Rama was the keynote speaker at CPRsouth2. She was fascinating. A person who looks at the bottom of pyramid without a special emphasis on ICTs; relying on data, but applying real thinking to the data rather than just parrot the data. End result was that I bought her book and read it end-to-end (something I rarely do these days).
She mentions in several places that the SEC D&E consumers are willing to spend more money than expected on education, health and transport. She also mentions ICTs. In her talk she mentioned that many in SEC D are pulling their children out of government schools and putting them into private schools that teach in the English medium. Her explanation, which I think is still a hypothesis, is the…
The usually well-informed LBO.LK appears to have gotten confused in the “fog of war” created by interested parties seeking to extract rents from the sale of 25% of SLTL shares by NTT to GTH, both private companies, and by the unfortunate opacity of the transaction (something that is quite surprising because SLTL is a publicly traded company and the interests of thousands of shareholders are affected by the transaction).
The source quoted by LBO below appears to have been quite familiar with the ORIGINAL shareholders agreement signed between the Government of Sri Lanka and NTT in 1997, but appears to have been comatose since then. Provisions regarding no universal service obligations (USO) and international exclusivities were in that agreement and did bind the Government of Sri…
Rohan Samarajiva | LankaBusinessOnline
Fixed or Mobile
March 28, 2007 (LBO) - It seems like a no-brainer: A mobile phone is better than a fixed phone, especially in Sri Lanka. The costs of getting a connection are lower: a new phone and SIM can cost as little as LKR 4,000, while SLTL charges around LKR 20,000 for a fixed connection and its competitors charge around LKR 10,000.
Mobile phones are easy to use. They have built in directories and allow texting, though now these features are now available on the fixed CDMA phones as well.
Calling people instead of places that people are associated with seems obviously better, unless you don’t want to be reached. The whole world seems to think so, with mobile outstripping fixed all over the…
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.
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