Tag Archive for ‘Myanmar’ at LIRNEasia

Tag Archive for 'Myanmar'

Call for Papers: Infrastructure Regulation: What works, Why, and How do we know?
Deadline: 05 December 2008.

Burma: Generals spooked by electronics charge comedian under electronic transactions law

on November 16, 2008

Buddhists are duty bound to offers alms. Zarganar, one of Burma’s most popular comedians, did. But to the wrong monks, according to the Generals. They were protesting the government’s misrule. Among other things Zarganar will be charged with offenses under the Electronic Transactions Law. Burma is short on electronics, but apparently not on law on the subject:

Now, Zarganar has been charged with, among other offenses, violation of the Electronic Transactions Law, which carries a prison sentence of up to 15 years for using technology like the Internet to distribute information “detrimental to the interest of or that lowers the dignity of any organization or any person.”

The government has also charged many protesters with violating the Video Act, which carries a three-year prison sentence for “copying,…

Comment
Tags: Buddhism, Burma, civil liberties, electronic transactions, electronics, Myanmar, satellite phones, Zarganar.

Asia-Pacific region leads high-speed Broadband connectivity, but wide divide prevails, says ITU

Chanuka Wattegama

on September 3, 2008

While some Asia-Pacific economies are world leaders in information and communication technologies (ICT) where broadband access is ultra-high speed, affordable and close to ubiquitous, in most of the region’s poorer countries Internet access remains limited and predominantly low-speed.

This is what ITU’s Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Report for the Asia-Pacific region 2008 says. It was released at ITU TELECOM ASIA 2008, Bangkok, Thailand yesterday (Sept 2, 2008).

The Report finds evidence that ICTs and broadband uptake foster growth and development, but the question remains as to the optimal speed that should be targeted in view of limited resources.

The area in which the region really stands out is the uptake of advanced Internet technologies, especially broadband Internet access. The Asia-Pacific region is the world’s largest broadband market with a 39…

Comment
Tags: 3G, Asia-Pacific, Bangkok, Bangladesh, Broadband, broadband access, broadband and triple-play services, broadband Internet access, broadband Internet subscribers, broadband technologies, Cambodia, China, communication services, communication technologies, continuous high-speed Internet access, desirable and valuable online services, Distance Learning, fibre optic, Fixed and mobile broadband technologies, HIGH-speed Internet access, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Internet technologies, Internet Telephony, IP telephony, ITU TELECOM, Japan, Laos, Maldives, mobile phones, Myanmar, poorer countries Internet access remains, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the Philippines, Tonga, ubiquitous Internet access plan combining, ultra-high speed Internet applications, USD, Wi-Fi.

Asian countries slide e-government rankings

Abu Saeed Khan

on January 14, 2008

A United Nations survey of global e-government readiness has found that many Asian countries are sliding down the rankings. Just one Asian country—South Korea—made the top ten coming in at sixth, with Japan next on 11th.

The next highest was Singapore at a surprisingly low 23rd, and Malaysia at 34th. The top 35 countries are otherwise dominated by Europe, Australasia and North America.

The biggest revelation was that most Asian countries are sliding down the rankings.
Singapore was the most prominent to fall from grace, falling to 22nd from seventh position in 2005. China fell to 65 from 57, India from 87 to 113, Thailand from 46 to 62, the Philippines from 41 to 66 and Indonesia from 96 to 106.

Other countries to slide included Maldives,…

32 Comments
Tags: Australasia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Denmark, e-government, Europe, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, North America, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Thailand, the Philippines, United Nations, United States, Vietnam.

Myanmar hikes satellite TV fees from $ 5 to $ 780

Chanuka Wattegama

on January 3, 2008

YANGON (Reuters) - Without warning, Myanmar’s military government has ordered a massive 166-fold rise in the annual satellite television levy in an apparent attempt to stop people watching dissident and international news broadcasts.

With no word in state media of any license fee increases, the first satellite dish owners knew of the hike was when they went to pay the 6,000 kyat levy, only to be told it was now 1 million kyat ($780), three times the average citizen’s yearly income.

An official at Myanmar Post and Telecom confirmed the increase on Wednesday, but was at a loss to explain it.

“It’s not our decision,” the official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. “We were just ordered by the higher authorities. Even I was shocked when I…

1 Comment
Tags: annual satellite television levy, Burma, dissident network, MMK, Myanmar, Norway, Reuters, satellite dish owners, satellite television, satellite TV, state media, USD, Yangon.

Chinese mobiles give headache to Myanmar

Abu Saeed Khan

on December 1, 2007

Yunnan-based Chinese companies are offering cheap phones and illegal mobile service in the North of Burma, according to a research report, prompting the military authorities to seize all Chinese mobile phones.

It says the Chinese providers are “taking advantage of the inability of the Myanmar military junta to provide satisfactory and affordable mobile phone services in the Shan
State and the Kachin State areas of North Myanmar.” Read more.

Comment
Tags: Burma, cellular telephone, mobile phones, Myanmar, Myanmar Yunnan, satisfactory and affordable mobile phone services.

Burma back online?

Rohan Samarajiva

on October 14, 2007

Myanmar restores Internet, but arrests continue | Reuters

“The Internet connection was restored on Saturday afternoon, but we still haven’t decided whether or not to reopen our internet cafe yet,” a Yangon Internet cafe owner said.

There had been intermittent access to the Internet over the past week, mostly during a curfew first imposed as the junta sent the army in to end protests led by thousands of Buddhist monks.

Comment
Tags: army, Burma, internet cafe, Internet cafe owner, internet connection, Myanmar, Reuters.

Internet access as basic human right and Burma’s undersea cable

Rohan Samarajiva

on October 8, 2007

Looks like international law is being made as we speak. According to the UN, basic human rights are violated when countries cut off Internet access. Burma is not the first. King Gyanendra of Nepal cut off everything in his palace coup. If cutting off Internet is a violation of human rights, what is cutting off phone service to entire regions like Jaffna? More people use the phone than the Internet.

The story about the undersea cable is quite intriguing. To the best of my knowledge, SEA-ME-WE 3 is the cable the government official is referring to (they were not part of the SEA-ME-WE 4 consortium). I have not checked this fact, but my recollection is that Burma had been disconnected from SEA-ME-WE 3 for non-payment some…

6 Comments
Tags: Ban Ki-moon, Burma, Geneva, Gyanendra, Hamadoun Toure, International Telecommunications Union, Internet access, Internet blockage, Myanmar, Myanmar government, Nepal, telecommunications agency, United Nations.

Burma’s cyber city is a lie?

Rohan Samarajiva

on October 4, 2007

The military rulers of Burma are planning to open a cyber city, based on Malaysia’s Multimedia Super Corridor, in January 2008. The following report states that the announced starting tenants are made up.

TelecomTV - TelecomTV One - News

Now, it just so happens that I was tracking a story on the junta’s plans for its very own cyber city just before the protests began. There have been quite a few reports across Asia recently that the Burmese “government” is building its 10,000-acre (4,050 hectare) “Yadanabon cyber city” project about 70 kilometres east of Mandalay, Burma’s second largest city.

Comment
Tags: ADSL, Alcatel, Asia, Bangkok, Burma, Cable TV, China, Internet black hole, Irrawaddy, Malaysia, Myanmar, Reporters without Borders, Russia, satellite conference, Shin Satellite, Thailand, Xinhua news agency.

Technology is not enough?

Rohan Samarajiva

on October 4, 2007

Monks Are Silenced, and for Now, Internet Is, Too - New York Times

It was about as simple and uncomplicated as shooting demonstrators in the streets. Embarrassed by smuggled video and photographs that showed their people rising up against them, the generals who run Myanmar simply switched off the Internet.

Until Friday television screens and newspapers abroad were flooded with scenes of tens of thousands of red-robed monks in the streets and of chaos and violence as the junta stamped out the biggest popular uprising there in two decades.

But then the images, text messages and postings stopped, shut down by generals who belatedly grasped the power of the Internet to jeopardize their crackdown.

1 Comment
Tags: Are Silenced, Myanmar, New York Times.

Technology gives world rare view of Myanmar’s rage

Abu Saeed Khan

on September 27, 2007

With foreign journalists barred from what is one of the world’s most closed states, much of the worldwide media coverage is coming from exiled newshounds in countries such as Thailand and India — and their clandestine contacts on the inside.

Technology ranging from the latest Internet gizmo to satellite uplinks to camera phones are ensuring pictures of the massed marches of monks and civilians and the response by security forces is on TV screens around the world in hours.

The contrast to Myanmar’s last major uprising, in 1988, could not be more stark. Then, as many as 3,000 people were killed when soldiers opened fire on the crowds but it took days for the news — let alone pictures or video footage — to emerge.

“The…

Comment
Tags: Bangkok, Dominic Faulder, India, information-capturing devices, Internet gizmo, Media coverage, Myanmar, satellite uplinks, Strand Hotel, Technology ranging, Thailand, video machinery, Yangon.

Burning down Myanmar’s Internet firewall

Tahani Iqbal

on September 25, 2007

Asia Times Online

Most Internet accounts in Myanmar are designed to provide access only to the limited Myanmar intranet, and the authorities block access to popular e-mail services such as Gmail and Hotmail. According to the OpenNet Initiative (ONI), a joint research project on Internet censorship issues headed by Harvard University, Myanmar’s Internet-censorship regime as of 2005 was among the “most extensive” in the world.

The research noted that the Myanmar government “maintains the capability to conduct surveillance of communication methods such as e-mail, and to block users from viewing websites of political opposition groups and organizations working for democratic change in Burma”. An ONI-conducted survey of websites containing material known to be sensitive to the regime found in 2005 that 84% of the pages they tested…

Comment
Tags: Burma, e-mail services, firewall, Fortinet, Harvard University, Internet firewall Asia Times Online, Internet-censorship regime, Myanmar, Myanmar government, technology*, United States.

Scientist who foretold the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami warns of possibility of another in Northern Bay of Bengal

Rohan Samarajiva

on September 9, 2007

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Tsunami concern for Bay of Bengal

Now, Phil Cummins, lead author on the Nature paper and a geologist at Geoscience Australia, believes this is not the case.He said: “I reviewed the geological literature and found the evidence for a lack of tectonic activity along the Myanmar coast was not compelling.”

Historical evidence

Recent GPS data, he said, suggested that the plate boundary was at sea in this area, hidden below thick layers of sediment.

1 Comment
Tags: Bay of Bengal, BBC, GPS, Indian Ocean, Myanmar, Myanmar coast, Northern Bay, Phil Cummins, simulation.

Possibility of undersea mudslide triggered tsunami raised by Dharmasarojana

Rohan Samarajiva

on August 17, 2007

Smith Dharmasarojana is a hero to those in the disaster risk-reduction field. He was the Met Chief who raised the flag re a tsunami hitting Thailand well before 2004 December. He lost his job as a result. When the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami did hit, he was recalled and made the disaster-preparedness czar. Because of his drive, Thailand is among the best prepared for a tsunami or similar disaster today.

I have read about the mudslide triggered tsunami as a theoretical possibility (cannot actually recall specific mention of a historical event). The danger with this particular form of tsunami is that there is no prior earthquake for the sensors to catch. The only thing that can detect the resultant tsunami is a tsunami buoy of the…

1 Comment
Tags: Andaman Islands, Bangkok, Bangladesh, Bay of Bengal, East Coast, India, Indian Ocean, island of Phuket, Myanmar, National Disaster Warning Centre, Smith Dharmasaroja, Sri Lanka, Thailand.

Myanmar to implement cyber village project

Chanuka Wattegama

on August 6, 2007

Myanmar will implement a cyber village project aiming to enable every village in the country to have access to internet link like urban cities, according to computer entrepreneur circle Thursday.

A pioneer pilot project for the move will start late of this year by the open season with installation of IP Star phone lines by the state-run Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (MPT), the Computer Entrepreneurs’ Association (CEA) said.

Investment is being invited from the private sector for the establishment of public access centers in villages and power source is being sought either from battery or solar energy to operate the internet in some remote villages in short of electricity as an alternative, the Association added.

According to the MPT, the number of internet users in Myanmar has reached…

Comment
Tags: Computer Entrepreneurs\' Association, electricity, internet link, Internet users, Myanmar, Myanmar Computer Federation, public internet service centers, solar energy.

Myanmar bids for world record on slowest e-mail

Rohan Samarajiva

on June 5, 2007

LIRNEasia and ISEAS organized an expert forum on ICT indicators in Singapore in March 2007. On the 26th of January, the Myanmar Ministry of Post and Telecom sent an e-mail to the ISEAS in Singapore, nominating an officer to attend. That e-mail reached ISEAS yesterday (4th June 2007; more than four months later).

Does this not suggest a need to radically reform the Myanmar ICT infrastructure?

Comment
Tags: Myanmar, Myanmar Ministry of Post and Telecom, Singapore.

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