Now that the US postal service is almost bankrupt, everyone is looking at Europe. But it looks like they’ve saved the post office by making it something else.

With mail volumes decreasing 1 to 2 percent annually in many countries, European postal services from Germany to Sweden to Switzerland have reinvented themselves over the past decade as multifaceted delivery and information companies tailored to the virtual age. Though Deutsche Post by law still delivers to every address six days a week, it has jettisoned tens of thousands of buildings, 100,000 positions and its traditional focus on paper mail.

“We realized that being a national postal provider was an endangered business, that we had to redefine the role of postal providers in a digital world,” said Clemens Beckmann, executive vice president of innovation of the German post office’s mail division.

75% of passenger transport is via public transport and of that 93% by bus and 7% by train. Roughly 5500 SLCTB and 18000 private buses. The fare is regulated by National Transport Commission (NTC). They also have timetables which are n0t implemented.

Shortest distance (~2KM) LKR 6:00.

Longest distance 260 KM – LKR 655.00.

Most of the BOP uses bus transport. 36% of the BOP use mobile and fixed phones.

SLTB buses use both ticket books and manual ticket machines to issue tickets to commuters

Private buses primarily use digital ticketing machines that prints out tickets. Can store data, process memory. Can even tell you how may people have to get off at the next bus stop.  The one in use now is also lighter in weight.

These are mainly used in the Western Province and on a few inter provincial buses.  Manual ticket machines are used in other areas.

Issues with the current ticketting system:

Money lost in Transit. Bus conductors and Drivers take the money, or tickets are not issued, or passengers do not buy the tickets. CTB estimates a 15% loss of revenue and private bus owners 25%.

Chanuka: How is the estimates done?

RS: through Load share.

HdS: Bus owners want to reduce leakage.  They wold like to issue a e-bus tickets. So the solution is either a card system or a mobile. So from the suply side there is a need but what about the demand side?

A  simple survey was done at the Fort railway station. Not a Sample survey but to get an idea. 2/3: 1/3 male: female. There maybe selection bias as it is a starting point.

What is the real cost of a ticket? Do the passengers receive the balance after getting a ticket? only 5% said that they always get there balance. Most people carry exact change. And only 50% of the people receive a bus ticket. Ticket checkers are used both in public and private sector. Some private companies have their own people to check for tickets.

So because of these issues, there is a need.

Possible benefits of e-tickets:

For Bus operators

• reduce leakage
• Offer loyalty plans etc.

For Commuters

• Cost only actual fare
• Can better schedule travel; save on transport expenditure

State [local government]

• Tax collection
• Target subsidies

What are the options?

Contactless smart cards: Oyster, ez link. Delhi is running a pilot, minimum reload INR 25.

Mobile phones: either through SMS or Near field Communication (NFC) merging mobile phones with a contactless smart card (Innovation).

NFC mobile phones: Nokia introduced the first in 2005 (3220). Break through innovation is instead of a NFC  phone, what about an NFC SIM. China Telecom has come p with a NON NFC standard RF SIM.  Nokia 6216: First NFC standard SIM compatible. Operator can load application.

Japan is leader with NTT DoComo Osaifu-Keitai e-wallet phones. Spain, Netherlands, France and Germany, mobile bus and rail ticket system are being piloted.  China has started.  UK to start by 2015 and fully switch to NFC by 2020.

Martin is expected to put his proposal for the free Internet network on the agency’s Dec. 18 meeting agenda despite criticism by wireless operators like T-Mobile, who say using the spectrum could interfere with their new high-speed data network. T-Mobile, a unit of Germany’s Deutsche Telecom, spent $4 billion for nearby spectrum and has disputed a report by the FCC that rejected the firm’s concerns of interference.

For Martin, however, the plan could dispel criticism he’s taken over the country’s fall in international broadband Internet rankings during his tenure and leave him with a legacy of potentially bringing more competition into the wireless industry. The wireless phone market is dominated by AT&T and Verizon Wireless and much smaller providers, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile.

Read the full story in Washington Post here.

With hard times at our doorsteps, all we can say is a remittance mechanism that employs mobile communications would be an excellent idea. By the way, that is one area our research on Mobile2.0@BoP will focus.

The 3-day UN-SPIDER  workshop was notable in that it featured a number of German and international presentations on the themes of Session 1: “Space technology in support of risk and disaster management”, Session 2: “Vulnerability and Risk Assessment”, Session 3: “Contributions of space-based technologies to existing and proposed early warning systems”, and Session 4: “Disaster Medicine, Telemedicine and Integrated Vector Management (IVM)”. Natasha Udu-gama presented on “Last Mile Hazard Information Dissemination” during Session 3 highlighting the usage of WorldSpace Addressable Radios for Emergency Alerts (AREA) systems as appropriate for last-mile hazard information dissemination in the LIRNEasia pilot project “Evaluating Last-Mile Hazard Information Dissemination”. The presentation also presented sustainability models for WorldSpace in Bangladesh and Indonesia, while demonstrating the role of last-mile systems with national early warning systems for developing nations and the need for sustainable options for integrating space-based technologies in the last mile.

The workshop included a number of international experts from the remote sensing and GIS fields, as well as NGOs, national donor agencies, national disaster management agencies and health fields. The interest in the last-mile was a significant talking point during the workshop and HazInfo was recognized as a leading best practice in this regard. Moreover, the theme of sustainable funding and continuation of best practices came to the fore with many of the participants calling for UN-SPIDER and other related working groups to become better proponents of ensuring that sustainable options are investigated and invested in.

Natasha’s presentation is available here.

Natasha will make a presentation on, ‘Last Mile Hazard Information Dissemination’ at a session entitled, ‘Contribution of space-based technologies to existing and proposed Early Warning Systems’. This session will examine how public-private partnerships (PPP) centered on space-based technologies can enable the development, establishment and embedding of early warning systems.

The event is organized by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), with the aim of providing a platform for brainstorming and in-depth discussion among decision-makers and experts from both the space technology and disaster management communities, academia and private companies.

The UN-SPIDER was established as a programme of the UNOOSA, with the aim of providing universal access to all countries and relevant international and regional organizations to space-based information and services relevant to disaster management.

The theme of the workshop is in line with LIRNEasia’s disaster-risk management research project, HazInfo, which explored the use of different types of technology, one of which included Addressable Satellite Radio, developed by WorldSpace Global Data Solutions, in designing effective last-mile disaster mitigation and early-warning systems.

Topics of this workshop will include (among others):

• Relevant space-based solutions and information for risk and disaster management support and emergency response
• Presentations and discussion of the contribution of space-based technologies to existing Early Warning Systems, development of Risk Modelling and Vulnerability Assessments, as well as in the field of Emergency and Disaster Medicine.

More information is available here.

Sweden and the Netherlands were able to be the top European broadband nations because of their efforts in “increasing investments in fiber and cable network upgrades, coupled with competition diversity, and supported by strong government vision and policy.”

Even though it’s difficult to define quality internet, regardless of how questions were reworded, Oxford University Said Business School researchers found Japan remained on top of 41 other nations in the “Broadband Quality Score.”  Latvia, Korea, Switzerland, Lithuania, Denmark, Germany and Slovenia are the nations that round out the top ten quality broadband nations, according to researchers.

Oxford University received assistance with the survey from Oviedo University and Cisco Systems.  The participating partners used collected broadband speed tests when users measured their broadband connections on Speedtest.net.

Upload speed has become increasingly important as many users want to send out data. Japan is the nation best suited for an increase in uploads, while other nations in the top ten continue to try and catch up.  Furthermore, there wasn’t a correlation found between consumer internet prices and national performance, or how widespread broadband use is in a nation, a researcher from Cisco said.

Read the full story in DailyTech here.

ITU TELECOM ASIA 2008 is a key networking platform for Asia’s top ICT names to come together and focus on core issues relating to ICT expansion across the region.

In March Britain’s BT will be the latest big company to cease offering telex services. “All good things come to an end,” says a spokesman. Britain will then join around 30 countries including Austria, Germany and Russia that no longer provide telex through their national telecoms operators.But that clears the way for nimble, low-cost competitors. These have turned round the technology. As well as maintaining the old-fashioned service involving terminals and dedicated lines, they provide telex services both over phone lines and over the internet—in effect, making it a secure and ultra-reliable variant of e-mail. One, SwissTelex, is a spin-off from the Swiss national telecoms operator that offers international telex services and has taken over BT’s network. Another is EasyLink, based in America, which provides a service for Dutch, Belgian and Japanese subscribers.

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The planned changes are designed to offer consumers cheaper broadband services and phone calls from fixed line and mobile handsets, the Commission also argues. It claims that consumers are currently losing out because in many member countries, including Poland, Italy and Germany, the former state telecoms monopolies still dominate, particularly in the broadband market.

The proposals will now be debated in the European Parliament.

However, analysts said there is likely to be opposition to the changes with Germany and Spain seen as critics.

Read the full story in BBC News

THE distribution of computing skills across Europe shows a clear pattern according to a recent report from the European Union. The inhabitants of southern and eastern Europe are the least adept at using computers and the internet. Computer whizzes are more likely to be found in a wedge running from Germany up to the Nordic countries. Bulgarians seem a little baffled by the online revolution. But IT skills correlate closely with long-standing access to computers, broadband penetration and the like. As these improve, countries that now lag may encourage a new wave of nerds to emerge. The index was compiled looking both at users’ abilities and at their use of the internet to interact with government and business.

Full Story

The leading European VoIP adopters over the course of 2006 were France, Germany, and the
Netherlands. According to Instat analyst, Keith Nissen, “The EU market increased by over 14 million subscribers last year largely due to local loop unbundling, the introduction of cable telephony and triple-play service bundles as well as operator consolidation.” 

By contrast the US added a mere four million new VoIP subscribers over the same period. Keith Nissen says US carriers “don’t seem interested in selling anything other than plain-old-telephone-service.” Read more.

1. JC Ahangama on May 30th, 2006 at 12:50 am edit
   Donald,
   Great find. I think most of us need this training, specially those who are clinging to the products that they made with half-baked ideas.Dharma,
   Keep wishing for a free freedom — it isn’t there. Stop blaming people and act!
2. 214 Donald Gaminitillake on May 30th, 2006 at 7:14 am edit
   Thanks JC for the commentAfter the “Chesse” the blog got stagnant was wondering that now everybody got scared that their “Cheese” has been moved are now running in the maze to find more better “Cheese”In another thread Tamil Language has just commenced.
   For Sinhala there is an incomplete set but these guys never did anything for Tamil Language.
   I was the only person publicly voiced equal usage of both languages Sinhala and Tamil using a computer. Both languages do have a problems when using a computer.

   I have the Solution but these people are scared even to give it a try because their “Chesse” will get moved.

   Donald Gamnitillake
   Colombo

3. 215 Dharma Gamage on May 30th, 2006 at 8:09 am edit
   JC,[quote]Dharma,
   Keep wishing for a free freedom — it isn’t there. Stop blaming people and act!

   [unquote]

   Who wants free lunches? At least I do not. All I said was we have spent so much for this so called standards development and it is gross ridiculous if someone suggests that I still have to pay for using Sinhala in my computer.

   Why should I need to pay twice (once to Sri Lanka government in tax and then to you) for the simple task of using Sinhala in my computer?

   Please enlighten me what actions should I take.

4. 216 JC Ahangama on May 30th, 2006 at 6:20 pm edit
   Dharma,OK. You want a font that works and free to use? Write to me. I will register you as a tester. Anybody here wants to be a tester may also do the same.My efforts are since 2002. I am not a Government agency that has unlimited resources. I buy software with my humble earnings. When I devote time for my native country and language, I rob from my livelihood. In this project, I am the Business Decision maker, the Business Negotiator (with Microsoft and Unicode), Technical Expert, Language Researcher, Impact and Feasibility Study provider, System Analyst, Native Language user, Alternative System (Sinhala Unicode) Investigator, Consultant, Programmer, Font Designer, Typography Student, Typographer etc. and the Risk taker. It is my sleep I sacrifice. I neglect my family. I neglect my clients. No one pays compensation to me.

   I lived in Lanka for 37 years and perfectly understand the mentality of socialism — expect the government to provide and then blame it for failure.

   You are trapped in the notion that Unicode means Sinhala Unicode page. That is only a concept by Unicode Inc. that furthers the business interests of it’s members and especially the directors. They are not forcing you to accept their idea. They only think that it is a good idea. For me, it is NOT a good idea. The reason is that it isolates Sinhala from the inner circle of Unicode users. Chinese, Arabic and even other Indic languages can afford to use their own Unicode pages because they have large user bases that can provide a useful network of communication — independent internets. Small countries like us should not adopt isolated Code pages. (None of the European nations did. Fraktur and Gaelic are different scripts but are still based on the first two Unicode code pages.) Choosing a code page is OUR choice — individuals as well as the government. Making fonts is our responsibility too. This decision is too grave to be entrusted to a handful of bureaucrats. It’s people’s work. They own and use the language.

   Here is a quote by a pioneering mathematician and linguist that is watching my progress (it was obviously an email message with some spelling/language errors):

   “In the years up to say, 1960, one studying science at a university would also study latin and prehaps greek, because much of the older stuff was written in these languages. Newton wrote as much in Latin as English, and indeed, the notion of papers written in English, or french or german, was unheard of. Still, times have change[d], and because the english, and later americans, took an early lead in technology, much of the rest of the world came to use these languages [English versions].

   India was for a while colonised by the british, and the retention of english there as an official language, is more a case of not trying to put either of a dravidian or h[i]ndu language over the other, and so they created this foreign language as a “lingua franca”.

   It’s the same in europe, too. Much more is written in english, even for germans in germany, than in german. It is more because english has a larger vocabulary, and much of the language stuff has been nutted out. English is the new Latin, in this regard.”

   We cannot isolate the Sinhala natives from the rest of he world because of a script. While preserving Sinhala, they need to know English too. Basing the Sinhala script on roman character set would facilitate learning of English by exposure. We have found that over the past years English is only the domain of the elite. I know it is a language that can be learned by self study and effort. That’s how I learned it when I (along with others in my 8th grade class) was force promoted to an English-only GCE class. Free access to the Internet coupled with Sinhala based on first two Unicode pages is what I think would hold the Sinhala user withing the greater community of the Internet.

“We are looking at amending the Telegraph Act to accommodate the cellular services and CDMA-based services to reach the rural areas. We are looking at sharing of the passive infrastructure with the cellular service providers,” communications and information technology (C&IT) minister Dayanidhi Maran told reporters.

Besides covering the villages, the minister is of the opinion that the wireless services should also provide connectivity to the Railways and highways especially in rural areas. When asked about the time frame for amending the Act, Mr Maran said, “We have just started the process.”

Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI) welcomed the Wednesday’s announcement. COAI director general TV Ramachandaran said, “This will make the expansion into the rural and semi-urban areas by cellular operators economically viable. We need more cash surplus to fund capital expenditure in rural areas.”

So far, the state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has received the lion’s share of the USO fund as it has covered around 80% of the villages in the country by offering fixed line services. The private operators share in offering rural connectivity has been low in the past.

But if the Telegraph Act is amended then the private sector could play a major role in offering wireless services in rural areas. This is largely because the private players have a stronger presence in wireless services than in fixed services. Also while the urban areas getting saturated in terms of telecom coverage, the rural areas present a largely untapped market. Around Rs 1,814 crore have been made available to the operators for rural telephony of which Rs 1,314.50 crore have been provided during 2004-05. For the year 2005-06, a provision of Rs 1,200 crore has been made available for the USO support.

The minister on Wednesday announced that India has crossed 100 million phones. “The US, Japan and Germany have almost 100% tele-density, while China has a tele-density of 55%. India, with a tele-density of about 9%, is bound to surpass the growth in these countries by a wide margin over the next 4-5 years,” he said.
The minister said the country was likely to have 250 million phones by 2007 with a tele-density of 22%.
“Of the additional 150 million that would be added by 2007, almost 80 million will be done by BSNl and MTNL alone,” he said. On the present access deficit charges (ADC) regime, Mr Maran said the ADC regime will continue for at least another two years. “There is no rush to abolish the ADC. ADC will be reduced with the passing of time and the benefit would be passed on the users,” the minister said.

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