Tag Archives: Business/Finance

CHAKULA features an e-interview with LIRNEasia’s CEO

Written by Chanuka Wattegama on July 7, 2010 — Leave a Comment

CHAKULA is a newsletter produced by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC). Named after the Swahili word for ‘food’, it aims to mobilise African civil society around ICT policy for sustainable development and social justice issues. The latest issue features an e-interview with LIRNEasia’s CEO Rohan Samarajiva, but it is not the only reason why […]

Posted in General, Research | Also tagged 3G, ADSL, Africa, Alison Gillwald, ARPU Inc., Asia, Association for Progressive Communications, Average revenue per user, banking, Broadband, broadband Internet, broadcast/telecommunications, Business, Cape Town, CEO, Chair and CEO, Christoph Stork, communications services, deployable wireless services, Design, e-interview, e-interviews, Economics, electronic commerce frameworks, entrepreneurship, Executive Director, fixed and mobile services, food, forward for the conference, generation networks, Graduate School, Indra de Lanerolle, infoDev, innovation, International Development Research Centre, International Telecommunication Union, Internet economy, Internet Protocol, Kenya, Lirnasia, LIRNE.NET, LIRNEasia, made taking certain technologies, mobile operator, Muriuki Mureithi, network, niche product, OECD, overlay network, Paris, Php, Political economy, public utilities, Regional Policy, regulation, RIA Servicos Imobiliarios Ltda., Rohan Samarajiva, scholar search, Service innovation, Sky One Network (Holding) Ltd, Sri Lanka, Structure, telecommunications, telecommunications space, telecommunications/banking etc, USD, wireless access

‘Deadly SMS’ not deadly! – Sri Lanka Telecom Regulator

Written by Chanuka Wattegama on May 8, 2010 — 3 Comments

Telecommunication Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka loves SMS. In the pre-election period it requested operators to accommodate a ‘New Year Greeting’ from the President, who apparently was a candidate. Now it warns the users about a false spam SMS. If you have received it don’t worry. Calls from those numbers do not harm your brain or […]

Posted in General | Also tagged Anusha Pelpita, computing, Cybercrime, Director General, E-mail spam, Electronic commerce, Health/Medical/Pharmaceuticals, Information technology management, Internet, Marketing, mass media, President, SMS, Spam, Spamming, technology*, Telecom Regulatory Commission, telecommunication, Telecommunication Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka, World Wide Web

Peru: DIRSI TRE study shows an improvement in regulatory environment

Written by Chanuka Wattegama on April 9, 2010 — 1 Comment

A report just released by DIRSI shows that Peru’s regulatory environment has improved slightly during the period from 2007 to 2009. The report, Entorno regulatorio de las telecomunicaciones: Perú 2007-2009 (Telecommunications Regulatory Environment: Peru 2007-2009), prepared by Jorge Bossio, used the Telecom Regulatory Environment (TRE) Assessment methodology that was developed by DIRSI’s partner LIRNEasia as […]

Posted in General | Also tagged Actuarial science, Bolivia, Caribbean, Chile, Ecuador, Guyana, Jorge Bossio, Latin America, LIRNE.NET, Peru, Risk, Uruguay

Wanted: A terminator to terminate the termination cost

Written by Abu Saeed Khan on April 2, 2010 — 1 Comment

The UK regulator, Ofcom, has proposed cuts in interconnection fees (also known as mobile termination rates), the wholesale charges that operators make to connect calls to each others’ networks. It has unveiled plans to cut the rate in stages from 4.3 pence ($0.065) per minute to 0.005 pence per minute by 2015. “As rates fall and […]

Posted in General | Also tagged BT Group, BT Group PLC, communication, Conservative government, fixed operator, France Telecom S.A., GBP, GSM gateway, Hutchison 3G, Ian Scales, interconnection, mobile operator, O2 Plc, Ofcom, pence, T-Mobile, T-Mobile International AG & Co. KG, Technology/Internet, Telecom TV, telecommunications, Telefónica Europe, Termination rates, The Guardian, United Kingdom, USD, Vodafone, Vodafone Group Plc

Broadband Quality in USA: Federal Communications Commission in LIRNEasia’s footsteps

Written by Chanuka Wattegama on March 12, 2010 — 1 Comment

The title is bold, we agree, but it is true. The FCC is asking broadband and smartphone users in USA to use their broadband testing tools to help the feds and consumers know what speeds are actually available, not just promised by the nations’ telecoms, reports wired.com. Starting yesterday (March 11), netizens can go to […]

Posted in General, Research | Also tagged Bloomberg L.P., Broadband, Business, Censorship in the United States, communication, Crowdsourcing, DHAKA, Federal Communications Commission, mass media, New Delhi, outsourcing, Psychology, Ryan Singel, Smartphone, Social information processing, Social psychology, Statistical hypothesis testing, Statistics, technology*, Technology/Internet, Test automation, United States, writer

Mobile 2.0 research findings to be disseminated in Delhi, Dhaka and Bangkok

Written by Chanuka Wattegama on February 27, 2010 — Leave a Comment

We now have evidence to support the claim that those at the “Bottom of the Pyramid” (and therefore, the majority of people in the developing world) are likely to enter the world of knowledge and convenience promised by the Internet through the path opened by the rapidly increasing capabilities of mobile networks and user devices. […]

Posted in General, Research | Also tagged agriculture applications, Bangkok, Bangladesh, DHAKA, Erwin Alampay, e‐government services, India, mobile 2.0, New Delhi, Nirmali Sivapragasam, Online social networking, payment devices, Puree Sirasoontorn, Tahani Iqbal, Technology/Internet, Thailand, user devices, Web 2.0, World Wide Web

Telecommunication Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka: Quo Vadis?

Written by Chanuka Wattegama on February 8, 2010 — Leave a Comment

Perhaps it is time for Sri Lanka Telecom Regulator to be renamed ‘Telecom Revenue Commission’ as it generates more revenue for the government than two state banks and Port and the Petroleum Corporation, suggests Rohan Samarajiva in his column to Lanka Business Online. The 3.5 billion rupee question: Does it regulate? The answer may interest […]

Posted in General, Research | Also tagged Anusha Palpita, Broadband, Chair, Director General, Earth, Geography, official, Political geography, President, Rohan Samarajiva, rupee, Secretary, Special Committee, Sri Lanka, state banks, Telecom Revenue Commission

Sri Lanka: Financial Times elaborates on spam issue raised by LIRNEasia

Written by Chanuka Wattegama on January 7, 2010 — 5 Comments

The stream of blog posts started with a single SMS – apparently by the President of the country to every mobile user. It was initially thought a commercially paid advertisement aimed at the forthcoming Presidential Election but the operators confirmed it is a favour requested by the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission. Does this violate the election […]

Posted in General, Research | Also tagged Advertising, E-mail spam, Entertainment/Culture, Hutchison 3G, Marketing, mass media, online edition, President, SMS, Spam, Spamming, Technology/Internet, Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, the Financial Times, The Financial Times Limited, Unavailability

How broad is your broadband?

Written by Ranmalee Gamage on November 25, 2009 — 1 Comment

Based on LIRNEasia’s broadband QoSE research findings, we ran an advertisement in the Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka’s leading English daily) on 24 November 2009. The advertisement focused on four facts. The first three were on value for money, advertised download speed as opposed to actual download speed and bandwidth bottlenecks. The lack of regulation on […]

Posted in General, Research | Also tagged Advertising, Broadband, Canada, India, mobile telephony, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Technology/Internet, Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of India, tester software, the Daily Mirror, TRAI, United States

Rohan Samarajiva speaks at OECD/infoDev workshop at the Internet Governance Forum

Written by Chanuka Wattegama on November 18, 2009 — Leave a Comment

“When a business model, rather than direct government action, is delivering the goods the most appropriate government action is that which supports the business model. Policy and regulatory actions must be derived more from analysis of the requirements of the business model and less from public administration theory.” How it applies to Internet and broadband […]

Posted in Events, Research | Also tagged Anriette Esterhuysen, Association for Progressive Communications, AT&T Corp., Broadband, Chair and CEO, Dimitri Ypsilanti, Egypt, Executive Director, Head, infoDev, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Internet Governance Forum, Lead ICT Policy Specialist, LIRNEasia, OECD, Olfat A. Monsef, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, President, Rohan Samarajiva, Technology/Internet, telecom services, Tim Kelly, Vice President of National Telecommunication Regulator, Virat Bhatia

Use a mobile to get pension: Mobile 2.0 research findings receives media coverage in New Delhi

Written by Chanuka Wattegama on November 10, 2009 — Leave a Comment

“The government is spending a lot on e-governance by putting up kiosks in villages. These kiosks cost a lot and need electricity, which is not always available in rural areas. An internet kiosk costs the government about Rs 1.5 lakh, while this would cost Rs 22,000.” Financial Chronicle (New Delhi edition) quoted Subhash Bhatnagar, adjunct […]

Posted in General, Research | Also tagged adjunct professor, e-governance, environment, government services, IIM-A, Interactive kiosk, internet kiosk, need electricity, Politics, Rs 1, Subhash Bhatnagar, Technology/Internet

More media coverage for LIRNEasia’s broadband QoSE research

Written by Chanuka Wattegama on November 10, 2009 — Leave a Comment

“I can’t imagine how and based on what measure TRAI set 256kbps internet connection as broadband. It’s very difficult for users to work with this speed. Please don’t compare Bangladesh and Sri Lanka while setting standard for India.” This was how a reader responded when Indian Express online carried a story on the dissemination of […]

Posted in General, Research | Also tagged 256kbps internet connection, Ashok Jhunjhunwala, Bangladesh, Broadband, GRT Grand Hotel, Head, India, Indian Institute of Technology-Madras, Indian Institutes of Technology, Lanka, Madras, open source-based software application, Sri Lanka, Sunday Times, Technology/Internet, Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of India, The Hindu, The Indian Express, Timothy Gonsalves, TRAI, United Kingdom, War/Conflict

Sri Lanka: A Nenasala telecenter – The story of two photos

Written by Chanuka Wattegama on October 26, 2009 — 4 Comments

I took the first photo. That was in April 2008 in an informal telecenter visit. The second one appeared in a Sinhala blog recently. Mangedara Nenasala telecenter at Thulhiriya (less than 2 km from MAS Holdings) is one of the hundreds of defunct Nenasala telecenters. During better times it provided services such as utility bill […]

Posted in General, Research | Also tagged Broadband, computer training, Internet services, Mas Holdings Ltd, printing series, Rs, Sri Lanka, telecentre, Telecommuting, USD, utility bill payments, VOIP

WiMAX still in the game in the US?

Written by Rohan Samarajiva on September 30, 2009 — 2 Comments

Many were counting WiMAX out, but it appears that it has one last chance with the Sprint experiment. Through Clearwire, an affiliated company in which Sprint owns a 51 percent stake, Sprint is now offering the faster data service on laptops in Baltimore, Portland, Ore., and other cities for a total population of eight million […]

Posted in General | Also tagged 4G, Clearwire, LTE, Sprint Nextel, Technology/Internet, WiMax, wireless industry

Electronics draining 15% of household electricity?

Written by Rohan Samarajiva on September 20, 2009 — Leave a Comment

LIRNEasia has from the beginning seen the value of looking at all infrastructures, and indeed looking at their inter-relationships. Given their places on the adoption curves, we do not believe that electronics can consume 15% of electricity at the BOP in emerging countries, but given the long gestation times of energy projects and reforms, it […]

Posted in General, Research | Also tagged consumer electronics, electricity, electronics, energy projects, environment, Technology/Internet