LIRNEasia’s maiden telecom reform course was successfully completed by 36 participants from 18 countries. The 10th telecom reform course was co-organised with LIRNE.NET, in association with the School of Communication and Information of Nanyang Technological University, and the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) of Singapore. Themed ‘Catalyzing change: Strategies to achieve connectivity and convergence,’ the course took place at the Elizabeth Hotel in Singapore on the 24th-30th September 2005. see pics The course aimed to prepare regulators to face the challenges that lie ahead to achieve connectivity and convergence.
Link to full story Motorola selected to supply affordable and robust handsets for second phase of programme to ‘connect the unconnected’ Singapore 27th September 2005: The mobile industry has driven the wholesale cost of mobile phones to below US$30 as part of the GSM Association (GSMA) programme to make mobile telephony affordable for people in developing countries. “To get below US$30 per handset is a milestone achievement,” said Craig Ehrlich, Chairman of the GSMA, the global trade association for the world’s GSM mobile operators. “Today’s news cements the formation of a whole new market segment for the mobile industry and will bring the benefits of mobile communications to a huge swathe of people in developing countries.” At the 3GSM World Congress in Singapore, Rob Conway, Chief Executive and board member of the GSMA, announced today that Motorola has been selected to supply the phase-two handset. “Motorola won thanks to a combination of a portfolio starting from sub-US$30, together with other key factors such as after-sales support, local service, brand presence and a choice of low-cost handset models including an exclusive product, the C113a for this programme,” said Conway.
A course on telecom reform, including World Dialogue on Regulation Expert Forum Catalyzing change: Strategies to achieve connectivity and convergence LIRNEasia and LIRNE.NET in association with School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, The Infocomm Development Authority (IDA). Held at The Elizabeth Singapore Hotel UPDATED PROGRAM
Sujata Gamage (slides will be posted shortly) DISCUSSION:On ‘national innovation system’ DG: much of our work is outside the ‘national’ framework.RS: we want to do Asian research to be used the region. think cutting edge leading universities in the REGION, not in any one country. usable knowledge = it is policy-relevant. SG: 1st order connectivity means making the information available, as simply as putting it up on the web.
Divakar presents findings of his study that assesses the success of WiFi based expansion of Internet access and identifies the conditions that gave rise to this innovation in Indonesia. DG: Indonesia is a challenging country to connect. 17000 islands. teledensity is 12%, compares poorly with its neighbors. Internet penetration is far lower than Asian average.
Pro-Poor Pro-Market Regulation Reform (PPPM) From IDRC’s website World Summit on the information Society, Kram Centre, Tunis, November 17, 2005 Conference Organisers: the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Information for Development Program of the World Bank (infoDev) LIRNE.NET and the World Dialogue on Regulation (WDR) LIRNEasia Research ICT Africa (RIA) Diálogo regional sobre la sociedad de la información (DIRSI) November 17, 2005 – Morning Program Time Activity 8:30-8:45 Welcome – Richard Fuchs 8:45-9:45 ICT Demand, access and usage by the poor Chair: Laurent Elder, IDRC ICT Uses on a Shoestring in Asia (LIRNEasia)- Ayesha Zainudeen Digital Poverty in LAC (DIRSI) – Roxana Barrantes Towards an African e-index (RIA) – Alison Gillwald, Christoph Stork Discussion 9:45-10:00 Coffee break 10:00-11:15 Core Networks and Policy Issues Chair: F F Tusubira, RIA Asia Backbone Study (LIRNEasia) – Rohan Samarajiva Telecoms Funds and Regulatory Challenges – Judith Mariscal South Asia ADCs, USFs and Subsidy Auctions (LIRNEasia) – Harsha da Silva African Regionalism, national policy formation and International Governance (RIA) – Andrew Barendse, Lishan Adam Discussion 11:15-12:45 Extending Access Networks Chair: Lishan Adam, RIA Grameen Phone Replicability (LIRNEasia) – Ayesha Zainudeen Indonesia WiFi Achievements and Replicability (LIRNEasia) – Divakar Goswami, Onno […]
The final report for this study, Benchmarking National Telecom Regulatory Authority websites of Asia-Pacific Region (Version 2.0 – pre-publication) is now available. It can be downloaded HERE (PDF document). An earlier, more detailed version of the report, Version 1.5, can be downloaded HERE.
Points of discussion Gender neutrality Women have built trust via a long term relationship with GB. Hence women are chosen based on their prior relationship with GB. MKJ: Gender patterns do emerge from the fact that GB’s best customers are women. AZ: Groups of VPOs “monitor” each others repayments within a village since if one person doesn’t repay on time it reflects badly on the rest of the VPOs in that village Mahinda: even in the Suntel-Ceylinco-Gramin scheme most of the credit-worthy customers are women. On Subsidies Since the cost structures were not available, we cannot say if the handset discounts and airtime discounts, etc.
[By SHARON LaFRANIERE, New York Times, Aug.25.05] This NYT article looks at Africa’s mobile boom, stating that it has taken the industry by surprise; common wisdom was that Africans are not big telecom users. But ‘it turned out that Africans had never been big phone users because nobody had given them the chance.’ Today, one in eleven Africans (roughly 9%) is a mobile subscriber.
by Sriganesh Lokanathan The study has been undertaken in keeping with the proposed 2006 theme of the World Dialogue on Regulation for Network Economies (WDR), ‘Sector and Regulatory Performance Indicators.’ The definition of standardized benchmark indicators with their respective viable methodologies in the Asian context is required for an accurate comparative analysis of the regulatory and sector performance in ICTs. Recognizing that this constitutes a participatory exercise among experts in the telecommunication industry standards and regulatory affairs, telecom authorities and statistical organizations as well as academics and interested individuals, this preliminary methodology framework document was commissioned to lay the groundwork to initiate and foster active discussion among the aforementioned participants on issues related to the proposed 2006 WDR theme. With these guiding principles, this preliminary methodology on domestic leased line tariffs was formulated since national leased line tariffs is an important indictor of the potential of countries to foster broadband coverage and network expansion. LIRNEasia intends to test the methodology first in the South Asian region and then extend it to the rest of Asia.
The research that is currently being written up by LIRNEasia researchers on ICT use on a shoestring is expected to shed light on fixed-mobile substitution, given the fact that India has been successful in introducing CPP for its mobiles and mobile and fixed outgoing charges have more or less converged. The news story that MTNL, the incumbent in Mumbai and New Delhi, has decided to deploy special teams to halt the ending of fixed subscriptions is good evidence that there is fixed-mobile substitution in India. Caution should be exercised in generalizing from this to other countries where the conditions of CPP and price convergence have not been satisfied.
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.
CDMA is a big story in Sri Lanka these days. As a result of the frequency refarming process that was started in 2003 with the issuance of 1800 GSM frequencies to Dialog Telekom and Mobitel through an auction, 800 CDMA frequencies were released earlier this year by the Telecom Regulatory Commission. The article by Amal Jayasinghe in lbo.lk provides more detail on how the rollout is proceeding. Shortly after the article was published, Suntel began to offer LKR 1500 discounts, which may be the start of the price reductions I refer to in the Jayasinghe piece.
A Press Conference has been organized by LIRNEasia and Vanguard Foundation, in collaboration with Sarvodaya, the Sri Lanka National Committee of Large Dams and ITDG South Asia to present an interim concept paper on an Early Warning System for Dam Related Hazards. It was held on August 10, 2005 at the Auditorium, Sri Lanka Foundation Institute. The concept paper was developed in consultation with local and international dam experts. Community meetings were held in three Sri Lankan cities that lie significantly in the flood path of the Mahaweli dam system, Kandy, Gampola, and Polonnaruwa. The purpose of these meetings was to raise awareness of on dam safety issues and to receive input from this most important set of stakeholders.
From the beginning, LIRNEasia was seen as serving/working with three constituencies: government, the private sector and civil society. Accordingly, the initial board of directors included representatives from all three groups. Dr Vinya Ariyaratne, the Executive Director of Sarvodaya, Sri Lanka’s largest and most deeply embedded social action organization, has served on the Board from the beginning. With the tsunami and the unprecedented challenges it posed to all organizations in Sri Lanka, the relationship deepened. LIRNEasia‘s Executive Director was invited to serve on the Deshodaya Council (National Reawakening Council) of Sarvodaya, a new body akin to a board of directors in many respects and also to advise the organization on ICT issues.
Diversifying Participation in Network Development The 2005 WDR research theme, Diversifying Participation in Network Development explores the evolving strategies used to extend the telecom network primarily to rural, high-cost areas. The objective of this cutting edge research is to identify successful strategies that can be replicated in other countries and to avoid unsuccessful ones. Light will be shed on these innovative approaches, looking at key experience to capture the range of possible sources, types and methods of investment funding for network development. The research is currently being developed by the WDR research community in Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. Who should attend?