Tag Archive for ‘OECD’ at LIRNEasia

Tag Archive for 'OECD'

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

Bangladesh doesn’t need a universal service tax

on October 15, 2008

An article written by Rohan Samarajiva on Bangladesh’s proposed universal service taxes has been published in The Daily Star, Bangladesh; an excerpt follows.

Bangladesh currently has the lowest mobile prices in the world and perhaps the world’s highest mobile growth rate. Pretty good, by any measure. A universal service tax can ruin the business model that has given millions of Bangladesh citizens the opportunity to get connected to an electronic network for the first time and to use telecom services at affordable prices. Instead of solving a problem, it will create one.

…the same basket of calls, texts and apportioned connection charges (low-user basket, based on OECD methodology adapted for the region by LIRNEasia) that costs $5.25 in Nepal, costs only $2.46 in Bangladesh.

Yet, the low prices and…

Comment
Tags: Bangladesh, bankok, Broadband, OECD, Rapid Response Unit, Rohan Samarajiva, telecom asia forum, the Daily Star, Universal Service Fund, USF.

What Good Is Broadband

Rohan Samarajiva

on May 31, 2008

The central question of whether ICTs do any good, is discussed in relation to always-on broadband connections in the OECD. The question is, of course, of even greater importance in developing countries.

The OECD released its latest report on May 19th. It surveys the broadband landscape to December 2007, and tells a warm tale. The number of broadband subscribers in the world’s 30 biggest countries grew by 18% to reach 235m, or one-fifth of those countries’ total population. Between 2005 and 2006, prices fell by an average of 19% for DSL connections and 16% for cable lines. At the end of 2004 the average speed was 2 megabits per second (Mb/s); in 2007 it increased to almost 9Mb/s. But the excellent report, written by Taylor Reynolds…

Comment
Tags: Broadband, DSL, OECD, Sacha Wunsch-Vincent, Solow, Taylor Reynolds.

Latin American and Asian mobile prices and methodologies compared

Rohan Samarajiva

on March 22, 2008

Mobile Benchmark Studies in South Asia and Latin America | L I R N E . N E T

DIRSI’s study on mobile price and affordability also adapts the OECD price baskets to compare the monthly costs of using mobiles in six Latin American countries. The Latin American baskets take into consideration call and SMS volumes and usage data as specified in the OECD methodology,[5] but excludes initial connection charges. The DIRSI study also does not report data on postpaid or indicate whether different MoUs have been applied to prepaid and postpaid.

Despite differences in methodology, it is interesting to note the rather large differences in the monthly costs between users in South Asia and Latin America; even though the former takes into account a broader set…

Comment
Tags: Afghanistan, Argentina, Latin America, OECD, SMS.

Liberalisation key for next billion Internet users: OECD

Abu Saeed Khan

on February 21, 2008

An OECD report, Global Opportunities for Internet Access Developments, says that the next billion Internet users will be very different from the first billion and governments in developing countries, where these users will come from, must adapt strategic regulatory and investment policies to lower access costs.

“The characteristics of these new Internet users will be vastly different from the first billion users,” the report concludes, adding that the majority of the new Internet users will be accessing the Internet on wireless networks and will have incomes of less than US$2 per day.

While the report sees encouraging signs from developing markets that have adopted market liberalisation and who are now starting to enjoy the employment, micro- entrepreneurial and social development benefits of increased competition, there…

Comment
Tags: gateway services, Internet access, Internet Access Developments, Internet users, OECD, USD, wireless networks.

The coming issue is broadband

Rohan Samarajiva

on January 18, 2008

Broadband | Open up those highways | Economist.com

As Taylor Reynolds, an OECD analyst, puts it, innovation usually comes in steps: newcomers first rent space on an existing network, to build up customers and income. Then they create new and better infrastructure, as and when they need it.

In France, for example, the regulator forced France Télécom to rent out its lines. One small start-up firm benefited from this opportunity and then installed technology that was much faster than any of its rivals’. It won so many customers that other operators had to follow suit. In Canada, too, the regulator mandated line-sharing, and provinces subsidised trunk lines from which smaller operators could lease capacity to provide service.

In South Korea, where half the population lives in flats, each…

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Tags: Broadband, Canada, communications ministry, France, installed technology, Japan, NTT, OECD, South Korea, Taylor Reynolds, then installed technology.

Fourteen countries have more mobile phone subscribers than people

Chanuka Wattegama

on July 25, 2007

Mobile phone subscribers per 100 people

THE number of mobile-phone subscribers in the 30 countries of the OECD reached nearly 933m in 2005, equivalent to around 80 for every 100 people. Tiny Luxembourg has the highest penetration rate, with 157.3 subscribers for every 100 people. Indeed, it is one of 14 countries in which there are more subscribers than people. This is partly because users increasingly have several SIM cards for use with the same phone. The rapid growth in pre-pay accounts—from 4% of total subscriptions in 1997 to 42% in 2005—is also a factor, as such accounts often lie inactive. South Korea and Japan are the only countries with more third-generation (3G) phone subscribers than 2G ones.

Source: http://www.economist.com/daily/chartgallery/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9537136

Comment
Tags: 3G, cellular telephone, Japan, Luxembourg, OECD, South Korea.

Benchmarking broadband in the OECD

Rohan Samarajiva

on July 17, 2007

The OECD has published comparative data on broadband speeds and prices. This will help drive prices down and quality up.

The rest of the countries need to develop their own benchmarks.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Global broadband prices revealed

According to the report, broadband prices for DSL connections across the 30 countries have fallen by 19% and increased in speed by 29% in the year to October 2006. Cable prices and speeds followed a similar trend.The least expensive monthly subscription for always-on broadband was in Sweden, where $10.79 (£5.40) per month bought a 256kbps connection. The country with the most expensive entry point for broadband access was Mexico, where it cost $52.36 (£26.18) per month for 1mbps.

Comment
Tags: BBC, Broadband, broadband access, DSL, GBP, Mexico, OECD, Sweden, USD.

Documenting the Capabilities of Measuring ICT Statistics in India

Ayesha Zainudeen

on July 9, 2007

Payal Malik, Senior Researcher, LIRNEasia was invited to the eleventh meeting of the Working Party on Indicators for the Information Society (WPIIS) of the OECD countries, held on Monday 21 May 2007, at the Department of Trade and Industry Conference Centre, London.

She presented her report on “Documenting the Capabilities of Measuring ICT Statistics in India”. Her report raised great interest among the participants. In an extension to the LIRNEasia work on indicators this report profiled the institutions that collect ICT data in India , with some observations about the methodology and the limitations. The reference point for the exercise is the ‘metadata survey’, a global exercise to collect information from all countries regarding the statistical measurement of ICT (reported in “The global status of ICT…

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Tags: India, Information Society, London, Measuring Information Society, OECD, Working Party on Indicators.

LIRNEasia presents its research in Pakistan

Rohan Samarajiva

on June 12, 2007

14 June 2007) Rohan Samarajiva, Joseph Wilson, Harsha de Silva and Tahani Iqbal presented recent research conducted by LIRNEasia at a media and stakeholder event organized by the Pakistan Telecom Authority in Islamabad today.

Following opening remarks by Chairman of PTA, Major General (R) Shahzada Alam Malik, Samarajiva and Wilson presented the new improved version of the six-country Telecom Regulatory Environment study, with emphasis on Pakistan.

de Silva discussed the results of the Teleuse @ the Bottom of the Pyramid (T@BOP) survey conducted in five countries, including Pakistan. Among other things, he discussed the disparate access to ICTs between men and women at the BOP as well as the tremendous progress made in connecting large numbers of people at the BOP in the past few years.

Iqbal presented comparative analysis of…

7 Comments
Tags: Alam Malik, Harsha de Silva, India, Islamabad, Joseph Wilson, Media coverage, OECD, Pakistan, Pakistan Telecom Authority, Rohan Samarajiva, Shahzada Alam Malik, SMS, Sri Lanka, Tahani Iqbal, the Philippines.

Intelligent benchmark regulation: Forbearance within benchmark limits

Tahani Iqbal

on April 11, 2007

This colloquium will be on a new paper that is being developed on tools for intelligent benchmark regulation, based on Harsha de Silva and Tahani Iqbal’s presentation on Price & Affordability Indicators at the WDR Expert Forum in Singapore. The tools under consideration are price baskets and price elasticity of demand.

3 Comments
Tags: Bhutan, Harsha de Silva, India, Maldives, OECD, Singapore, Small island, SMS, Sri Lanka, Tahani Iqbal, United Nations.

Choices: Calls or gold?

Ayesha Zainudeen

on March 10, 2007

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.

Comment
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.

Colloquium on Digital Opportunity Index Applied to Indonesia: Assessing ICT Policy and Regulatory Environment

Tahani Iqbal

on August 22, 2006

Discussion of the paper to be presented by Divakar Goswami at the Digital Opportunity Forum, South Korea on August 30, 2006.

The DOI measures the magnitude of the digital divide in a country, and uses the percentage of population covered by mobile cellular telephony, internet access tariffs and mobile cellular tariffs as a percentage of per capita income, proportion of households with fixed telephone, computer, internet access at home, etc to measure digital divide.

3 Comments
Tags: Broadband, Digital Opportunity Forum, fixed telephone, fixed wireless, Indonesia, Internet access, internet access tariffs, mobile cellular telephony, OECD, South Korea.

Iceland takes over from Korea as Broadband Champ

Rohan Samarajiva

on April 14, 2006

OECD Broadband Statistics, December 2005

In December 2005, four countries (Iceland, Korea, the Netherlands and Denmark) led the OECD in broadband penetration, each with more than 25 subscribers per 100 inhabitants.

Iceland now leads the OECD with a broadband penetration rate of 26.7 subscribers per 100 inhabitants.

Korea’s broadband market is advancing to the next stage of development where existing subscribers switch platforms for increased bandwidth. In Korea, fibre-based broadband connections grew 52.4% during 2005. This switchover effect is evident by the net loss of DSL (-3.3%) and cable (-1.7%) subscribers during the year.

5 Comments
Tags: Broadband, Denmark, DSL, Iceland, Korea, OECD, The Netherlands.

Workshop on ICT Indicators for Benchmarking Performance in Network and Services Development

Sriganesh Lokanathan

on March 9, 2006

LIRNEasia and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), with the assitance of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada, co-sponsored the “Workshop on ICT Indicators for Benchmarking Performance in Network and Services Development” in New Delhi from 1-3 March 2006. The workshop highlighted the need for accurate, standardized and comparable indicators for the region and was intended to initate action to develop such indicators.

The workshop brought together representatives of National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs), National Statistical Organizations (NSOs) and operators from Afghanistan, Bangaldesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka along with the foremost authorities on the subject from the ITU, OECD, and the US National Regulatory Research Institute (NRRI). With nearly 60 participants from 16 countries, the Workshop was also attended by telecom researchers…

6 Comments
Tags: Afghanistan, Asia, Ayesha Zainudeen, Bhutan, Canada, e-indicators, Gaurav Singh, India, International Development Research Centre, ITU, Lilia Perez-Chavolla, Maldives, Nepal, New Delhi, OECD, Pakistan, Pradip Baijal, Rajendra Singh, Rohan Samarajiva, Sam Paltridge, Sri Lanka, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Tim Kelly, US National Regulatory Research Institute.

Colloquium LIVE Feed

Divakar Goswami

on December 16, 2004

Sujata: summary too lenghty
Luxman: Since audience is EU needs to have language on ICT uplifting “masses” and “rural” access.
Malathy: Process element of regulation is not there?
Rohan: Study was originally for investor study and language taken from WTO language leaving out the independence of regulator. Process question will be in another study comparing different sectors.
Malathy: why cant process be built into current study?
Rohan: More questions you put in the response rate is poor.
Luxman: If performance indicator isnt ok, then need to know what is going wrong with regulator..
Rohan: If sector is doing well, why should I care if regulator isnt answering letters on time?
Sujata: Perception could be added for evaluating process regulator?
Amal: When respondents received questionnaire they thought it was too long. And deadlines keep slipping
Rohan:…

3 Comments
Tags: Australia, Bangladesh, Chanukah, electricity, electricity sector, European Union, Ghana, hold media conference, India, internet costs, Kerala, Maldives, Mauritius, National Science Foundation, Nepal, OECD, Pakistan, United States.

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