LIRNEasia » Samarajiva

LIRNEasia CEO speaks on mobile path to the Internet Economy at the OECD

Ayesha Zainudeen — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 06:46:56 +0000

Rohan Samarajiva, LIRNEasia Chair and CEO, made the lead presentation on access to ICTs at an OECD/infoDev Workshop on the Internet Economy yesterday in Paris. The workshop, “Policy coherence in the application of information and communication technologies for development,” is currently underway.

In his presentation, Dr Samarajiva described the new “Budget Telecom Network Model” developed in South Asia that is enabling mobile operators to serve low-income customers who yield very low ARPUs [Average Revenues per User] and discuss its extension to enable broadband use. Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have offered the lowest total costs of mobile ownership since 2005-06 while still yielding adequate, though somewhat volatile, returns to ensure continued investment in network extension and new services. LIRNEasia research shows that this has been made possible by business process innovations to reduce operating expenses, and the minimizing of transaction costs made possible by widespread prepaid use. The analysis extensively draws from LIRNEasia’s six-country, 10,000 sample Teleuse @ BOP3 survey which shows how poor people are actually using information and communication technologies in emerging Asia.

The presentation slides can be downloaded here, and the full paper can be downloaded here.

The invitation signifies recognition of the high profile LIRNEasia has achieved as a thought leader on innovations in telecom policy and regulation that benefit those at the Bottom of the Pyramid in emerging Asian economies. Other speakers include Professor Richard Heeks of the University of Manchester and representatives of NokiaSiemens Networks and Vodafone. The workshop is being held on 10-11 September 2009 at the Paris Headquarters of the OECD.

Mobiles and location-based services: We know where you’ve been

Rohan Samarajiva — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 09:09:26 +0000

There was a time when I worked a lot on privacy, especially privacy issues surrounding transaction-based information (TGI). The last piece of that line of research received good reviews , the quote below being an example. The next step should have been a book; I chose to come to Sri Lanka to set up the Telecom Regulatory Commission instead. Privacy was a fast moving field at that time. I knew it would be too late to get into it, after the diversion in Sri Lanka. The diversion became the main thing.

Dr. Samarajiva looks at the impact of collecting Transaction Generated Information (TGI) on customer-business relationships, persuasively arguing that covert collection can lead to a spiral of mistrust. Once a consumer’s trust in a business is weakened sufficiently, the consumer will resist collection or tender misinformation, prompting businesses to take more aggressive steps to collect consumer information and fuel the cycle. Samarajiva offers Quebec’s UBI (Universal, Bidirectional, Interactivity) network as a workable counterexample. UBI’s policies, which vigorously protect consumer data, are set forth in the UBI Code of Conduct, a document that reflects Quebec’s own stringent protections for consumer information. Samarajiva argues that these protections should, with time and adherence by the participants, lead to a trustworthy (and trusted) online business system.

Anyway, the subject that I left is coming back to me, now through the mobile door.

With the dominance of the cellphone, a new metaphor is emerging for how we organize, find and use information. New in one sense, that is. It is also as ancient as humanity itself. That metaphor is the map.

“The map underlies man’s ability to perceive,” said Richard Saul Wurman, a graphic designer who was a pioneer in the use of maps as a generalized way to search for information of all kinds before the emergence of the online world.

As this metaphor takes over, it will change the way we behave, the way we think and the way we find our way around new neighborhoods. As researchers and businesses learn how to use all the information about a user’s location that phones can provide, new privacy issues will emerge. You may use your phone to find friends and restaurants, but somebody else may be using your phone to find you and find out about you.
We have some data about trust and privacy in the Teleuse @ BOP 3 survey. We will keep revisiting this subject periodically.

Gender and telecom at the BOP: Is there really a divide?

Ayesha Zainudeen — Sun, 25 May 2008 12:04:33 +0000

LIRNEasia’s Executive Director will present a paper on the gendered aspects of telecom use at the bottom of the pyramid (BOP) in emerging Asia, at the 58th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), ‘Communicating for Social Impact’ in Montreal, Canada, on 26 May 2008.

The paper ‘Who’s got the phone? The gendered use of telephones at the bottom of the pyramid’ explores the so called gender ‘divide’ in telecom access at the BOP in Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Philippines, and Thailand, finding that that a significant gender divide in access to telephones exists in Pakistan and India , to a lesser extent in Sri Lanka , but is absent in the Philippines and Thailand. The authors argue that perhaps as penetration levels increase, overall the gender divide may reduce, although in some cases like Pakistan, culture will override.

The paper also looks at difference is usage patterns between men and women at the BOP, and challenges some of the findings of studies which claim that women’s and men’s use is fundamentally different. Women are also said to use telephones in a different manner from men –making and receiving more calls, spending more time on calls, and using telephones primarily for ‘relationship maintenance’ purposes, while men make fewer calls, shorter calls and use telephones primarily for instrumental purposes, according to existing literature. However, much of this research on usage patterns is based on small-sample studies in affluent developed countries. The findings reported here disagree with these studies.

The presentation slides are available here, and the full length paper (version 1.8) is available here.

The authors invide comments an discussion.

Asia at the leading edge of communication and new media developments?

Ayesha Zainudeen — Thu, 15 May 2008 07:40:39 +0000

LIRNEasia’s Executive Director will speak at the International Conference on Information, Communication and New Media & the First Annual Convention of the Information and Communication Association of Taiwan, being held in Taipei on 17 May 2008. His presentaiton, Asia at the leading edge of communication and new media developments? can be downloaded by clicking on the link.

LIRNEasia course filling up fast

Rohan Samarajiva — Mon, 22 Aug 2005 12:43:51 +0000

LIRNEasia, in association with LIRNE.NET, Nanyang Technological University and the InfoComm Development Authority of Singapore is offering an executive course in regulatory strategy in Singapore, Sept 25-30, 2005. This limited-enrollment course is 70 per cent subscribed at this time. Participants representing government, regulatory agencies, telecom operators, universities and civil society from 14 countries ranging from Moldova to the Philippines have already registered. The speakers are confirmed as are the arrangements to visit the InfoComm Development Authority. Just over a month to go, preparations are on course for an exceptional event.
Mr Satish Ranade, Secretary to the Board and Vice President (Legal) of VSNL, the Indian multinational operator that has been much in the news recently with its acquisition of Tyco and Teleglobe and its role in the South African Second Network Operator (SNO), will deliver the keynote address at the opening session. His topic is Effective regulation from the perspective of an Asian telecom multinational. Mr Leong Keng Thai, Deputy Chief Executive and Director General (Telecommunications), InfoComm Development Authority of Singapore will deliver his talk on Catalyzing change: Reflections on the evolution of IDA and IDA’s role in the ICT sector in Singapore at the awards ceremony on the penultimate day of the course, the 29th of September.
In addition to Professors Melody and Samarajiva who will be managing the course in addition to teaching, the faculty include Professor Jens Arnbak, Professor Ewan Sutherland, Mr Rajendra Singh, and Mr Andrew Haire. Professor Arnbak was the founding Chair of the Dutch Posts and Telecom Regulatory Authority from 1997, reverting to his professorial position at the Delft University of Technology only in mid 2005. He also chaired the European Regulators’ Group and the Independent Regulators’ Group, both of which played major roles in advancing Europe’s regulatory reforms. Professor Sutherland has been Executive Director of the International Telecom Users’ Group, INTUG, since 1999. Prior to that he taught at several UK universities, including a stint as a Dean at the University of Wales. Mr Singh serves as Advisor to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, with special responsibility for mobile networks. Mr Haire, who will be coordinating the program at the IDA, is Assistant Director General (Telecoms) at the InfoComm Development Authority of Singapore.
Registration is encouraged for the remaining seats. Course information is available here.