Tag Archive for ‘Bhutan’ at LIRNEasia

Tag Archive for 'Bhutan'

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

Findings from Mobile Benchmarks South Asia, March 2008 released

on March 6, 2008

According to LIRNEasia’s latest comparative study of price and affordability indicators in eight South Asian countries, Bangladesh emerges as having the lowest average monthly cost of using a mobile at all levels of use (low, medium and high) for different tariff plans (prepaid and postpaid). Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka follow closely, while Bhutan, Maldives and Afghanistan are seen to have significantly higher average monthly mobile costs.

The study compares mobile tariffs in South Asia using price baskets, derived from those used by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The baskets are calculated for low, medium and high users for pre- as well as postpaid tariff plans, factoring in usage charges (voice and SMS), line rental, connection charges (depreciated over a three year period), and…

7 Comments
Tags: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Pakistan, SMS, Sri Lanka.

USD 60 billion in BPO exports projected for India: will other South Asian countries see some of it?

Rohan Samarajiva

on July 3, 2007

There is no reason why Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and even the microstates of Bhutan and Maldives cannot get BPO business, not in competition with the Indian juggernaut, but in a complementary way.

Sri Lanka had no BPO business to speak of prior to 2002, despite similarities with South India where it was booming. It was only after the international liberalization of 2002-03 that BPOs started in a significant way in Sri Lanka, though that promising start has been affected by the unsettled security situation.

For the policy makers and implementors in these countries to contemplate: 1 percent of USD 60 billion is USD 600 million. That is not chump change.

LANKA BUSINESS ONLINE - LBO

India’s exports of software and related services are expected to almost double in…

2 Comments
Tags: Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Kiran Karnik, Maldives, Nasscom, National Association of Software and Service Companies, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, USD.

Bhutan getting into BPOs

Rohan Samarajiva

on May 21, 2007

It is learned that a fiber optic cable has been laid to connect Thimphu, the capital with the Indian backbone network, that an IT park is being established in Thimphu, and that Bhutan will soon be undertaking BPO work.

If any of our Bhutanese readers (or other knowledgeable persons) can shed additional light on this subject it will be much appreciated.

Comment
Tags: backbone network, Bhutan, fiber optic, IT park, Thimphu.

Intelligent benchmark regulation: Forbearance within benchmark limits

Tahani Iqbal

on April 11, 2007

This colloquium will be on a new paper that is being developed on tools for intelligent benchmark regulation, based on Harsha de Silva and Tahani Iqbal’s presentation on Price & Affordability Indicators at the WDR Expert Forum in Singapore. The tools under consideration are price baskets and price elasticity of demand.

3 Comments
Tags: Bhutan, Harsha de Silva, India, Maldives, OECD, Singapore, Small island, SMS, Sri Lanka, Tahani Iqbal, United Nations.

Following successful course, LIRNEasia plans regular offerings; next course in March 2008 in Singapore

Rohan Samarajiva

on March 19, 2007

Report on the 11th LIRNE.NET Executive Training Course on Regulation, 25 February – 3 March 2007, conducted by LIRNEasia and CONNECTasia Forum Pte.Ltd.

Rohan Samarajiva, Course Director

The 11th LIRNE.NET course on “Telecom Reform: Strategies to achieve connectivity and convergence,” was held February 25th - March 3rd, 2007 at the Changi Village Hotel, Singapore. It was attended by 33 persons from 13 countries, ranging from Mongolia to Congo and South Africa to Bhutan.

Among the participants were 13 persons from regulatory agencies, including three members of regulatory collegiums. Eleven persons from the management of telecom operators, and nine from research organizations, universities and civil society made up the balance. Twenty were men; and 13 women.

The course had two components: a conventional lecture and assignment based module of five…

3 Comments
Tags: Bhutan, Bill Melody, Broadband, Changi Village, Changi Village Hotel, China, Congo, CONNECTasia Forum Pte.Ltd, Dialog Telekom, Evan Due, Hans Wijayasuriya, Harsha de Silva, Hong Kong, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, ITU, M. H. Au, Mongolia, Rajendra Singh, Rohan Samarajiva, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Studies, The 11th LIRNE.NET, Tim Kelly, Universal Service Funds, VOIP.

Broadband battles

Rohan Samarajiva

on November 24, 2006

Here is an issue that will feature large in India and even Bhutan, but not Sri Lanka. The reason is that the former countries have a sizable number of cable connections, which will in the future be used to provide broadband access in competition to phone companies.

Because of the profligacy of frequency-based broadcast licensing in Sri Lanka, there is no cable industry to speak of. What there is uses frequencies. That means it cannot easily be turned into a conduit for broadband.

Phone vs. Cable: Turf Wars Escalate - New York Times

What is different now is that the contest is a two-way slugfest between powerful and sophisticated companies with deep pockets and a lot more to lose. The start-ups that were…

Comment
Tags: AT&T, Bhutan, Broadband, broadband access, Comcast, Craig Moffett, India, MCI, Sanford Bernstein, Sri Lanka, Time Warner Cable, Turf Wars Escalate - New York Times.

Bhutan ends integrated monopoly

Rohan Samarajiva

on November 22, 2006

18 November, 2006

In an auction, which lasted four hours with the bid climbing 168 times, the Tashi Group clinched the deal to operate the first private mobile service in the country with a Nu. 777 million (USD 17.32 million) offer.

The Tashi Group outbid three other joint venture companies in the auction that was held in Thimphu on October 16 to operate the license for a period of 15 years.

The three other local companies vying for the license were the Singye Group, which had tied up with Reliance mobile in India, Druktel Private Limited, a consortium of Bhutanese companies, which had joined Airtel also in India and Bhutan Steel, which had tied up Thai company, Shin Satellite Public Corporation Limited.

The bidding began at Nu. 198 million…

2 Comments
Tags: Bhutan, Bhutan InfoComm and Media Authority, Bhutan Steel, Druktel Private Limited, India, Shin Satellite Public Corporation Limited, Singye Group, Tashi Group, Thimphu, Ugen Wangchuk, USD.

Marking the Shift from Relief to Disaster Prevention and Mitigation

Divakar Goswami

on August 22, 2006

Developing countries have tended to focus on disaster relief and rehabilitation at the expense of strategies to prevent or mitigate effects of disasters in the first place. To a politician, the political payout from handing out relief materials to the disaster affected appears greater than investing in a national early warning system that may not yield any political reward during his/her tenure. Political expediency coupled with a mix of fatalism, laziness to undertake the hardwork required to implement mitigation/prevention strategies, low valued assigned to human life in developing countries have all contributed to the callous acceptance of natural disasters as a “fact of life.” Hence, the allusion to a “paradigm shift” referred to by the Indian minister, hopefully marks a policy shift rather than just…

1 Comment
Tags: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, earthquake, India, Indonesia, Kashmir, Maldives, National Institute of Disaster Management, Nepal, New Delhi, Pakistan, Shivraj Patil, Sri Lanka, Thailand, tsunami, UNDP.

Colloquium on “Bridging the Divide: Building Asia-Pacific Capacity for Effective Reforms”

Tahani Iqbal

on August 10, 2006

Bridging the digital divide is important. It may not be as important as ensuring safe water for all, or adequate healthcare, in terms of meriting investment of scarce public resources, but it is definitely important enough to merit concerted action to remove the artificial barriers to private supply. One of the best ways this can be done is by improving the knowledge that is brought to bear on the process.

The optimal way to achieve this is to create an environment within which international best practices are adapted to local circumstances by in-situ policy intellectuals. Some of these local experts could be in regulatory agencies and in government; but the optimal results will be achieved through participatory processes where all stakeholders, including the consumers are represented…

Comment
Tags: adequate healthcare, Afghanistan, Asia, Australia, Bahrain, Bhutan, cellular telephone, China, Digital Opportunity Forum, Federal Communications Commission, Google, Internet profiles, Korea, large telephone densities, Myanmar, Nepal, Norther, open-source software premise, Papua New Guinea, Rohan Samarajiva, Singapore Australia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States.

Will Bhutan do better with competition?

Rohan Samarajiva

on June 13, 2006

Bhutan was perhaps the last remaining integrated government-owned monopoly in the world. It now looks like it’s ready to end that unique status by licensing a second mobile operator.

One of the advantages of being late is that you can learn from the mistakes of others. Other SAARC countries introduced competition earlier but could not get the regulatory preconditions right. It seems that Bhutan has the right ideas. Let’s see if the follow-through is as good.

For the story, see:

Bhutan calls bids for first private operator

Comment
Tags: Bhutan.

Report on Workshop on ICT Indicators, New Delhi

Divakar Goswami

on May 22, 2006

A report on the Indicators Workshop held in New Delhi by LIRNEasia in collaboration with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is available here [PDF]. The report provides a review of international initiatives and best practices, examines some of the difficulties regarding standardising indicators across the region, the challenges of measurement and collection of indicator data and the process of developing an indicators manual for the South Asian region.

3 Comments
Tags: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Indonesia, International Telecommunication Union, Maldives, National Regulatory Research Institute, Nepal, New Delhi, online database, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Thailand, United States.

Workshop on ICT Indicators for Benchmarking Performance in Network and Services Development

Sriganesh Lokanathan

on March 9, 2006

LIRNEasia and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), with the assitance of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada, co-sponsored the “Workshop on ICT Indicators for Benchmarking Performance in Network and Services Development” in New Delhi from 1-3 March 2006. The workshop highlighted the need for accurate, standardized and comparable indicators for the region and was intended to initate action to develop such indicators.

The workshop brought together representatives of National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs), National Statistical Organizations (NSOs) and operators from Afghanistan, Bangaldesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka along with the foremost authorities on the subject from the ITU, OECD, and the US National Regulatory Research Institute (NRRI). With nearly 60 participants from 16 countries, the Workshop was also attended by telecom researchers…

6 Comments
Tags: Afghanistan, Asia, Ayesha Zainudeen, Bhutan, Canada, e-indicators, Gaurav Singh, India, International Development Research Centre, ITU, Lilia Perez-Chavolla, Maldives, Nepal, New Delhi, OECD, Pakistan, Pradip Baijal, Rajendra Singh, Rohan Samarajiva, Sam Paltridge, Sri Lanka, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Tim Kelly, US National Regulatory Research Institute.

LIRNEasia training course: Catalyzing change: Strategies to achieve connectivity and convergence

Ayesha Zainudeen

on October 9, 2005

LIRNEasia’s maiden telecom reform course was successfully completed by 36 participants from 18 countries. The 10^th telecom reform course was co-organised with LIRNE.NET, in association with the School of Communication and Information of Nanyang Technological University, and the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) of Singapore. Themed ‘Catalyzing change: Strategies to achieve connectivity and convergence,’ the course took place at the Elizabeth Hotel in Singapore on the 24^th-30^th September 2005.
see pics
The course aimed to prepare regulators to face the challenges that lie ahead to achieve connectivity and convergence. One of the key issues that much of the discussion focussed on was VOIP or voice over internet protocol, an application that is revolutionizing the voice market, bringing down costs significantly; this will have an enormous bearing on universal access, given the…

2 Comments
Tags: Africa, Andrew Haire, Asia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Bill Melody, Cambodia, Canada, Concept Lab, Denmark, diverse group, Elizabeth Hotel, Europe, Ewan Sutherland, India, Indonesia, InfoComm Development Authority, Internet Research Centre, Jens Arnbak, LIRNE.NET, Malaysia, Milagros Rivera Sanchez, Mongolia, Nanyang Technological University, National University of Singapore, Netherlands Regulatory Authority, Nigeria, North America, OP TA, Pakistan, Philippines, Professors William Melody, Rajendra Singh, Randolph Kluver, Rohan Samarajiva, Satish Ranade, Saudi Arabia, School of Communication and Information, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Tan Geok Leng, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, telecommunications user studies, Teleglobe, Thailand, Tyco Global Network (TGN), Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited, voice over internet protocol, VOIP.

WDR Expert Forum, Singapore September 30, 2005

Divakar Goswami

on August 5, 2005

Diversifying Participation in Network Development
The 2005 WDR research theme, Diversifying Participation in Network Development explores the evolving strategies used to extend the telecom network primarily to rural, high-cost areas. The objective of this cutting edge research is to identify successful strategies that can be replicated in other countries and to avoid unsuccessful ones. Light will be shed on these innovative approaches, looking at key experience to capture the range of possible sources, types and methods of investment funding for network development. The research is currently being developed by the WDR research community in Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Who should attend?

Executives from telecom operators and equipment suppliers interested in innovative ideas that can be applied in developing as well as developed country settings.
Policy makers, regulators, researchers…

Comment
Tags: Africa, Asia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Broadband, Europe, India, Internet backbone, Latin America, Nepal, Sri Lanka, telecom network.

What is LIRNEasia?

Indi Samarajiva

on September 19, 2004

a speech by Executive Director Rohan Samarajiva

In one of my intemperate moments I’ve said that Asia is a category that is of use only to international bureaucrats. There is little that the entire region holds in common. This is the area that has the largest concentration of poor people in the world.

Asia is seen, however, as driving the world economy. The Asian Tigers, and the Juggernauts of China and India. If you look at the ICT issues, you get into this orgy of self-congratulation, but if you really look at the number - developing Asia is a straggler. And what about people? This LIRNEasia organization is about people. We have people, the only problem is that our people flourish in Australia, in Canada. When we…

3 Comments
Tags: Afghanistan, Asia, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Broadband, Canada, China, India, Korea, LIRNEasia, Nepal, Rohan Samarajiva, Sri Lanka, Taiwan.

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