According the LIRNEasia’s 2011 Telecom Regulatory Environment (TRE) survey, stakeholders in India, Pakistan and Indonesia have identified the telecom regulatory environments in their countries as improved since 2008, the last time the survey was carried out.   In contrast, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Philippines have seen the regulatory environments decline in effectiveness, while Thailandremains more-or-less the same.

The TRE Survey asks senior level stakeholders to evaluate the effectiveness of the telecom regulatory environment in the fixed, mobile and broadband subsectors along a Lickert scale of 1 to 5 (1 being highly ineffective and 5 being highly effective, with the mid-point of 3 being considered average performance).  Seven different dimensions of regulation (market entry, tariff regulation, interconnection, universal service, anti-competitive-practices, quality of service) are evaluated by the stakeholders.    This year, 349 responded participated in the 7 countries.

Within a country, scores for each of the dimensions reflect specific issues: for example, in India, the lowest score (of 2.3 out of 5) was received by the Access to Scarce Resources dimension in the mobile-sub-sector.  This is perhaps not surprising given the 2G scandals in India.  However, India did finally get around to allocating 3G spectrum in 2010, and did so by having its first ever spectrum auctions. Perhaps because of this, or because stakeholders believe that that the 2G scandal has finally paved way for transparency in allocation, the score of 2.3 this year is still an improvement, though marginal,  over the 2008 score of 2.2.   India’s USD 4 billion+ undisbursed Universal Service Fund and related policies are responsible for its biggest TRE score decline: the TRE for USO drops from 3.1 in 2008 to 2.4 this year.  In contrast, tariff regulation in the mobile sub-sector continues to be the top performer with a score of 3.9 out of 5.0, indicating stakeholder satisfaction at TRAI’s policy of forbearance which has enabled Indian consumers to enjoy extremely low prices thanks to competitive forces.

Pakistan saw an increased in almost all dimensions, with the exception of 3 (fixed market entry, mobile access to scarce resources and mobile interconnection) which showed minor declines.   In contrast, Bangladesh saw scores in all seven fixed-subsector dimensions decline, in some cases by as much as 1 point.  The scores are perhaps reflective of the issues related to the cancellation of several fixed licenses.  Overall only seven dimensions showed improvements in Bangladesh, and even these were marginal.   Thailand, whose overall performance is unchanged, has however seen significant declines in its Market Entry scores due the uncertainties caused by the concession contracts granted to the mobile operators and what their status would be when they expire starting next year.

Detailed analysis of the scores is available in the draft country reports for Pakistan, India, Thailand, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Bangladesh.

A comparative country analysis is also available online.

All reports and analysis is in draft form at present. We hope you will comment on the country reports and cross country comparisons so that we may improve our analysis.

Anyway, Chanuka Wattegama has written about all this in the Daily Mirror, and included references to two of our projects:

The aim of the Last-Mile Hazard Warning System, an IDRC supported joint research project of Sarvodaya and LIRNEasia immediately after the 2004 tsunami, was to deploy various alert and notification wireless technologies intended to reduce the vulnerability of local communities to natural and manmade hazards in Sri Lanka. Adopting an ‘all-hazards, all-media’ approach, designed around a set of five wireless communication technologies: addressable satellite radios for emergency alerting, remote alarm devices, mobile phones, fixed phones and VSATs this research evaluated the pros and cons of each technology. The pilot project involved deployment, training, and field-testing of the technologies, in various combinations, across 32 tsunami-affected villages, using the ‘Common Alerting Protocol1’ (CAP) for data interchange with content provided in three languages (English, Sinhala and Tamil). The research concluded that the most reliable means of warning people was a mix of satellite and mobile phones.

LIRNEasia’s Knowledge to Innovation in Government Services is based on the belief that policy initiatives on innovations in the developing world, should be about making the governments innovative to provide infrastructural services. The objective of this project is to link 330 local government bodies to a single network enabling them to share knowledge on solid waste management, one of the key issues faced by all. The project tests the research hypothesis that these linkages may lead to a sustainable culture of innovation.

While not unfamiliar to North America and Europe, Pakistan and India were the only South Asian countries to implement MNP. Pakistan maintains a central database with all its mobile user data. The investment as well as the maintenance of this comes from all operators and it is not small. This is in addition to the upgrades to be done by the operators. Each major mobile operator has spent approximately USD 3-4 mil (roughly LKR 350 – 450 mil) worth of software and hardware upgrades in their switches. While the initial cost of setting up the database was USD 2.3 mil (LKR 250 mil), each operator spends USD 50,000 (LKR 6 mil) towards its annual maintenance. As of January 2011, Pakistan, a country of 187 mil population and 796,000 sq km area had 104 mil SIMs issued by five mobile operators; Mobilink (32 mil SIMs), Ufone (20 mil), Zong (9 mil); Telenor (25 mil) and Warid (18 mil). This looks massive against Sri Lanka’s 20 mil SIMs, but as any systems designer can immediately work out, the costs will not be drastically slashed. A safe bet would be 40-50% of above costs are for MNP in Sri Lanka. It couldn’t be less.

For more information on how to register (admission free), click here.

Ours is an anxious society that expects the protection of every electronic money transfer by the financial regulator. This is not possible and should not be attempted. Central banks cannot and should not play the role of police and courts. Attempting to do so, as illustrated above is to curtail the developments in the payment systems. M-payment, like any other payment method, is not 10% risk-free and it will never be. There is no point trying to make it that way too. It is always a compromise between security and efficiency. Any attempt to overly improve one, is to compromise on the other.

Mobile culture inherently loves more freedom and less regulation. Any regulations should fit somewhere within that framework. It might even mean shifting our age old paradigms. If not, the result will only be a highly secure system that nobody uses. I do not think it is what we look for.

The conference, “The Civil Protection Forum – Towards a more resilient society” aims to explore the concept of resilience. Climate change is likely to increase the frequency and impact of disasters, and Europe has to be prepared for this challenge. The Forum will start a debate on a comprehensive European disaster management strategy to enhance resilience. The organizers plan to bring together around 500 delegates, speakers and exhibitors from politics, academia, the civil protection services and international organisations.

Chanuka Wattegama, Senior Research Manager, LIRNEasia will be one of the speakers in the six practice-oriented seminars will look more closely at how European civil protection works in the field – how does it integrate with other international actors, three major phases of an emergency (prevention, preparedness, and response) and the roles of different stakeholders (institutions, civil protection professionals and civil society).

The agenda can be downloaded here.

Excerpt below:

“There is disparity in the advertised broadband speed and the actual speed, according to the findings of a research project jointly carried out by Learning Initiative on Reforms for Network Economies Asia (LIRNEasia), TeNeT Group of the IIT Madras.There is disparity in the advertised broadband speed and the actual speed, according to the findings of a research project jointly carried out by Learning Initiative on Reforms for Network Economies Asia (LIRNEasia), TeNeT Group of the IIT Madras.

“Prof Timothy A Gonsalves, professor and head of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT-M said the actual speed, measured using an open source-based software application named AT-Tester, showed that the advertised broadband speeds in the country can rarely help in selecting a broadband package.

“In the south Asian context, it is usual for the operators to advertise higher speed than they could offer. This has been observed in the testing done in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh,” he said.”

Download the presentations made by Helani Galpaya, Chanuka Wattegama and Timothy Gonsalves, PhD.

Chanuka Wattegama, Senior Research Manager, LIRNEasia, chaired the thematic session on ICT for Disaster Risk Reduction during the International Conference on Building a Local Government Alliance for Disaster Risk Reduction in Incheon, Republic of Korea, on 11-13 August 2009.

The thematic session brought together specialists from Asia and the Pacific to share knowledge and experiences on ways in which ICTs have been used in response, recovery and risk reduction efforts. The session – organized by the United Nations Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development (APCICT) – was part of the International Conference, jointly organized by the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN-ISDR) and the Incheon Metropolitan City of the Republic of Korea, and was attended by senior government policymakers, disaster managers and representatives from international and regional agencies.

Chanuka was also interviewed by Korean electronic media on LIRNEasia’s disaster management efforts.

We are ratcheting up our emphasis on evaluation now that we have a substantial body of work to talk about. A key element in this will be Chanuka Wattegama’s participation in the most important evaluation training program currently being offered, the International Program for Development Evaluation Training offered every Summer at Carleton University in Ottawa, with the cooperation of the World Bank and IDRC. Chanuka has been selected for a scholarship through a competitive process. Our congratulations to him.

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

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

Four years later, having completed the recovery process, most tsunami victimized societies stand on their own feet with smiles. Add to is the good news of new found disaster readiness. Not without issues (We have seen enough weaknesses during cyclone Nargis), but certainly better than what was four years ago. At least we receive false alarms. One may say, malfunctioning traffic lights are worse than not having them, but let us be positive. Now we have the technology in place in most of the cases, the question is only fine-tuning.

LIRNEasia, is glad to play its role. Disaster readiness has been one of key focus areas in our research. Our HazInfo project evaluated the suitability of five ICTs deployed in varied conditions in the last mile of a national disaster warning system for Sri Lanka and possibly by extension to other developing countries. In the current research cycle, one Mobile 2.0 @ BOP competent, looks at how Cell Broadcasting can be used in early warning. We have also joined hands with others varying from World Bank to Lanka Software Foundation (LIRNEasia assisted developing one module of Sahana – the much talked FOSS based Disaster Management system) and Telecom Authority of the Maldives to Sarvodaya, in numerous activities to make Asian societies more disaster resilient.

This explains the title. Your smiles are ours.

Your tears are mine; so are your dreams

Mothers, fathers, sisters,
brothers, sons and daughters,
Forgive us,
for burying you, unidentified,
in this unmarked grave
It’s a funeral without rites,
alas, we do not have any priests
Sans pānsukula too,
not even a piece of white cloth is left;
The sea enraged,
had swallowed all we had,
except our humanity and courage
So let us leave you here,
in the middle of this barren land,
that bears no fruits

Dear mothers and fathers,
We never asked,
whether you were Sinhalese, Tamils or Muslims
Did it bother us,
whether you were Buddhists, Christians or Hindus?
For we know,
that matters no more
Did the tsunamis care?
so why should we do?
We all know once you were humans,
as much as we all are
We also know,
once you had pleasant and ambitious dreams,
concealed in the deepest corners of your hearts,
like we all have
Don’t we know,
that you loved to be loved and to enjoy life?
Don’t we all?

Dear brothers and sisters,
Forgive us,
for these humble rites,
because that’s what we can afford right now

Dear sons and daughters,
Forgive us,
for leaving you here alone and cold,
in this unmarked grave
For we have more important tasks to do,
for you all
Can we let all of you die in vain?
Don’t we have to prove,
that you scarified your lives for a united land,
that does not differentiate humans,
by their race, creed, class or caste?
Don’t we have to prove one day that we can – and will,
fulfill your own dreams,
for a land of eternal peace,
that no tsunami can ever reduce to rubble?
Rest in peace sweet princes and princesses,
We are not going to give up that dream

Your dreams are now ours,
and the day we achieve them,
is now closer than you ever thought

Chanuka Wattegama
December 31, 2004

“We must realize the fact that disasters threaten sustained economic growth of the society and the country.”

These were the words of Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani addressing the opening ceremony of the first National Disaster Risk Management Conference. The function, reported Associated Press of Pakistan, was organized to mark the Disaster Awareness Day observed annually after the catastrophic earthquake which struck country’s northern areas in October 2005, killing 73,000 people and leaving 3.5 million homeless.

On the other side of the border Congress President Sonia Gandhi has said there is a need of effective disaster management to mitigate the woes of the people in future calamities, with floods affecting several districts of Bihar and other parts of the country. “The people of India have contributed generously to our relief efforts but we need to strengthen and streamline our responses to all disasters and ensure that rehabilitation of the flood-affected continues on a war footing,” Gandhi said in her “Letter to Congresspersons” in the latest issue of party mouthpiece ‘Congress Sandesh’.

More or less the same sentiments but in a more action oriented manner were expressed at Washington DC at the two day workshop on ‘Disaster Risk Management in the Information Age’ on Oct 8-9.

I made two presentations. The first one, the opening remarks, was more a panoramic view how ICTs can be used in different phases of disaster management, while the second one focused on two projects, Sahana by Lanka Software foundation and our own Haz-Info – a pilot for a Community based Early Warning System.

More details with presentation slides of all speakers are available here.

Co-organizers of the event include  the World Bank’s Global Information Communication and Technology Department, infoDev and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR).

The key objective of this workshop is to raise awareness on the opportunities to improve the impact of disaster risk management projects via innovative and effective use of ICT and to help understand better key lessons learned, success factors and good practices. A series of case studies and presentations will discuss the enabling and transformational role of ICT applications throughout the full cycle of Disaster Risk Management activities: risk assessment, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.

More information on the live webcast can be found at the World Bank’s new eDevelopment blog,

Two publications, with chapters by LIRNEasia researcher Chanuka Wattegama, were launched during the GK3, third global Knowledge conferences held in Kuala Lumpur in December, 2007.

The biennial Digital Review of Asia Pacific is a comprehensive guide to the state-of-practice and trends in information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D) in Asia Pacific. The third edition (2007/2008) covers 31 countries and economies, including North Korea for the first time. Each country chapter presents key ICT policies, applications and initiatives for national development. In addition, five thematic chapters provide a synthesis of some of the key issues in ICT4D in the region, including mobile and wireless technologies, risk communication, intellectual property regimes and localization.

Communicating Disasters: An Asia Pacific Resource Book,  co-published by TVE Asia Pacific and the UNDP, brings together 21 authors – most of them from Asia – who share their experiences and insights on effective communication before, during and after disasters. Coming out in time for the third anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004, it takes stock of communication lessons of the mega-disaster. Its core message: adequate planning can help avoid communications disasters when communicating about disasters. Edited by two leading Asian journalists – Nalaka Gunawardene and Frederick Noronha – the book carries a foreword by Sir Arthur C Clarke.

Nation special

If the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was a disaster marked by inaction, what happened on September 12, 2007 was marked by plenty of action, but a dearth of right action. It was certainly not an exemplary implementation of pre-determined and meticulously planned disaster avoidance activities. Did it make the vulnerable communities feel more secure? Or did it merely add to the confusion and chaos? Wasn’t what happened on that crucial evening another good lesson on how not to react to a disaster? Does this mean we still have lot to learn?Risk mitigation through disaster warning is a serious business. It is not as simple as a politician or a government official calling the national TV station and ordering evacuations or worse, the closure of roads. It is an end-to-end process with the hazard monitors at one end and communities at the other. In between are many intermediaries with defined roles. They are expected to play their assigned roles, not exceed their roles and not to play the role of others. If this balance is broken somewhere, as we have seen, it can lead to adverse consequences.

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Sujata Gamage gave a brief overview as to the CPRsouth Conference. This included the objectives behind the Conference, and the Organization as a whole and the quality of the papers recieved.

She went on to say that successful applications make necassary the synergy between the technical and policy. Also how can you measure the inputs and outputs and it is supported by a wealth of literature. She went on to discuss the way different schools of thought measure the relevence of research done.

It was noted that the emphasis on citation does not always mean that it has been used in the most relevant areas. Rather it should be measured by the quality of the policy questions the research addresses.

In the policy world there is no concept of citation.

However, a difference should be drawn between policy papers and technical papers.

Rohan Samarajiva noted if policy briefs are necassary at all? and does it make any difference at all?

Sujata Gamage responsed saying that it need not be lengthy to be a good, dense document.

Rohan Samarajiva noted that there is a school that feels that policy makers require”short-bites” of information in policy briefs or packaged knowledge. however, they are often are limited in their substance. Policy documents are not groundbreaking.

If it comes from the right source the right data helps. But it needs to have a strong argumentand be novel.

Advocacy skills are necassary for research to make an impact. It is difficult for Universities and Research organizations to produce knowledge and disseminate it. This is where Organizations have a role to play.

Universities are used to create knowledge only for internal consumption. CPRsouth should intervene to get them to think differently, not just present their research.

One important question is whether LIRNEasia researchers found any of the research located via CPRsouth useful? Before asking practitioners whether the research is useful for organizations like LIRNEasia-type (bridging) organizations?

Rohan Samarajiva noted that the name of the author is useful because it denotes what their arguments maybe.

A suggestion was made that the concept of citations are only useful if they are on google. If not most researchers may not find the citation tool useful.

Chanuka Wattegama noted that a paper should be headed with an abstract. This is essential is selecting relevent papers.

Questions relating to CPRsouth:

Should it be archived elsewhere and use it as a catalogue? Should this be an option to look into? Should this be an option that we think of? Such as SSRN, Intute, etc. May be worth submitting some papers/ documents to.

The CPRsouth website should be a place where scholars can catalogue their work. So that will be a pool of knowledge in which to access as and when the need arises. It should be a place where scholars get exposure for their work.

Can CPRsouth be a platform to bring policy makers and academics together?

Rohan Samarajiva responded saying that this is indeed a difficult task. It is one of the objectives to try and bridge this divide but it need not always be achieved. However, if this is indeed strictly implemented it will edge out the young scholars componant.

Helani Galpaya noted that the young scholar componant is essential, and key to networking and identifying new academics.

Should the conference be a forum for upcoming experts to present their research? or should it be a place where they can come and improve on their policy-communication skills, etc.

How do we know the CPRsouth website has succeeded? When we reach X number of hits? or When LIRNEasia-type researchers find it useful?

We should aim to be like the NRRI D-space website – more like a catalogue that will be easy to navigate and command.

Should the website have a fully open forum or a partially moderated?

Rohan Samarajiva suggested that all papers done by the authors that were chosen to attend the conference will be part of the network. Other authors will be able to submit papers subject to review by the excisting authors, LIRNEasia and the Board of Directors.

The website also allows users to rate and add comments against the articles.

It should also included Powerpoint presentations. As often presentations have specific knowledge that often proves to be crucial.

The basic quesiton is, should CPRsouth be a field building exercise (academics talking to academics) vs. developing a group of people who are capable of communicating policy-relevant research to policy makers clearly.