The World Summit on the Information Society set several targets to be achieved by 2015 without specifying how they could be measured. The International Telecommunication Union has proposed four specific indicators that could measure progress made by countries toward the foundational Target 10, that of bringing ICTs within the reach of a majority of the world’s inhabitants. Two indicators are for mobile subscriptions and use, and two for Internet use by individuals and by households. Of the four, Indicators 1 and 3 currently exist, albeit with significant shortcomings. This paper proposes a modest improvement to the method of measuring Indicator 3, Internet users, which combines the existing supply-side data with available but incomplete demand-side data.
Asia may boast of being the largest landmass on earth. But it behaves like archipelago in terms of telecoms. Intra-Asian connectivity has been fully depended on submarine cable although the countries share common border. As a result the 60% population of the world has been punished with more than 300% internet bandwidth prices than their European counterparts. Political taboo and over-mystified national security issues have been keeping the Asian countries in isolation.
Findings from LIRNEasia‘s m-health pilot research on the use of mobiles for detection and dissemination of disease outbreaks, led by Mr. Nuwan Waidyanatha, was presented to key stakeholders at a workshop on 29 – 30 September 2010 in Islamabad, Pakistan. Participants consisted of key officials of the ministries of health and IT, public and private healthcare institutions, NGOs and academic institutions. The conference was co-funded by eHealth Association of Pakistan and International Development Research Centre, Canada. Findings have also made to the Pakistani media.
Pakistan has crossed the landmark point of 100 million mobile subscription, according to Pakistan Telecommunication Authority. The Chairman of PTA, Dr. Mohammed Yaseen, presented the SIMs of each five operators to Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on September 30, 2010 and commemorated the historical activation of 100 millionth mobile subscription. It is the other profile of Pakistan the world is hardly aware of. PTA has been the symbol of regulatory excellence in many respect.
We expressed skepticism when the Labor Party first announced it. We are pleased it is being cancelled. The previous Labour government hummed and hawed about this rural-urban “digital divide”. Eventually, in 2009, it proposed levying a 50p tax on every fixed telephone line in the country: the proceeds were to be given to BT to allow it to connect even the remotest hamlets by 2012. The new coalition administration abandoned that plan, ditching the tax and pushing the target date back to 2015.
Telephone ownership and use As latest ITU data reveals, active mobile subscriptions continues to increase the world over. Just under two years ago, mobile subscriptions were reaching the six-billion mark. 2009 data from the ITU suggests we are well on our way to reaching seven billion connections. Developing countries, in particular, experienced a 19 percent increase in mobile subscriptions per 100 inhabitants between 2008 and 2009, compared with a modest 5 percent growth in developed countries according to the ITU. Mobile subscriptions in the Asia-Pacific alone have now passed the two-billion mark; according to the ITU, mobile subscriptions per 100 rose by 22 percent from 46 in 2008 in 56 in 2009.
I was invited by the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry Sri Lanka to make a presentation at a SCCI meeting assessing progress on the resolutions at the 16th Summit in Bhutan. I presented data on the progress (or lack thereof) on intra-SAARC calling charges and suggested that SCCI do the same on matters they considered important. The slideset is here: Slideset
The Kiwis talk but they no longer pay. Because they bypass the fixed and mobile networks. Thanks to the Internet-based free calling services of Skype and alike. An economist calls it “absolutely stunning” as it hurts the country’s GDP. Lambs outnumber the human population of New Zealand.
Coming from Sri Lanka, a country that endured a thirty-year war, this is nothing new. But it appears that the same issues keep coming up, and we keep making the same mistakes. Pakistan shut down mobile phones for elections. There were serious discussions in Sri Lanka about disabling mobiles within a certain distance from army camps, which meant that pretty much all of Colombo would have been a dead zone for mobiles. Now India wants the ability to listen into every conversation/text/email exchange on every Blackberry in their territory.
Earlier this year the TRC appointed a special committee to develop broadband in Sri Lanka. Possibly based on its recommendations the TRC has issued new directives on broadband, placing emphasis on customer’s right to know, an approach we at LIRNEasia also promoted a few months prior to the constitution of the committee. The guidelines had been issued in August. We regret not giving them publicity at the time. With the intention of raising awareness among broadband subscribers, the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission has issued a set of guidelines for broadband service providers.
Some people celebrate 25 years of anything: dead marriages, inert regional groupings, just occupying space. We don’t. SAARC must be assessed by its fruits. On internal connectivity it fails. Here’s the evidence, carried in op-ed articles in Bangladesh’s Daily Star, Sri Lanka’s Daily Mirror and also in a PTI dispatch: It is always easier to do things within one’s own country than outside, or at least it should be.
His name is Khan. Salman Khan. Bill Gates is one among his countless students, yes a student, in Khan Academy. This Bangladeshi-American is the only teacher in this virtual academy. He uploads 10~15 minutes video tutorials on maths, economics, biology, history etc.
“His wireless company is the largest taxpayer in unstable Pakistan. He partnered with the dictatorship of North Korea to become the first cellphone provider in that country. And he operates in impoverished Bangladesh, where the monthly bill is around $2.50.” This is how Naguib Sawiris has been characterized after he elbowed in the Canadian wireless domain.
The Real-Time Biosurveillance Program (RTBP) held a news conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka on September 14, 2010 at the Cinnamon Lake Side Hotel. This is list of the articles published in the News papers:
The US has done it. When will Asian spectrum managers start? First step is to move TV to digital. Where are the road maps? The Federal Communications Commission approved a proposal on Thursday that would open vast amounts of unused broadcast television airwaves for high-speed wireless broadband networks and other unlicensed applications.
The dissemination work done by Nuwan Waidyanatha in Colombo is yielding unexpected results. A nice write up in Fast Company. Now if the same consortia can somehow figure out a surveillance program of bureaucratic inefficiencies, then the relevant governments of these countries may actually be able to respond well and respond fast, given that identification is just one component to controlling epidemics. Increasing the efficiency with which epidemics are identified is a step forward, but what comes after–implementation of crowd control, region-wide communications, and swift deployment of medical personnel–is the real test.