Government has released the 2008 second quarter economic performance data, which shows, again, that the telecom sector is growing the fastest, at 23.2 per cent (as against 21 per cent, 2007 Q2), followed by mining and quarrying at 19.6 per cent.
In his weekly newspaper column in the Lankadeepa, Mr Udaya Gammanpila, the Chairman of the Central Environmental Authority and the main proponent of mobile-specific taxes, has posed the question to me why the mobile sector keeps growing even as they keep loading taxes on it. For example, the mobile subscriber levy of 10 percent of every bill was in effect in 2008 Q2. Possibly, the 10 per cent levy on CDMA “fixed” phones was also in effect for at least part of 2008 Q2. Yet,…
As reported elsewhere , Harsha de Silva and I had a productive time at the Mobile Preconference organized by Rich Ling (http://www.richardling.com/ ) and others. One of the outcomes was that LIRNEasia has undertaken to organize this event for the next two years, in conjunction with the ICA conferences scheduled for Chicago, May 21-25, 2009 and for Singapore in June 2010.
As Jonathon Donner mentions , there is a distinct value to discussing related papers among a group of like-minded researchers for a day and a half. Discussion at ICA conferences proper is choppy and disjointed, and in some cases, there are more people who are presenting than in the audience. At a pre-conference, the conversation flows without distraction among a group of committed researchers.
Harsha and I thought it would…
Tags: above networks, Chicago, conference, Francois Bar, Harsha de Silva, Jim Katz, Jonathon Donner, Mobile Preconference, Montreal, Rich Ling, Singapore.
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.
TRAI announced last Thursday(27/03/2008) that ADC (Access Deficit Charge) will be completely removed from April 1.
LIRNEasia was the only non-Indian entity that sent responses to the TRAI consultation paper no. 2/2008 dated 21st January 2008 on Access Deficit Charge (ADC).
Here, as the response to the first question LIRNEasia said
We agree with phasing out of the ADC. Our work on the subject in 2004-05 led us to advocate this same position by questioning if the ADC was merely ‘a politically motivated tax on private operators to protect the incumbent, its employees and its copper-wire access network during a very long transition to competition.’ 1 Today, in 2008, the need for the phasing out the ADC is much greater as there is no need for every new…
Sri Lanka agriculture could do with dose of IT - LANKA BUSINESS ONLINE
Greater use of information technology in Sri Lanka’s largely subsistence agriculture sector will help both farmers and consumers alike by reducing costs, a researcher has said.
Harsha De Silva, lead economist at LIRNEasia, a think tank, said a system using IT that addresses the information needs from the decision making phase through the growth and sale of agricultural products will help balance the welfare of both consumers and farmers.
“ICT (information and communications technology) can be used to reduce the information and observable transaction costs to create efficiencies in agricultural markets,” de Silva said.
“And if we can create efficiencies in agricultural markets, we can create welfare on both sides of the equation,” he told a…
LIRNEasia has come up with startling evidence on how transaction costs in agriculture could be reduced by simple mobile phone applications. The organization’s Lead Economist, Dr. Harsha de Silva called for a multi-stakeholder action plan to implement a series of actions that would help poor farmers as well as consumers by reducing information costs in agricultural markets and value chains. He was speaking at a panel following a public lecture by Indian Institute of Management Professor, Subhash C. Bhatnagar, who spoke on the benefits of ICT applications to farmers, taking India as an example.
eChoupal model, an initiative by Indian Tobacco Company, said Prof. Bhatnagar, is a good case study how ICTs can reduce transaction costs for the farmers. Electronic market places or Internet kiosks are…
Tags: Andra Pradesh, aquaculture products, cellular telephone, Harsha de Silva, Helani Galpaya, India, Indian Institute of Management, Indian Tobacco Company, INR, Internet kiosks, LKR, mobile phone applications, mobile phones, Montana, Subhash C. Bhatnagar.
You buy guavas from local superstore. They look fine, but when cut, you find worms inside. This is a common problem. These worms enter the product when it was only a flower and grow inside without showing any external signs. Superstore offers an apology, but no guarantee that you will not buy similar low quality products tomorrow. The supply chain is long and nobody is sure from where the stock comes from.
That is why ‘traceability’ matters. Food products are added more value by providing traceability information along with them.
Benefits of traceability to consumers are apparent. What about the rest? Do farmers too benefit?
These are some of the issues discussed at the two day workshop on Feb 21-22, on ‘Transaction Costs and Traceability: Potential of ICTs…
21 - 23 February 2008 at Kandalama Hotel, Kandalama, Sri Lanka
LIRNEasia hosted a Workshop to discuss the policy level implications and business level possibilities of using ICTs to reduce transaction costs in the agricultural value chain as well as to improve traceability and enhance quality of products sold. The Workshop brought together key stakeholders consisting of policy makers, private and public sector participants and researchers, both in agriculture and ICT. It was based on the pilot projects conducted by LIRNEasia in 2007, which was discussed in detail at the Workshop.
All presentations made at the Workshop can be found below:
Traceability: International Perspective - Visoot Phongsathorn
Linking Sri Lankan farmers to global markets - Dr. Harsha de Silva
Traceability in agricultural markets - Shamistra Soysa
Benefits of ICT applications to farmers with emphasis…
This past Saturday at a conference organized by the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing Harsha de Silva chaired a session with Hans Wijayasuriya of Dialog Telekom, Rohan Samarajiva of LIRNEasia and Keith Modder of Virtusa that addressed issues such as this. One point that ran through the discussion was the need for companies to develop self-regulation to safeguard the trust of their customers.
China’s mobile network: a big brother surveillance tool? - LANKA BUSINESS ONLINE
“We know who you are, but also where you are,” said the CEO of China Mobile Communications Corporation, Wang Jianzhou, whose company adds six million new customers to its network each month and is already the biggest mobile group in the world by users.
He was explaining how the company could use the…
Tags: advertising and services, big brother surveillance tool, cellular telephone, China, China Mobile Communications Corporation, Dialog Telekom, Hans Wijayasuriya, Harsha de Silva, Keith Modder, mobile group, mobile phones, Rohan Samarajiva, Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing
Harsha, Wang Jianzhou.
Click on the links to see the full articles covering LIRNEasia’s book, ICT Infrastructure in Emerging Asia: Policy and Regulatory Roadblocks.
‘BSNL’s monopoly over infrastructure a hindrance to growth’ - Financial Express (India)
Rural connectivity is now the focus of every telecommunication player in the country. Almost all stakeholders, from handset manufacturers to service providers, believe that the next wave of growth is in the rural areas.”However, India’s roll out (of telecom services) in rural areas has been slow. BSNL has the backbone infrastructure but is not yet ready to share it with private players,” he added.
Tags: access networks, Ashok Jhujhunwala, Asia, ATM, Ayesha Zainudeen, backbone infrastructure, Bangladesh, cellular telephone, Chennai, Department of Telecommunications, Financial Express, GSM, Harsha de Silva, IDRC, India, Jhunjhunwala, LIRNE asia, Madras, mobile phones, Pakistan, Rohan Samarajiva, rural telephony, Social Science Research Council, Sri Lanka, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, telecom services, telephony, Yahoo Tech Group.
LIRNEasia Lead Economist Harsha de Silva was invited to be the Consultant to a recent Expert Group Meeting on the Provision of ICT Access for Disadvantaged Communities through Public-Private Partnerships conducted by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission fro Asia and the Pacific [ESCAP]. A number of influential policy makers and academics from the region participated at the meeting held between 12-14 December in Bangkok. Harsha set the stage for the expert group meeting by preparing a draft background paper and made a concluding presentation incorporating many of LIRNEasia research findings across the region. Harsha emphasized the need for policies to bridge the market efficiency gap in ICT access through better and conducive regulation and advocated innovative PPPs for bridging identified access gaps in rural BOP segment.
Find the draft background paper…
A new documentary film, titled Teleuse@BOP, recently produced by TVE Asia Pacific (TVEAP) and based on LIRNEasia’s study on Teleuse at the Bottom of the Pyramid, highlights a communication revolution happening in Asia’s emerging telecommunication markets.
When it comes to using phones, the film says, people at the bottom of the income pyramid are no different from anyone else; they value the enhanced personal security, including emergency communications, and social networking benefits. Increasingly, poor people are not content with just using public phones or shared access phones (belonging friends or family). They see a utility and social value of having their own phones.
Tags: ACNielsen, Asia, Ayesha Zainudeen, Canada, Canada\'s
International Development Research Centre, cellular telephone, Dialog Telekom, emergency communications, Emerging Technologies, Global Knowledge Partnership, Harsha de Silva, India, International Development Research Centre, Kuala Lumpur, LIRNEasia Lead, Malaysia, Nalaka Gunawardene, Pakistan, Philippines, social networking benefits, Sri Lanka, telephone use, Thailand, TVE Asia Pacific, youth enterprise.
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.
The final report from the World Dialogue on Regulation (WDR) 3rd research cycle has been released and can now be downloaded or ordered in hardcopy. Edited by Amy Mahan and William H. Melody, this most recent collection of the network’s research and case studies elaborates on inclusive and propoor strategies for extending network development.
Title: Diversifying Participation in Network Development: Case studies and research from WDR Research Cycle 3
Editors: Amy Mahan and William H. Melody
Tags: 978-9974-8067, Abu-Saeed Khan, African Mobile, Albania, Ali Ndiwalana, Amy Mahan, Andrew Barendse, Argentina, Asia-Pacific, Ayesha Zainudeen, Bangladesh, Brazil, Bruce Girard, Caribbean, Christoph Stork, Claire Milne, Colombia, Erik Skouby, Ewan Sutherland, Foundation Partners, Ghana, Gustavo Gómez, Guyana, Harsha de Silva, Latin America, Malathy Knight-John, Mariama Deen-Swarray, Melody
Document, Mexico, Nepal, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, Peru, Reza Tadayoni, Samuel Braithwaite, Sebastian Ureta, South Africa, Steve Esselaar, Telecom, Uruguay, William H. Melody.
LIRNEasia lead economist Harsha de Silva recently had the honor of hosting 2006 Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus on his weekly television show; Biz1st: In- Focus, which runs on MTV and Shakthi TV in Sri Lanka.
A five minute cut on the discussion, where Professor Yunus discusses how a “digital genie” will appear from the “Aladdin’s lamp” [the mobile phone] to empower the poor, has been linked below.
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