An article entitled, ‘Teleuse at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Beyond Universal Access’, co-authored by Harsha de Silva and Ayesha Zainudeen, has been published in Telektronikk, a leading telecommunications journal, published by Telenor, Norway.
Appearing in the journal’s second issue for 2008, aptly titled, ‘Emerging Markets in Telecommunications’, the article explores the extent to which “universal access” to telecommunications has been achieved in Asia, based on findings from LIRNEasia’s five-country study of the use of telecommunication services at the ‘Bottom of the Pyramid’, namely in India, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
Very high levels of access, but low levels of ownership are found. The paper then looks at the potential benefits that these non-owner users are missing out on, and then goes on to look at the key barriers to ownership…
Tags: Ayesha Zainudeen, BOP, Bottom Of The Pyramid, Harsha de Silva, India, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Telektronikk, Thailand, universal access.
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,…
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.
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…
Tags: annual satellite television levy, Burma, dissident network, MMK, Myanmar, Norway, Reuters, satellite dish owners, satellite television, satellite TV, state media, USD, Yangon.
Massive mobile growth is reported from Bangladesh in 2006, with over two million being added in September alone, according to the BTRC. The question now is whether Pakistan still leads the pack.
|
|
Mobiles
|
Net addition/month
|
|
Jan-06
|
10,275,869
|
|
|
Feb-06
|
10,543,898
|
268,029
|
|
Mar-06
|
10,954,285
|
410,387
|
|
Apr-06
|
11,781,560
|
827,275
|
|
May-06
|
13,440,836
|
1,659,276
|
|
Jun-06
|
14,190,606
|
749,770
|
|
Jul-06
|
14,798,440
|
607,834
|
|
Aug-06
|
15,510,000
|
711,560
|
|
Sep-06
|
17,647,537
|
2,137,537
|
Bangladesh’s GrameenPhone tops 10 mln subscribers | Reuters.com
Bangladesh’s top mobile phone operator GrameenPhone Ltd. said on Sunday the number of its subscribers has passed 10 million, rising more than 80 percent since January.
The number of mobile phone users in Bangladesh will grow to 50 million during the three years to 2009, Erik Aas, managing director of GrameenPhone, told a news conference.
“Reduced entry cost for new subscribers will be the main driver for this growth. This can be achieved with lower handset prices and reduced connection taxes,” Aas said.
He said GrameenPhone’s client network was expected to…
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