So because of these issues, there is a need.

Possible benefits of e-tickets:

For Bus operators

• reduce leakage
• Offer loyalty plans etc.

For Commuters

• Cost only actual fare
• Can better schedule travel; save on transport expenditure

State [local government]

• Tax collection
• Target subsidies

What are the options?

Contactless smart cards: Oyster, ez link. Delhi is running a pilot, minimum reload INR 25.

Mobile phones: either through SMS or Near field Communication (NFC) merging mobile phones with a contactless smart card (Innovation).

NFC mobile phones: Nokia introduced the first in 2005 (3220). Break through innovation is instead of a NFC  phone, what about an NFC SIM. China Telecom has come p with a NON NFC standard RF SIM.  Nokia 6216: First NFC standard SIM compatible. Operator can load application.

Japan is leader with NTT DoComo Osaifu-Keitai e-wallet phones. Spain, Netherlands, France and Germany, mobile bus and rail ticket system are being piloted.  China has started.  UK to start by 2015 and fully switch to NFC by 2020.

The Nirmali went on to describe the mobile money deployments worldwide which includes prepaid tops, peer to peer money transfers and bill and retail payments. 20% of 1.5 bn with mobiles but wthout bank accounts will use mobile money by2012 according to Economist 2009.

In Africa, M-PESA is the most prevelavent. Others too exist. In Asia, all of the countries in the study have m-payment in use.

This paper focuses on peer to peer to transfers, in this case m-remittances.  Advantages of m-remittances: For uses;

• Alternative method for “unbanked” population
• Easier, quicker and cheaper: Lower commissions, transport & related transaction costs , Resultant increase in income (up to 30% in Kenya; CGAP, 2009)

For operators;

• Increases customer base & reduces churn
• Social & economic benefits leading to brand-building

For policy makers;

• Potential reduced demand for informal money transfer methods

Nirmali mentioned that there might a reduction in illegal activity such as money laundering.

Nirmali then went onto describe the sample and how the survey was conducted. Both external and internal migrants were surveyed to find out about the usage of mobile money transfers. Usage was quite low, but awareness was high.

A logit model was constructed with awareness as the explanatory variable. The variables, income, education, mobile ownership and owning of a bank account were the significant variables at a 99% confidence interval.

Therefore these seems to be the factors having  a effect on awareness.

Of external migrants, barriers to uptake were that they didnt know how to use it or that they were happy with their present mode of transfer.

The identified  implications of the study are:

for operators:

• Effective marketing targeting BOP needed to: Raise awareness (Teach them through advertising), Counteract  perceptions re security of transactions & ease of use
• Provision of related m-remittances services: Diversification of resources and Retention of customer base & market share

Recommendations for the policy makers are to be drawn up keeping with the countries and the institutions targeted. Policy brief to be done accordingly.

The colloquium began by Nalaka explaining the big picture; Climate change and energy use.  Global warming is not new but the rate of global warming is. There is a multiplicity of gases causing global warming and their sources.

Looking at the Green House Gas (GHG) mix, Carbon Dioxide is dominant. Made source is fossil fuel use. The ‘F’ gases such as CFC are the man made – now getting phased out.  There is an expansion in the volume of Green house gases.

Nalaka explaied that all GHG are not equal. Methene is much worse than Carbon Dioxide, but Carbon di Oxide has a much worse reputation

Looking at the sources of GHG, there is a variation depend on the organiation which the data is obtained from. A question was raised about the impact of forestry on GHG emmisions, Nalaka explained that deforestation is the main contributor. Electricity and heat or energy supply are the biggest source with forestry a close second.

Nalaka then went on to talk about the Stern Report (UK govt, 2006) which said  ’Climate change is the greatest market failure the world has ever seen…’ He higlighted the lack of referece to ICT in the report. The only direct reference was to household appliances. Green ICTs have received more attention since then. The Stern report has never been challenged on its premise or analysis as far as Nalaka was aware.  ICT and Aviation has roughly the same level of emmision, however aviation gets much more flack. ICT sector directly contribute 2.5% of total GHG emisions according to the Mckinsey report to the UN in 2007.

The adaptability of the IT and Telecom sector to consumer demands, as such the sector should be able to respond better to the problem of GHG emmision than other industries.

Next, Nalaka moved on to how the ICT sector ‘green’ itself beyond simple CSR/PR gestures? An ITU report elaborated on why the GHG from the ICT industry has been rising. Among the reasons  were Proliferation of user devicesUsers owning more devices, Devices today consume more energy and More processing needs more cooling. Nalaka then explained thaat some of the new technology such as sHD televisions draw more power than the traditional units. The stand by power or vampire enrgy too contributes significantly to energy consumption. standby power cost 8% of entire British domestic power consumption (UK Energy Rev, 2006)

Some of the suggestions given by Bill Melody were Improving sector’s own carbon footprint, ICT applications improving efficiency of other sectors, esp. infrastructure.Third order implications from widespread applications of green ICT that change institutions & behaviour patterns.

In taking the first point, with IT and telecom sectors, we can look at both Macro/industry level savings and then micro/consumer level savings.

In taking the Telecom sector, the opportunity lies in telecom migrating to Next Gen Networks (NGN) as Less switching centres needed, More tolerant climatic range specs (less need for air conditioning) and New standards (VDSL2) allow 3 power modes: full, low, sleep

Are savings being offset? Some of the questions are how energy-conscious are services & applications riding on NGNs? Rapid growth of web-based services driving up power demand & CO2 emissions

Rising power use by server farms supporting PC and mobile web use: Hidden green costs of Google apps? Does a web search kill a tree?

The ETNO report highlights the need for Srategic approach and also the need for scaling. The plan to reduce GHG will only work if the operators and players make a commitment.

What are the cost benefit ratios? What is the effect of ITC on the Transport? The other is the concept is cloud computing. Finding from 3rd annual survey by Rackspace, Pub Sep 2009 (150 IT managers worldwide) http://tiny.cc/GreenCloud says that there is no tangible drop.

What are the other low hanging fruits? Also which of the technology that can be passed without bing stuck in political bickering and policy paralysis? An example is the Copenhagen summit. In copenhegen no one wanted to be the first to make changes.

The other level is where ICTs and Telecom help other sectors go green? One OCED analysis says that creative use of ICTs can reduce electricity consupltion/GHG emmisions by 15%. THere is also the process (experimetal) of carbon capture. Norway is at the moment building carbon traps.

What are the cost benefit ratios? What is the effect of ITC on the Transport? The other is the concept is cloud computing. Finding from 3rd annual survey by Rackspace, Pub Sep 2009 (150 IT managers worldwide) http://tiny.cc/GreenCloud says that there is no tangible drop.

The Transmission and distribution loss is about 18% in Sri Lanka,  Delhi can be as high as 40%. A certain level is unavoidable. US is abut 7%, theoretically SL can go lower as the systemis much more compact. Most of the loss is that the generation and end use is not prperly coordinated. This is the Smart rid arguemtn. We also have to be awre of the re-bound. The relationaship is not linear. There is a need for better measuremnent.

Big Challenges: Growing human numbers, Rising middle classes through globalization and Global warming.

What is to be done? Look for a ‘handle’ on Climate/ET/IT, Ignore corporate spin, media hype, Search for strategic ‘entry points’, Study trends & patterns, Demystify industry data, find policy implications, Look for improvements that are: significant, affordable & less politically contentious Measurable & scalable

We also will require regular tracking, simple industry wide chnges and find Ways to crowd-source for monitoring and innovation.

ICTs have the ability to make under the radar changes unlike the avation industry.

Finally; “Telcos are punching below their weight in the climate change arena – they can be part of the solution than part of the problem. They will find it hard to avoid being victims of climate change, but they can reduce their role as villains; and they might even turn out to be heroes.” –  Stephen Young, Ovum Consulting http://www.ovum.com/go/content/c,67759 and “We need both IT and ET, flat and green, working together. Because only then can everyone and everything be both distributed and connected. If we can get that, the world will have a new operating system!” – K R Sridhar, CEO, Bloom Energy

Sujata Gamage: A starting point maybe to start with Melody’s levels and form a picture with the sectors metioned at te begining.

Rohan SAmarajiva: A clear starting poitn is the improvement of the individual sectors’ carbon foot print.

Healni Galpaya: Carbon trading seems to be failing, but there is an economic incentive(s) to switch to more green technology in the telecom sectors in developing countries that adopt the budget telecom model.

Nalaka: The cost of nergy sources such as solar power are falling.

Helani, Rohan: There is no taxes etc involved in the installation on solar panels. There is a need to work wtih the industry to learn more about this.

Rohan: Transport/ICT trade off? Improvements in Efficiency does not mean green solutions.

Shazna: Maybe we can look at the Telecom sector in terms of research:

Nalaka: That maybe a sarting point. No multi country studies have been done.

The results or data uploaded are available in the public domain. It can be used to make decisions on connectivity by users and as evidence for policy decisions by policy makers.

The researchers working on the project, initially envisaged a volunteer computing model to gather data on broadband QoSE. The method is outlined in the paper: “Prospects of Volunteer Computing model in performance data gathering for Broadband Policy Formulation: A Case study from South Asia”.

The paper was presented at a workshop on broadband, “Beyond Broadband Access”, 22-24 September 2009, Washington DC with the attendance of senior scholars and researchers from the field. The paper and presentation received positive feedback and comments. The workshop was co-organised by the New America Foundation and the Pennsylvania State University.

The objectives behind the workshop were two-fold. To bring together researchers of broadband issues, share their research and form a network; and the discussion of issues pertaining to the broadband policies in USA. The presentations focused on a wide range of issues such as problems with access to and availability of broadband, lack of access and unavailability of necessary data for appropriate policy formulation and uses of broadband. The discussions revolved around these key topics. The lack of accepted international standardization in broadband was also another issue raised.

The presentation began by Prof. Bhatnagar explaining the research objectives; extention of e-governmaent to mobile platforms as well as the strategic use of government services and applications which are only possible using cellular/mobile telephones, laptop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and wireless internet infrastructure.

Why are we thinking about m-government for BOP? The cost of accessing goivernment services is higher due to locational restrictions. Assessments have been done on the cost; about Rs 200-300 to obtain a certification like ration card. If there is a mechanism to cut down this cost then that will be a strong reaon for us to think about m-government.

There are 2 roles mobile phones play; personal use to access m-gov services and as a substitute. THere is a growing penetration of mobile in the BOP. Data obtained from the T@BOP study by LIRNEasia.
The internet Kiosk penetration is low among the BOP, mobiles on the other hand have about 70% combined coverage. When considering Kiosk based versus mobile based delievery, growing penetration of mobiles , 45%, should make mobiles an important mode of delievery.

The plans and bandwidth is available for delievery through internet but work on the ground has not been done.

Prof. Bhatnagar went onto explain the types of m-gov services currently available in India. One instance is where a mobile phone is substituted for a fixed to access the services, mobile has the advantage of anythime, anywhere.

Another is the push down SMS from a central server to registered users who seek information. It should be emphasised that ‘M’ in m-government is a supplement to government services.

Anotheris a two-way interaction using an SMS service to enquire and receiving responses from a government.

Q) RS: Why just SMS and not voice? A) SB: An SMS is able to codify and send information correctly.

Another is when a mobile replace the internet access point as an acess point for delievering services.

Another is when the mobile acts are an intermediary, eg. health workers using mobiles for their work particularly in emergencies in rural areas.

Another is that the mobiles can work as a data capturing devise. This leads to it being a reporting device. Helps to capture live data from the field.

First 3 are happening in India on an extensive scale. and the last 2 on a limited scale.

Q) AZ: Can points 5-6 be Government to government and 1-4 Government to end user?

Prof. Bhatnagar gave a brief overview about the m-government initiatives in India. He also gave an example of the zero mass foundation where they insist on bank accounts in order to do transactions. This leads to more control over finances for those in the BOP.

It enables the government in disbursing pensions etc. The banks that take part in this service by appointing people work in the villages. They act as intermediaries between BOP and the bank. The intermediaries are provided with mobile devices and other necessary appliaces such as biometric devices to capture finger prints and mobiles enabled with cameras etc. The details captured are sent to a company (Who has provided the software and devices) central server via the mobiles and then onto the bank. The bank looks at the applications and the account is opened. This acts a safeguard against fraud.

The governments then pay the pensions to the accounts opened. The foundation has 6100 customers service points. The intermediaries appointed are from self-help groups to prevent embezzlement. This system has covered 9180 villages. The system has worked well. Previously the pensioners would loose about 20-40% of the pension to the Panchayat members (who previously were in-charge of collecting the pensions for the voillagers).

Q) RS: Why wouldnt the intermediary keep 10%? A) SB: The intermediary is considered a part of the community or society as those who have opened the accounts.

The service has reduced the cost of the villagers, and the government gains. The government is also able to reduce the amount of corruption, fraud and embezzlement as the government can eventually cease paying pensions to those who are not registered or those who do not have an account. The programme has scaled up significantly.

With regards to the Economic viability of the zero mass foundation, the cost per customer Service points per month is INR 3852. At the current rate commission of 1.75% the programme is not viable as the retension is only INR 2129.

A transaction fee need to charged but an argument may rise as to whether transaction costs should be charged from pensioners. However, they may not mind as they may already pay a larger amount in terms of bribes etc.

prof. Bhatnagar went onto explain the pros and cons of m-government. Cost would be low, mobile penetration is higher in comparison to internet penetration. The system can be operated with a lower level of traning and with eratic power supplies.

Loans services are not available with this service now, but is there a possible of getting micro-loans?

Prof. Bhatnagar then went on to talk about the role of mobiles in government service delivery. With regards to Bill/Tax payments and information exchange the mobiles are regarded as being convenient. The systems have to be developed further but the capacity is available. The same is true in the case of making disbursements as it more closer to the people. With regards to document issues, there is a need to send documents and upload documents. Therefore in case of document issue, the internet kiosk is more suitable.

The challenges of expanding m-government were then explained. M-goverment has not been commited to by the Indian government. The government is commited to the 100,000 internet kiosk as the way to get government services to people. Low levels of literacy is also an issue.

Q) RS: Why not IVR?  A) SB: Not used extensively, therefore not cosidered for pragmatic reasons.

Policy implications were considered as the conclusion.

M-Government is being implemented as a bottom up initiative without coordination and central direction.

Mobile enabled financial inclusion Programme can become the basic delievery mechanism for all government disbursements and bill/tax collections from BOP.

An appropriate incentive structure has to be in place for m-government to take off. A space has to be carved out for m’government within NeGP – India’s egovernment program.

Q) RS:
1) I think the e-gov, m-gov relationship is complementary, so it will be nice to have it in a conceptual manner,

2)  The government disbursement scheme will reduce fraud, corruption. A system is available in Australia. Also it will be worthwhile looking at cell broadcasting and USSD technologies.

3) We need to come up with an advocacy strategy for the paper

The colloquium started with the looking at Governance of ICT with the definitions:

Defined as Freedom of Expression(FoE): information which might annoy, disturb, terrorise or disgust, or, would engage, educate, inform and uplift.

Role of Government in ensuring FoE and basic right to know is taken as a role of democracies.

According to the Voice and Accountability Index Pakistan stands at 0.33 on an index of 1

Mobile 2.0 engenders Electronic media and telecom

Pakistan has two separate regulatory bodies for the govenance of these issues, PEMRA and PTA, there is a need for a unified body.

Is Freedom od expression a sacred right in Pakistan? It is protected by the Pakistani consitution and Pakistan is a signatory of the International Covenant of Civil and political rights.

Politico-legal landscape:
Blanket bans on internet content, PTA has been used to restrict Freedom of Exprtession.

Mobile 2.0 in Pakistan

Student and youth of BOP form demand for demand for mobile 2.0 services.

The paper goes on to explain that the development of legal definition of cellular networks which has implications on users ability to communicate freely and with anonymity

Net neutrality was another aspect discussed in the paper. This has an impact on Freedom of expression as Neutral pipes ensure free flow of information and the impact of network neutrality regulation and Freedom of expresssion

The paper then discusses the issue of cellular consumer rights.

Privacy and copy right content is the next area discussed. Pakistan Telecommunications Authority is required to protect consumer rights under Section 4(1) and Section 6 of Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organization) Act, 1996; conferring powers and function of the authority to safeguard rights of telecom users.

The constitution of Pakistan protects human dignity in both physical and virtual worlds.[1] Intrusion into individual privacy and personal home is not permitted.

With regards to Mobile content and Freedom of expression and value added services, growth in volume of SMS and MMS jhas grown in 253%. Mobile activism rise through user generated content.

Re. Mobile blogging: Blogs were banned due to defamationary and objectionable content. This was highlighted during the activism by lawyers. Bans were imposed and arrests were made in some instances.

This ban was hugely contested by the youth a severe curb on freedom of expression. “Don’t Block the Blog (DBTB)”: a forum formed by couple of bloggers representing the civil society, media and bloggers, took it on them along with Reportiers Sans Frontiers (RSF) and other related originations to demonstrate civil society’s opposition to the authoritarian curbs by garnering international support.

Short Message Peer-to-Peer (SMPP) along with SIM based SMS service was considered by activists

cyber crime wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) which has countervailing powers under the PECO 2007.

Comments:

Q, RS: THe paper looks at the written law and how the law is implemented. What are the key issues that has come up with Mobile 2.0 in Pakistan? How does this map to another country?

A, HS: For an example Mobile towers have been jammed in Pakistan by authorities due to non-compliance of the mobile operators. This was done at the time the movement of re-instating the lawyers.

Q, CW: Was this done with consent of the operators?

A, HS: No it was done without the consent of the operators.

Q, RS: Was there a court case against this?

A, HS: No, after the crisis passed, the network came back on.

Q, RS: Can I ask a Operators to send a group SMS to a Million people?

A, HS: Yes, operators do not ban content unless they are ordered.

Q, RS: Can SMSs be sent Across netowrks?

A, HS: Yes, it can. In obtaining information about this from companies; Telenor was the most transparent in disclosing their company policies.

Q, RS: If this is being permitted what about the privacy rights of the recipients?

A, HS: No singular law spamming Telenor has a Opt in clause while Warid has an Opt out.

Q, HS: How does this affect Freedom of expression?

A, RS: When doing One to many SMSs, it can be prohibited due to political or religious content.

Response: HS: Operators refrain from going that far, in the event anything defamatory against say the president, the operators are required to disclose relevant informtion to the government.

Q, RS: Is there a distinction between privacy or intrusion, by law in Pakistan? There is a fine line between Freedom of expression and intrusion. Is there a special provision in Pakistan to deal with intrusion, other than in terms of interferance with hardware? Are you dealing with this in the paper?

A, HS: Yes it has been dealt with

Comment RS: Have a look at what the law is with wireless technology.

Q, AZ: Can the bulk SMSs be targetted to a particular coverage area?

A, HS: It can be sent to a particular subset.

Q, RS: Have you touched upon twitter given what happened in Iran?

A, HS: The number of Handsets that can support twitter maybe small in Pakistan. But I did touch upon it with regards to case with Pakistan lawyers movement

Q, RS: How was micro-blogging banned in Pakistan?

A, HS: It was done by the intelligence services

Comment, CW: Have a look at twitter in terms of micro-blogging

The presentation began by Payal explaining that there is a certain level of abstraction in the topic.

It is excepted by most that deleivering telecom connectivity and services helps development.

The challenge now lies in go beyond voice and to see how the BOP can benefit from connectivity.

Insufficient attention to licencing can mean that radio frequencies are unaffordable and unattenable.

The presentation started by looking at the tradeoffs and incentives created by the mechanisms, and the relative merits and de-merits from and economic and social perspective.

Spectrum is a public good. There is alot of vested commercial interets. Commerrcial players need spectrum. Spectrum has been used speculativly. A ggod allocation method should be used so that spectrum is not squandered.

Possible links between Spectrum and BOP:

BOP has low level textual literacy, therefore more bandwidth requirement. More graphical methods ways may have to be made for BOP.

however, spectrum maybe unavailable, underprices.

If under-priced it can be used by commercial players strategically and to fore close on competiton.

This has a negative effect on the BOP.

Regulators and policy makers have to be mindful that the allocation will have an effect on the availability of wireless technology for the BOP.
Role of Regulators:

Augmentation of spectrum; alot of spectrum is used for defence.

Funding of R&D to bring about real time spectrum exchanges.

Real time spectrum exchanges does not give a dedicated chunk to one operator, so no scrambling. Current methid due to antiquated technology.

This will be a private public partnership.

Government may want to spend money on switching from analogue to digital television for the BOP to free up frequencies. It was done in India, after two failed attempts. Set top boxes now mandotory in metros.

Regulatory Instruments:

Market structure: if market entry is restricted, it lead to higher demand.

Competition rules: The more competitive the markets, spectrum will be better priced.

Allocation based on usage levels: Done in India, but leads to mis-reporting and may lead to opertors concentrating on subscribers bringing in more revenue. But as it is sold at assymentric rate so BOP not perversely affected.

Spectrum Trading: Similar to stock market, gives incentive to stop spectrum hoarding

Incentives for Innovatios:

Standards setting:

Goals of spectrum allocation policy:

Transparent and equitable regime

Allocation based on market demand

Create efficiency

Promote innovation to maximise value

Eliminate technical interferance

Spectrum being available for non commercial use

Approaches:

Command and control method: Beauty contests, used now, useful when allocating for non commercial use such as defence but leads to political determination of spectrum sharing rules, deters innovations, Maybe misused by beneficiries for speculative purposes. In india 3G allocation has been postpones twice.

private rights: Coase Theory, difficult to determine market rate so auctions best.

Commons exempt: Technology decideds, shared frequencies but problems is to deal with interferance and leads to tragedy of commons, cost of change over and easiest to implement where newer technology is used, where incumbancy challenges are not present.

Evaluating Approaches: BOP users’ Perspective

Inclusion:

Affordability:

Innovation:

Service Diversity:

Sustainbulity:

Institutional compatibility: most important in terms of political climate in a country. Admin approach works in a countries that have good governance as opposed to weaker governance. Market approches work in competitive markets. 3G licences in India expected to bring in about 400,000 corores.

Auctions:

Market approaches in a developing country maybe better not becaues it is superior but because it may mitigate the risks faced where there is a large BOP.

BOP mistly in rural areas. Auctions may not be necessary if rural areas are considered seperately. If auctions are necessary, then prices maybe low reflecting low demand.

Auctioning can lead to overbidding, information about secondary trading may lead to mitigating this problem. Cave recommends combination of auctions or market approaches.

Government may seek to maximise revenues from auctions when selling the spectrum. The revenue can then lead to covering other fiscal deficits.

Inadequate attention to auction designs may laed to reduced bidders which in turn deprives BOP consumers.

Giving spectrum in chunks to diverse bidders may laed to probelms in quality, ex. broadband.

Thumb rules in making auctions effective:

Auction larger amiunts of spectrum to reduce perceeption of scarcity

Reserce some spectrum bands for auctions to a different category entrants

Allow spectrum trading to reduse over bidding

Mandate spectrum sharing

Have tougher roll out conditions

Include rewards for efficient usage and penalities for wastage or spectrum hoarding

Final Observations:

Market mechanisans should not under estimated but should avoid a doctrinaire approcah.

market mechanisns work best when entry is open and abuse of market is precented.

Auctions suitable when demand exceeds supply

Careful design has to be done in order to protect the BOP

Spectrum for emergency, safety and other public services, administrative approach should be adequate

Ensure maximum flexibility in the future while allowing sufficient comfort to current investors

Exploit maximum potential; speedy move towards spectrum sharing, spectrum trading

Insist on technology neutrality and service neutrality in regulatory decisions to optimal usage

RS: If seperate policies are implemented for rural and Urban based on the assumption that poor people in rural areas, thenUrban poor would be getting the short end of the stick.

PM: Seperate auctions are needed for urban and rural. If thre is no differnce, then the operators will concentrate in areas where they can get more revenue sooner, which would be the urban areas.

RS: Have a look at early US auctions. Licences were given to native communities. Consortioms were formed after that.

PM: 3G in India will be a nationwide bid.
RS: Why do we have to 3G auctions? There is a possibility that 3G maybe run on 900 MHz.

Could this lead to India restricting the frequecies on which 3G can be run on?

Presentation began by looking at the potential for M-money.

Why should we use m-money?

Improving efficiency: Improve services, financial services. BOP a target.

BOP (migrants) relies on various forms of remittances

Looking at Filipinos, 9% of BOP had a relative living abroad, and 13% in another part of the country, so there is a vested interest in m-money.

At present about 5% is going through informal channels according to the Filipino central bank. According to respondents about 80% sent through banks.

Workers need access to bank accounts in both the remitting and remitted country for remittances through banks. This is a limitation. M-money may not necessarily need an account in the remitting country.

Filipino workers generally prefere formal channels. Todays presentation will focus on m-money channels such as smart money of g-cash.

ADB: Transaction costs about 2.5%-3.5% of remittances.

For local remittances: Pawn shops used. Roughly remits around Php 500-1000. These are potential targets for m-money.

RS: How does the Pawn shops work? Pawn shops have a wide network, usually works through a call or SMS. A transaction number will be given to the person sending the money. The number will be given to the person who is due to receive the money. Identification is required for acquiring the cash. This is with regards to local remittances.

HG: Do the pawn shops work together, or is there a network that belong to one company. There is one network which has about 12,000 pawn shops.

Vasana: Are they licenced? EA: They are regulated by the central bank to a certain extend.

Central bank regulation is due to Anti Terrorism laws. Pawn shops charge a higher rate of interest. Technology is a catalyst for changing remittance landscape.

M-banking is one component of electronic money according to Circular 649 of Filipino Central Bank. M-Money is E-money stored in a mobile.

Electronic money defined as stored value or pre-paid payment mechanisms.

RS: can money loaded to the a pre-paid mobile account be refunded? EA: It is one of the issues which is going through regulatory process now.

3 modes of e-money issuers in Philippines: Bank (Smart money), Non bank financial institution recognised by BSP (Central Bank), Non bank registered with BSP as a money transfer agent (Example, GLOBE)

Registration is easier with Globe. Can do through SMS.

Looking at potential of M-money at the BOP the following method was used:
Method of access, Material access, skills access, Usage access

Method of access
Using LIRNEasia survey data, re-method of access, 566% of those who didnt use it said didnt know how to use it. According to focus group discussions, even though they were aware, they needed proof of efficiency, price.

With e-loading, familiarity with the Roman script is an advantage. If a person is familiar with transferring e-loads then using m-money will be easier.

Trust issues, Central bank looking at some of the issues. Security mechanisms such as PIN codes. At present Php 100,000 is the limit for any type of e-money. Same for M-money. Even if you have four m-money accounts, the total should be 100,000.

Material Access:
Only 13% of BOP have access to Bank accounts

On avearge there were 1.36 mobiles per household. More access to a mobile phones so there fore more potential for m-money.

Identification documents and physical access to cash in are seen as barriers to M-banking.

Individuals can get there m-money (Gcash) out from ATMs and cash in cash out venues. Therefore accessibility is an issue. There are already some Pawn shops being used as cash in cash out venues.

Can register from a distance but need to go to the bank to cash in. No identification cards in Philippines. Propoer identification is a problem in the Philippines.

Skills Access
40% of those surveyed in the LINREasia survey are familiar with e-loading.

99% of surveyed mobile users use SMS.

Filipinos top up small values at shorter time frames. Use to exchanging mobile top ups. This is consistent with remittance patterns.  Comparatively, Filipinos send money often in smaller amounts

GCASH and Smart are accepted as forms of payment in Philippines, but this maybe more common among the more affluent users.

GLOBE (2006): Transacting USD 117 Million on average.

SMART (2006) Transacting USD 257,200 average daily transactions.

HG: How much is charged for Transactions? EA: Basic of SMS cost, plus 1% of transaction cost or minimum of Php 10.

HG: Transmission takes one or multiple SMS? EA: Have to confirm but it maybe a minimum of 2 SMSs.

Challenges and Policy issues:

1) Developing mental access: Increasing awareness, better financial advantages.

2) Developing Material access: Making services that work with the kinds of phones used by BOP, making cash in/cash out more accessible.
Regulating GCASH and SMART:

100% reserve requirement

HG: 100% reserve requirement for just e-money or any transfer? EA: Thats for e-money.

HG: Is there a time limit on the money put in the e-money account? a 100% RR is very high. EA: They do not work as banks. Money is earned through transactions.

Policy Issues:
Security of the systems

prevention of fraud

Interoperability

Tracking users

Increasing access

RS: Comparisson with M-Pesa in Kenya will be useful.

HG: Comaprison with the regular banking transactions will also be useful.