LIRNEasia » Dialog

Progress (miniscule) on implementing low intra-SAARC international voice tariffs

Rohan Samarajiva — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 11:11:44 +0000

Given coincidence of the SAARC Minister’s meeting and the release of LIRNEasia’s twice-a-year price benchmarks, I was tempted to see how much progress had been achieved, with regard to the Colombo Declaration’s para 6 which called for low intra-SAARC international voice tariffs. Not much progress to report, unfortunately.

On the fixed side, the only countries with intra-SAARC tariffs lower than to non-SAARC countries, are Bhutan and Nepal. Bhutan, because it has a special price for India (other SAARC prices are high) and Nepal because it has not changed its extremely high tariff structure (and the lower-by-comparison intra-SAARC prices). Lanka Bell in Sri Lanka offers low prices to India, but our methodology does not capture that, because we take the prices of the largest operator, SLT.

On the mobile side, the same story, except for Sri Lanka, where Dialog has cut its prices to India to a level lower than UK, USA, etc. Nepal and Bhutan were good earlier; no change this time.

More than six months have gone by since the SAARC Summit. The South Asian Telecom Regulators Council met and discussed this subject (we provided the data). Seeing Dialog and Lanka Bell drop prices, we thought that at least the operators would do the right thing, while the regulators twiddled their thumbs, but looks like Dialog and Lanka Bell in Sri Lanka are the exception (and even they may have been pushed by Airtel).

Looks like action is needed from the regulators.

Intra-SAARC (or at least to India) international call rates inching down

Rohan Samarajiva — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 05:45:34 +0000

Today, Lanka Bell (the cable partner of Reliance through Flag), announced that calls to India would henceforth cost LKR 0.07 a minute, among the lowest IDD rates offered. They have not got around to updating their website, but newspaper ads should count for something.

What is causing downward pressure on international call rates to India? Just a short time back, Dialog cut prices to India. Given today’s move, it will not be long before SLT comes down from its LKR 0.15/0.18/minute levels. Is it the sixth paragraph of the SAARC Colombo Summit Declaration or the entry of Airtel? Airtel has yet to post its international rates on its website, so is this all anticipatory?

Dialog Telekom’s Broadband Revolution: As narrated by GSMA

Chanuka Wattegama — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 07:18:53 +0000

“Sri Lanka’s leading mobile operator is creating a broadband revolution. By leveraging HSPA mobile broadband technology, it is bringing affordable access to all levels of society, from the wealthiest businesses to the poorest villages.”

Thus starts the GSMA case study on the Dialog mobile broadband. It is just four pages and in easily readable format – but still enough new stuff, that makes it a worthy read.

Selected extracts:

Dialog estimates that the rural economy generates $350 million per month compared to $110 million in the urban economy.
Dialog’s success lies in pioneering the low ARPU business model. Eighty-seven percent of the operator’s 5 million mobile customers are prepaid with an ARPU of less than US$4.
In 2007, the expanding nationwide network was supercharged with HSPA, giving users access to the internet and
multimedia content at maximum downloads speeds of 1.8Mbps. This has subsequently been upgraded to 14.4Mbps.
Currently (Dialog is) evaluating HSPA Evolved to bring downloads to 42Mbps.
Dialog has roughly 120,000 3G customers, around 30,000 of which connecting their laptops and desktops to the internet with HSPA modems and data cards.

The full paper can be downloaded from here.

Similar case stidies are available here.

Sri Lanka telecom FDI: Is this the high point?

Rohan Samarajiva — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:51:26 +0000

Meeting the traget of a billion dollars of FDI in 2008 seems to rest on foreign investment continuing at a high rate in telecom. After all, in the first half of the year, telecom brought in USD 291 million, out of a total of USD 425. However, the increasing hostility to the sector driven by the JHU plus the decline in people’s buying power pulled down profits last quarter. The largest mobile operator, Dialog, stated that its capital expenditures for the coming year will be cut by about 25 percent at an investment briefing recently.

One cannot draw conclusions from one quarter, but do not be surprised if the first half of 2008 turns out to be the high point of investment in the sector.

Poor economy and taxes begin to bite in Sri Lanka

Rohan Samarajiva — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 11:10:37 +0000

Hutch, a pure BOP play that was making very good profits, has reported declining profits and revenue growth. One quarter does not a trend make. But seen together with Dialog’s bad results for the last quarter, it suggests things are not looking good for the telecom sector which is taking multiple hits with tripled spectrum charges, revenue-raising taxes in the name of the environment and all sorts of additional costs imposed in the name of national security.

If the government keeps taking JHU advice, they are likely to make the economy slow to a crawl.

Ruined Broadband at Polonnaruva: Should we blame Mobitel, Dialog or King Parakramabahu?

Chanuka Wattegama — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 03:39:31 +0000

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 they provide the speedometer on PC. Visiting any site, including speedtest.net is impossible at that rate. (1/200 of the promised speed)

The competition was not too different (does that surprise anyone?). Apart from delivering GPRS at similar speeds, Dialog was not capable even of delivering more than 80 kbps thorough its hotel wi-fi network – that too within selected hours with a weak connection breaking every 30 minutes or so. There were long periods the network was simply down. Minimum prepaid charge is Rs. 250 + taxes, irrespective of the usage (less than 30 minutes in our case) and user satisfaction – er, dissatisfaction.

Perhaps it is the fault of King Parakramabahu. Taking into account the broadband needs of his descendents he could have moved the kingdom to a location near Colombo – where at least the last-mile conditions are not this pathetic.