Tag Archive for ‘Asia’ at LIRNEasia

Tag Archive for 'Asia'

Call for Papers: Infrastructure Regulation: What works, Why, and How do we know?
Deadline: 05 December 2008.

Know your broadband – LIRNEasia/Sarvodaya workshop (For bloggers and telecenter operators), Nov 25, 2008

on November 18, 2008

Your operator promises you x Mbps. Are you sure he keeps promise? If not, what you miss?

LIRNEasia, has been researching on Broadband performance quality issues in Asia. One objective of our work is to create ‘EMPOWERED USERS’ armed with broadband performance information.

Our first milestone was to develop ‘Ashoka-Tissa’ methodology of Broadband testing. This was released at a seminar jointly organized with Institute of Engineers Sri Lanka on March 18, 2008.

Next move was to automate the test process. LIRNEasia has developed an Open Source based tester (named AT-Tester) with the help of a team from ITT-Madras. After few months of beta-testing now it is available on the net (including the source).

LIRNEasia plans to launch it in Sri Lanka on at a workshop jointly organized by Sarvodaya.

ATTENDENCE FREE (with…

2 Comments
Tags: Asia, Broadband, Chanukah, Institute of Engineers Sri Lanka, Madras, Sarvodaya, Sarvodaya Laboratories Ltd, Sri Lanka.

Mobile broadband to soar in Asia: GSMA

Chanuka Wattegama

on November 11, 2008

The number of subscribers to High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) services - a technology that enables broadband access on mobile phones and other computing devices - will more than double next year in Asia, according to a forecast by telco industry group GSM Association (GSMA).

In an interview with BizIT, Jaikishan Rajaraman, GSMA director of product and service development, said the number of users in Asia subscribing to HSPA will swell from 26.5 million to 53.5 million over the next 12 months. Fuelling this trend are soaring demand from both businesses and consumers, coupled with falling prices of mobile broadband services, he said. This trend is expected to be mirrored in other parts of the world, including Europe and the US.

In August, GSMA - a global…

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Tags: Asia, Australia, Broadband, broadband access, cellular telephone, Europe, GSM Association, Indonesia, Jaikishan Rajaraman, Japan, Malaysia, mobile broadband services, mobile phones, South Korea, Sri Lanka, telco industry group, United States.

The Interview with Rohan Samarajiva

Ayesha Zainudeen

on November 4, 2008

This episode of The Interview features an interview with Executive Director, Rohan Samarajiva on telecom regulations, disaster mitigation, preparedness and early warning, mobile phone usage at the BOP and a number of other technology related issues.

The Interview - Rohan Samarajiva from CPA on Vimeo.

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Tags: Asia, BOP, Bottom Of The Pyramid, cellular telephone, CPA, Disaster, disaster mitigation, Early Warning, egovernment, hazard warning, HazInfo, mobile phone, Rohan Samarajiva, Sanjana Hattotuwa, Sri Lanka, Teleuse@BOP, The Interview.

Connecting the unconnected and more at ITU Telecom Asia 2008

Rohan Samarajiva

on September 12, 2008

Mega panel at ITU Telecom Asia 2008

I had the opportunity of chairing a panel of seven persons from various parts of Asia at the Forum at ITU Telecom Asia 2008 in Bangkok. After we got around the inane title of Manga for the masses, we had a decent discussion, focussing on the aspects of connecting the unconnected, assuring adequate quality to the connected, and content. My overview slides setting the frame are here.

Contrary to expectation, the Chairman of the Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission, representing perhaps one of the least connected of the countries of Asia, talked about using universal service funds to develop content. Several people referred to the counter-productive nature of universal service taxes, wherein poor people were being taxed to provide services…

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Tags: Asia, early warning technologies, ITU TELECOM, quality, taxes, telecom services, universal access, universal service.

A world free from 9/11s and tsunamis?

Chanuka Wattegama

on September 12, 2008

Exactly seven years from yesterday (still today to some), early in the morning on September 11, 2001, nineteen hijackers took control of four commercial airliners en route to San Francisco and Los Angeles from Boston, Newark, and Washington, D.C. The hijackers flew two of the airliners, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center. Another group of hijackers flew American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon. A fourth flight, United Airlines Flight 93, whose ultimate target was either the United States Capitol or White House, crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The rest, as we say, is history.

What 9/11 was to the West, ‘the’ tsunami was to the South. Caught unaware, more than 225,000 lives…

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Tags: Alberta, Asia, Boston, Boxing Day, Colombo, communication technologies, conventional fixed wireless telephones, Gordon Gow, hazard alert systems, India, Indonesia, International Development Research Centre, Java, LIRNEasia, Los Angeles, mobile phones, Newark, Pennsylvania, Pentagon, Peter Anderson, public network, remote alarm device, SAN FRANCISCO, satellite radio, satellite technology, Shanksville, Simon Fraser University, South Towers, Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan government, Thailand, United States Capitol, University of Alberta, Very Small Aperture Terminal, VSAT, west coast, White House, World Trade Center.

LIRNEasia Executive Director at ITU Asia 2008

Ayesha Zainudeen

on August 26, 2008

Executive Director, Rohan Samarajiva will participate at the ITU Asia 2008 conference taking place in Bangkok, Thailand, from 2-5 September 2008. He will talk about universal service at the opening plenary with the Indian Minister at the Telecom Development Symposium on 4th September. He will also give the keynote talk at the Business and Finance Session of the ITU Asia Youth Forum on 2nd September, chaired by Bosco Eduagive a rdo Fernandes, Vice President (BU & IM Industry Relationship), Nokia Siemens Networks GmbH & Co. KG (Germany).

ITU TELECOM ASIA 2008 is a key networking platform for Asia’s top ICT names to come together and focus on core issues relating to ICT expansion across the region.

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Tags: Asia, Bangkok, Germany, key networking platform, Nokia Siemens Networks GmbH & Co. KG, Rohan Samarajiva, Thailand.

Over 500m new mobile subs in Asia’s emerging economies-report

Ayesha Zainudeen

on August 26, 2008

Aug 26, 2008, telecomasia.net

Asia’s emerging markets, comprising eight nations, are expected to see mobile subscriber net gains of 573 million by end-2012, breaching the one billion mark to close the year at an estimated 1.06 billion subscribers, a report from research firm Frost & Sullivan said.

In 2007, these emerging markets were home to some 487 million mobile users, accounting for 37.1% of Asia-Pacific’s total mobile subscriber base, the report said.

The report also said the mobile services sector in eight emerging Asia-Pac countries (excluding China) earned revenues of $33.27 billion in 2007. This is predicted to reach $61.35 billion by end-2013, at a CAGR of 10.7% (2007-2013).

Growing at a CAGR of 15.1% (2007-2013), the mobile subscriber base is expected to hit 1.13 billion by end-2013 to…

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Tags: Americas, Asia, Asia-Pacific, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Europe, Frost & Sullivan, India, Indonesia, Jeff Teh, Laos, Pakistan, prepaid services, Sri Lanka, USD, Vietnam.

NTU, Singapore calls for ICT4D grant proposals

Chanuka Wattegama

on August 26, 2008

The Strengthening ICT4D Research Capacity in Asia (SIRCA) Programme of NTU Singapore has announced a call for grant proposals.

The SIRCA Programme seeks to identify future research leaders and to facilitate their development through the support of research grants. The awards are intended to ensure capacities to conduct research in the area of Information and Communications Technology for Development (ICT4D or ICTD) are built in Asia. This applies particularly to emerging researchers based in Asia who are relatively new to ICTD research and interested in undertaking theoretically-based and methodologically rigorous research. Additionally, these applicants would benefit from concerted capacity building exercises including a mentorship arrangement. In particular, the program promotes broad-based high-quality multidisciplinary research in ICT development, e-services, new media use and social impact, and policy…

10 Comments
Tags: Asia, e-services, ICT4D, research grants.

LIRNEasia researchers at ITS 2008, Montreal, Canada

Nirmali Sivapragasam

on July 4, 2008

LIRNEasia researchers participated at the International Telecommunications Society (ITS) 17th Biennial Conference in Montreal, Canada, from June 24-27 2008. The theme of the conference was on, ‘The Changing Structure of the Telecommunications Industry and the New Role of Regulation’.

The picture above shows Professor Sudharma Yoonaidharma, Commissioner, National Telecommunciations Commission of Thailand commenting on the presentations made at the second of the two LIRNE.NET sessions, watched by (from left) Rohan Samarajiva and Payal Malik from LIRNEasia, Roxana Barrentes from DIRSI and Anders Henten from LIRNE Europe. The session was chaired by Hank Intven, Partner at the leading Canadian firm of McCarthy Tetrault (not in the picture).

At a double LIRNE.NET panel, entitled, ‘New regulatory approaches in the face of rapidly changing demand: Research from four continents presented by LIRNE.NET’,…

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Tags: Asia, Canada, India, Information Society, International Telecommunications Society, LIRNE.NET, Montreal, Payal, Rohan Samarajiva, sister-networks, telecommunications lessons.

Reflections On Research To Practice

Rohan Samarajiva

on May 31, 2008

Researc h to practice is the central preoccupation of LIRNEasia. We differ from conventional researchers in our fixation on how to convey our research to policymakers, regulators, senior managers of operators and to the symbolic universe they live in. We choose our research questions and methods with this end in mind and we conduct our research on schedules determined by the need for effective communication to these key stakeholders. We measure success by whether the research that we communicate catalyzes changes in laws, policies, practices and worldviews .

In this light, the SSRC organized pre-conference seemed an ideal academic event to attend after many years. I had attended many discussions on researc h in practice while in academia. There was a difference this time.

In 1993, for example, there was a memorable impromptu debate between Eli…

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Tags: Asia, Columbia, Eli Noam, Joe Karaganis, Media coverage, New York Public Service Commission, Ohio, research, Sri Lanka, Tom Streeter, United States.

Benefits of telecom at the BOP?

Ayesha Zainudeen

on May 26, 2008

LIRNEasia’s Lead Economist presented the findings on the percieved benefits of telecom access at the bottom of the pyramid at ‘The Global and Globalizing Dimensions of Mobile Communication: Developing or Developed‘ a pre-conference program at the ICA 2008 conference in Montreal on 20-21 May 2008.

The paper presented, ‘Perceived economic benefits of telecom access at the Bottom of the Pyramid in emerging Asia‘ takes a look at what BOP phone owners gain from telecom access from their own perspective. One of the most interesting findings here, is that although they see efficiency gains stemming from phone access/use, they don’t relate these to economic gains. This is puzzling, because we know from macro-level studies that a positive relationship exists between phone penetration and national income; additionally, theory suggests…

1 Comment
Tags: Asia, Bottom Of The Pyramid, India, Johnathan Donner, Montreal, SMS.

Asia at the leading edge of communication and new media developments?

Ayesha Zainudeen

on May 15, 2008

LIRNEasia’s Executive Director will speak at the International Conference on Information, Communication and New Media & the First Annual Convention of the Information and Communication Association of Taiwan, being held in Taipei on 17 May 2008. His presentaiton, Asia at the leading edge of communication and new media developments? can be downloaded by clicking on the link.

5 Comments
Tags: Asia, Bottom Of The Pyramid, Information Society, Samarajiva, Taiwan, Teleuse@BOP.

LIRNEasia researchers present at International Workshop on ICTs and Development in Asia

Nirmali Sivapragasam

on April 24, 2008

Rohan Samarajiva and Tahani Iqbal will participate at an International Workshop on ICTs and Development: Experiences in Asia, held at the Faculy of Arts and Sciences (Communications & New Media Programme Science, Technology and Society (STS) Cluster), National University of Singapore from 24th - 25th April 2008.

Samarajiva will chair a session, where papers will be presented on the Development of Web 2.0 and Social Networking Websites in Thailand, Internet Adoption and Usage among Farmers in China and the Use of ICTs in Rural India.

Iqbal will present a paper entitled, “Gender Inequalities in Access and Use of Telecom at the Bottom of the Pyramid?: Findings from a Five Country Study”, based on research findings from the Teleuse@BOP2 study.

More information is available here.

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Tags: Asia, China, Internet Adoption, National University of Singapore, Tahani Iqbal, Thailand.

Nokia’s new 3G Handset 6212 optimized for Mobile Payments

Chanuka Wattegama

on April 16, 2008

Nokia is positioning its new 6212 handset as a mobile payment device, with users storing credit card information on the device and accessing accounts online directly from the handset. The phone can be set to allow payment only after the user enters a secondary passcode to authorize it. Such e-payment options may require a service subscription with a carrier or merchant, as well as the installation of a secure payment application, Nokia said.

The Nokia 6212 classic will be available in the third quarter in parts of Europe and Asia; its estimated price is 200 euro or $316.

Read the full story in Informationweek here.

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Tags: 3G, Asia, e-payment, EUR, Europe, mobile payment device, USD.

Huge growth seen for mobile broadband

Chanuka Wattegama

on April 9, 2008

Mobile broadband connections around the world have increased tenfold in the past year, with 32 million subscribers connected now, up from 3 million at the end of March 2007, according to the GSM Association.

The Association, which represents operators of GSM and 3G networks, says providers across Europe, Asia and North America are all reporting huge increases in the uptake of High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), with the uptake said to have increased by 44 per cent in the past 10 months.

It says the number of networks offering commercial mobile broadband services has risen sharply in the past year. Broadband on mobile phones is available in 73 countries from 166 operators, up from 96 networks commercially deployed in 3 countries.

Meanwhile the Global mobile Suppliers Association, which…

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Tags: 3G networks, Asia, Broadband, end user equipment, Europe, GSM, GSM Association, mobile broadband services, mobile phones, North America, Suppliers Association.

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