Tag Archives: wireless
Let them eat fiber (in the access network)
In North America, Eli Noam is an agenda setter and has a knack for catchy titles. His article “Let them eat cellphones” set the agenda for a session at ICTD 2012 in Atlanta. The session was, unusually for a North American event, highly international. Judith Mariscal of Mexico (and our sister organization DIRSI) chaired. Carleen [...]
Wishful thinking on broadband at ECLAC and elsewhere
Several of our Latin American colleagues have written about an increasing and dynamic digital divide. With all respect, much of what they write is wishful thinking. They have some kind of ideal picture of broadband and keep talking about it without mapping out the path from where we are to there. The reason I saw [...]
Wire or wireless?
One of the principal rationales for the creation of LIRNE.NET in 2000, and then LIRNEasia in 2004, was to counter the tendency to transplant policy and regulatory thinking unchanged from the developed market economies into the developing world. But that never meant that we should ignore theoretical developments and policy/regulatory innovations just because they emerged [...]
It’s not fiber or wireless, it’s fiber and wireless
One cannot talk about broadband these days without Australia’s massive taxpayer-funded national broadband scheme coming up. In an otherwise interesting and informed discussion of the pros and cons, Ian McAuley confuses the debate by conflating access networks, which will for the most part be wireless, and backhaul networks which will for the most part be [...]
Wireless connecting things, in addition to people
We first explored the idea of embedding sensors in dams so there would be better information about potential failures back in 2005 in the course of our dam safety research project. We were talking about relatively unproven RFID or electronic dust systems back then. Today it’s a proven technology, according to the NYT. Traditionally, most [...]
USA: Making more frequencies available for broadband
I found it interesting that President Obama’s plans for broadband rest on wireless access. This meshes with our narrative re the path for our people to the Internet. Now come the details. Billions will be spent; but billions will be earned too. “It’s about connecting every corner of America to the digital age,” the president [...]
Obama’s broadband target has a wireless flavor
President Obama’s state of the union speech yesterday contained a few references to ICTs, but I found the illustration more interesting than the target itself. Within the next five years, we’ll make it possible for businesses to deploy the next generation of high-speed wireless coverage to 98 percent of all Americans. This isn’t just about [...]
Net neutrality compromise in the US
The FCC has issued the long-awaited net neutrality rules. As evidence of the sad state of policy debate in the US, some people have claimed that the decision has even the lukewarm support of operators suggests it is bad. What is wrong with these people? The only good decision is one that sends the companies [...]
Broadband growth stanches fixed wireline decline in Sri Lanka
While voice revenues are declining, it appears that broadband will save the day. But only the day. The theoretical maximum of ADSL connections is 869,190 at this time in Sri Lanka. Many of the fixed lines cannot be used to supply ADSL or are connected to government departments, pensioner’s homes, etc. which may not want [...]
Fiber to the home and fiber to the neighborhood: who pays the bills?
We’d be lucky to be able get wireguided communications to 10 percent of homes in the countries we work in. But we can reach 75 percent plus homes with wireless even now. So we’re all for getting fiber to neighborhoods and are quite agnostic about the access network as long as it’s wireless. In places [...]
Colloquium: An efficient bus-ticket system for Sri Lanka: Possibilities for a Mobile2.0 solution
The colloquium was conducted by Harsha de Silva, PhD. Harsha began by explaining that the paper focus both on trains and buses, but in this colloquium will focus on the Bus transport. 75% of passenger transport is via public transport and of that 93% by bus and 7% by train. Roughly 5500 SLCTB and 18000 [...]
Wireless eats wireline: Sri Lanka joins the club
Both India and Pakistan had negative growth in fixed wireline 2003-2008: -3.5 for India and -0.4 for Pakistan. Sri Lanka has too, but this is masked by the rapid growth of CDMA, which in this country is called fixed.
Soaring quarterly numbers for telecom majors Reliance Communications and Bharti Airtel
Reliance Communications took the competition in domestic telecom head-on as it reported operating margins similar to bigger rival Bharti Airtel in the July-September quarter. RCom’s robust performance was aided by higher growth in its wireless and broadband services along with increased operating efficiency. Net profit has surged 86% to Rs 1,305 crore (USD 330 mil) year-on-year [...]
India’s TRAI wants ‘open’ telecom sector
In a move that could enhance competition and spur mergers in an industry waiting to consolidate, India’s telecom regulator TRAI has recommended that there be no limit on the number of players in this sector. The TRAI also pushed for the relaxation of stringent merger and acquisitions norms, technology neutrality for telecom licences, in [...]
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