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…
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.
Asia Pacific telecom operators had a big party in Colombo this week. They were celebrating the 21 st anniversary of the global mobile standard, GSM. Despite a few puzzlingly sexist comments about the significance of the 21 st birthday to a “Young Girl” (as though it was not significant for a male) it was a good party.
Anyway, the point is that it was not just fun and games. The conference that followed was a serious one. In the industry leaders’ forum LIRNEasia was also given a place. I have been to many of these events, both at ITU Telecom when they used to be the preeminent industry gathering place and at other industry fora, and I have never seen anyone other than CEOs and government…
Sri Lanka will build a state-sponsored 250 metre tall common broadcast tower for television, radio and telecom firms, information minister Anura Yapa said.
“The building of towers in a haphazard manner cannot be allowed,” Minister Yapa said.
“The tower will be a national icon, like those in China, Kuala Lampur (image) and Tehran.”
Sri Lanka’s telecom regulator Priyantha Kariapperuma said the tower will be located in Peliyagoda in the greater Colombo area and will have a public observation gallery and a restaurant.
The tower will be built at state cost, but a private investor may be attracted later, he said.
Source: Lanka Business Online
When he built Parakrama Samudraya a millennium ago, King Parakramabahu the great did not have to depend on the Internet. How lucky! Had it been so, he would have achieved few great feats. The pitiable Broadband services at Polonnaruva looked as if we have not made any advances since the days of the Great King.
Both SLT and Dialog boast about their island wide networks. These backbones, they say, are capable of delivering ‘kiri’ to rural communities too. ICTA does not let a day go without mentioning taking ICTs to villages. The reality, as we have experienced for the last three days, is different.
Apparently 3G services are unavailable in Polonnaruva. All Mobitel could deliver was GPRS at a speed less than 5 kbps. (top) Good that…
Tags: 3G, 3G services, Broadband, Colombo, Dialog, Dialog Broadband Networks, in-house wi-fi network, Mobitel, Parakramabahu, Rs, Wi-Fi.
The colloquium notes
Lara Alawattegama (LA): Monopoly means ‘a market with a single supplier’
Why a monopoly happens:
1. No close substitutes
2. Legal barriers to entry
3. Resource barriers
4. Unfair competition -predatory pricing
Rohan Samarajiva (RS) : Lack of competition leads to monopolies. Microsoft Windows is an example where none of the above characteristics applied
Chanuka Wattegam (CW): Is LIRNEasia a monopoly?
RS: What is LIRNEasia’s market?
No technical barriers for anyone to entry to the LIRNEasia market. So the answer is no.
LA: Natural Monopoly is what you get when the market is too small for a competitor to offer a lower priced product. (dis-economies of scale ) So a new firm may have to sell at a higher cost and will not be successful unless that adds value (i.e. improved technology).…
Tags: air travel, Alfred Kahn, AT&T, Colombo, electricity, Harsha de Silva, improved technology, Joseph Shumpeter, Lara Alawattegama, lower priced product, Microsoft, Rohan Samarajiva, shuttle services, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka using customs authorities to censor academics: report - LANKA BUSINESS ONLINE
Another book by Rohan Samarajiva, from LirneAsia, a Colombo-based regional policy think tank, had been detained by customs from December.
Samarajiva’s book, “ICT infrastructure in emerging Asia, Policy and Regulatory roadblocks” released by the Indian unit of academic publishing house, Sage, was launched in India in December.
Sri Lanka;s customs chief Sarath Jayathilake was quoted in the report as saying that the detention was not brought to his attention and he was not aware why the books were seized.
“We usually detain these books if it’s a matter of security and we refer them to Defence (Ministry) or the Government Information Department,” Jayathilake was quoted as saying.
The LirneAsia publication had a chapter on telecommunications usage in…
Sir Arthur C. Clarke, resident of Sri Lanka, citizen of the United Kingdom, and man of the universe, passed away on the morning of the 19th of March. His was a life well lived. He will be remembered.
Sir Arthur imagined what the world could be. In some cases, such as the geostationary orbit that was named after him, he even did the mathematics to substantiate his imagination. But the mathematics was not the true achievement: it was that he imagined this wondrous idea of a specific orbit where satellites would be stationary in relation to the earth and could therefore serve as very tall towers for wireless transmissions with line of sight covering one third of the surface of the globe; it was that he imagined it a decade before…
Tags: Arthur C. Clarke, Arthur C. Clarke Centre for Modern Technologies, BANGALORE, Colombo, inchoate Internet, Manila, Ronald Reagan, Sri Lanka, then doing live web searches, United Kingdom, video conferencing, wireless transmissions, YouTube.
It is with deep regret that LIRNEasia reports the demise of Sir Arthur C. Clarke. Some of us at LIRNEasia had the opportunity of closely working with him in our professional lives.
In November 2005, LIRNEasia had its last official encounter with him when few representatives from WorldSpace (our partner in the Last-Mile Hazinfo project) including Dr. Rangarajan met him in Colombo. His insightful comments on the need for early warning for disasters are still being used in the output from that project.
Quality of Service Experience (QoSE) of broadband was a topic that has been discussed in LIRNEasia blog for sometime and we find many readers share the view of the Australian cartoonist who portrayed information superhighway to a modern car with cart wheels - the infrastructure.
LIRNEasia’s on-going QoSE benchmarking project aims to find the answer to the question, based on evidence not perceptions, whether the users actually get what has been advertised by the operators.
A seminar presenting preliminary results of Broadband QoSE measures, with the participation of Professor Timothy Gonsalves of IIT Madras (who headed the team that developed the methodology) will be held in Colombo on the 18th of March. This is an open event, but prior registration is recommended. (Tel: 011 267 1160, 077 763 6821;…
by Harsha de Silva & Ayesha Zainudeen
In Does inequality matter? Exploring the links between poverty and inequality (p. 135-167), Edited by Prashan Thalayasingam & Kannan Arunasalam. Published by CEPA, Colombo, 2007
Pre-publication version available for download. The paper was presented at the Centre for Poverty Analysis Annual Symposium on Poverty Research in Sri Lanka (6-7 December 2007, Colombo)
Introduction:
Much has been said of the benefits of access to telecommunication especially at the ‘Bottom of the Pyramid’.
Tags: Ayesha Zainudeen, Centre for Poverty Analysis Annual Symposium, Colombo, communication technologies, Harsha de Silva, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, telecom services, telephone ownership, Thailand, the Philippines.
Based on Shiller’s writings on the use of insurance as a device to reduce losses from tsunami type events, LIRNEasia has been looking at insurance as a part of the solution. However, the story below suggests that insurance is on the retreat in Shiller’s backyard, in the face of predictions of more violent storms.
In contrast, the following posters, promising “on-the-spot” insurance payments for earthquakes and tsunamis came up on the streets of Colombo, shortly after the September 12th, 2007 false warning:
Home Insurers Canceling in East Over Storm Fears - New York Times
It is 1,200 miles from the coastline where Hurricane Katrina touched land two years ago to the neat colonial-style home here where James Gray, a retired public relations consultant, and his wife, Ann, live.…
BANGALORE, India (AFP) — India remains the favoured technology outsourcing destination, an industry report said Sunday, amid concerns a rising rupee and soaring wages would blunt the country’s competitive edge.
A study by industry publication Global Services and investment advisory firm Tholons put the Indian cities of Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune at the top of a list of 15 emerging outsourcing destinations for global companies.
Kolkata at number five and Chandigarh at number nine were the other two Indian locations on the list, which contained three Chinese and two Vietnamese cities as well.
Tags: Avinash Vashistha, BANGALORE, Beijing, Buenos Aires, Cairo, Cebu, China, Colombo, Dublin, Europe, favoured technology outsourcing destination, financial infrastructure, Global Services, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hyderabad, India, information technology, information technology industry, Manila, MUMBAI, New Delhi, Pune, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, Shenzhen, software giants, the Philippines, Tholons, United States, USD.
It has been a practice at LIRNEasia to write an assessment of the responses to potentially tsunamigenic events in the region. We commented on Nias and Pangandaran. Now that the discussion on the response is starting, here is our take:
Lessons from the Sri Lanka tsunami warnings and evacuation of September 12-13, 2007
The tragedy of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was the absence of any official warning. The September 12th Bengkulu earthquake shows that this is unlikely to be the case in the future. We have seen that the new institutions created since the 2004 tsunami have the will and the capacity to act. What we must guard against now is indifference to warning; of populations that refuse to evacuate in the face of real danger.
…
Tags: addressable satellite radio sets, Arugam Bay-Panama coast, Bangladesh, Bengkulu, Colombo, communication systems, Disaster Management Center, earthquake, GSM/CDMA, India Ocean, Indian Ocean, Indonesia, Last Mile, Matara, Met Department, Mile HazInfo, Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights, mobile phones, Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, Panama, Rohan Samarajiva, Sarvodaya, SMS, Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Meteorological Department, taped telephone voice message, Thailand, tsunami.
Anjana SAMARASINGHE
The Daily News, 3 September 2007 | See Print version
Sri Lanka needs to focus special attention on broadband connectivity as it is becoming more important for the development of businesses in the country.
Tags: ADSL, Broadband, broadband infrastructure, broadband services, broadband technology, Colombo, copper based technology, Daily News, Rohan Samarajiva, Service Level Agreement, Sri Lanka, telecommunications watchdog, wireless alternative, wireless broadband.
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