The debate over Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) spectrum auctions and internet telephony comes at a time when international organizations and analysts are painting a starkly contrasting picture of the Indian telecom and IT sectors.
Recent International Telecommunication Union (ITU) data reveals that the success of India’s telecom revolution is restricted to mobile voice with very little to showcase in fixed line and internet access, or high-speed broadband. For a country that is the global IT and ITeS capital or the world’s back office, its own internet penetration remains one of the lowest in the world. Forecasts are equally uninspiring, projecting high-speed internet access to remain abysmal till 2012.
Internet broadband penetration will limp along to eventually reach a measly 3.9 connections for every 100 citizens by 2012.…
Tags: Broadband, broadband wireless access, high-speed Internet, HIGH-speed Internet access, high-speed internet subscribers, India, International Telecommunication Union, Internet access, Internet broadband penetration, Internet penetration, Internet Telephony, Internet users, IP telephony, mobile telephony, The Times, wireless access.
Africa is the world’s fastest growing market for mobile phones over the last three years with 65 million new subscribers in 2007 alone, according to the head of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
Hamadoun Touré, ITU Secretary-General, said the figure is cited in the United Nations agency’s regional report entitled “African Telecommunication/ICT Indicators 2008: At a Crossroads,” which he presented at the opening of the ITU Telecom Africa trade fair here on Monday.
A UN press release quoted Toure as saying, “Today, the African ICT industry is an exciting place to be. Market liberalization continues and most countries have established regulatory bodies to ensure a fair, competitive and enabling environment.”
The report indicated that there were more than 250 million mobile subscribers on the continent at the start…
With global agreement reached on clearing the 700 MHz band of analog broadcasting so it can be used for wireless broadband, the equipment will start coming to market soon. Unless the regional spectrum regulators clear the band in time, it will not be possible to reap the benefits.
After Global Agreement, Companies May Bid Higher at Wireless Auction in U.S. - New York Times
Because the conference elicited a global consensus, that confidence should extend worldwide. The conference said that countries could use the 700-megahertz slice for wireless broadband services like cellphones, mobile TV and WiMax, although at each country’s time of choosing.
The conclusions of the conference, which operates under the auspices of the International Telecommunication Union, a United Nations agency, carry the weight of an international…
U.N. Agency Gives Boost to WiMax - New York Times
The United Nations telecommunications agency in Geneva gave the upstart technology called WiMax a vote of approval, providing a sizable victory for Intel and something of a defeat for competing technologies from Qualcomm and Ericsson.
The International Telecommunication Union’s radio assembly agreed late Thursday to include WiMax, a wireless technology that allows Internet and other data connections across much broader areas than Wi-Fi, as part of what is called the third-generation family of mobile standards.
That endorsement opens the way for many of the union’s member countries to devote a part of the public radio spectrum to WiMax, and receivers for it could be built into laptop computers, phones, music players and other portable devices.
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Tags: Ericsson, Geneva, Intel, International Telecommunication Union, portable devices, Qualcomm, telecommunications agency, United Nations, United Nations Agency, upstart technology, WiMax - New York Times, wireless technology.
By Rohan Samarajiva
LBO >> Choices : Priceless Link
08 March 2007 08:26:29
http://www.lbo.lk/fullstory.php?newsID=2020236857&no_view=1&SEARCH_TERM=24
March 08 (LBO) - Indonesia, like Sri Lanka, sends its women to foreign lands to work as housemaids. The numbers may be larger, though the proportion is smaller.
Telecom networks are expanding fast in both countries, Indonesia faster. The telecom sector is attracting massive investments in both countries as operators scramble to meet the burgeoning demand.
Generally, politicians and officials responsible for a sector are happy when it grows. Therefore, I was surprised to hear several senior telecom officials in Indonesia express concern about lowered gold sales supposedly caused by excessive use of calling cards by expatriate housemaids.
Tags: Asia, Asia-Pacific, brother-in-law, Central Bank, Colombo, communication technologies, consumer finance survey, ephemeral products, Hambantota, India, Indonesia, International Telecommunication Union, Jaffna, Kofi Annan, Middle East, mobile phones, OECD, Rohan Samarajiva, SEC, Securities and Exchange Commission, SMS, society lacking insurance, Sri Lanka, telecom services, Thailand, the Philippines, United Nations, USD.
The significance of capitalizing the Internet (which LIRNEasia religiously does) and latest effort to decapitalize it and bring it under the thrall of international bureaucracy:
What’s in an ‘i’? Internet governance - Technology & Media - International Herald Tribune
When David Gross heard last month that the International Telecommunication Union, a United Nations agency, wanted to lower-case the word Internet as a matter of official policy, he did not know whether to be alarmed or amused.
“We immediately thought, ‘Gee, what’s up with that?’” Gross, the coordinator for international communications and information policy at the U.S. State Department, said by telephone from Washington last week. “Who made the decision and on what basis? We didn’t have a clue if this was something insignificant or significant.”
But some others among…
Rohan Samarajiva and Divakar Goswami, chaired sessions at the first Telecom World event , ITU Telecom World 2006, to be held in Asia, in Hong Kong SAR, 3-8 December 2006. This event, held once in four years, is normally held in Geneva. It was moved to Hong Kong to recognize the leading role of the Asia Pacific in the ICT sector today (see Figure 1).Samarajiva and Goswami were the only persons from Sri Lanka featured in the program of the Forum at Telecom World.
Figure 1: 
Goswami, lead researcher on LIRNEasia’s Indonesia ICT sector and regulatory performance study, chaired a session that included keynote presentations by Dr Sofyan Djalil, the Indonesian Minister of ICTs. Samarajiva’s session on universal access included keynotes by the Vice President of China Unicom,…
Tags: Asia, Asia-Pacific, China Unicom, Divakar Goswami, Geneva, GSM, GSM Association, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, International Telecommunication Union, Johannesburg, Korea, Pakistan, Philippines, Rohan Samarajiva, Sofyan Djalil, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tom Philllips, United Kingdom, United States, Zhengmao Li.
An executive course on telecom regulation, including World Dialogue on Regulation Expert Forum on Sector and Regulatory Performance Indicators
Offered by LIRNEasia and CONNECTasia Forum Pte. Ltd.
February 25th - March 3rd, 2007. Changi Village Hotel, Singapore
The 2007 course is designed to enhance the strategic thinking of a select group of senior decision makers in the telecom and related sectors in the Asia Pacific and elsewhere. The focus will be on the most current strategic issues.
Tags: 11th LIRNE.NET, Africa, Asia-Pacific, Caribbean, Changi Village Hotel, China, CONNECT
asia, Europe, Harsha de Silva, Hong Kong, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Telecommunication Union, Latin America, LIRNE asia, M.H Au, Previous LIRNE.NET, Rajendra Singh, Rohan Samarajiva, Singapore, Strategy and Policy Unit, Tim Kelly, TM International Sdn Bhd, William Melody, Yusuf Annuar Yaacob.
A report on the Indicators Workshop held in New Delhi by LIRNEasia in collaboration with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is available here [PDF]. The report provides a review of international initiatives and best practices, examines some of the difficulties regarding standardising indicators across the region, the challenges of measurement and collection of indicator data and the process of developing an indicators manual for the South Asian region.
Tags: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Indonesia, International Telecommunication Union, Maldives, National Regulatory Research Institute, Nepal, New Delhi, online database, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Thailand, United States.
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