Sri Lanka has been enmeshed in conflict for the past 30 years, with just a brief respite during the ceasefire of 2002-05. The LIRNEasia study that is referred to in this post, was conducted in the government controlled areas of the Jaffna district just before the ceasefire ended, de facto. The war still goes on; the phone lines keep being switched off; people are being asked to carry receipts for their SIMs in addition to identity papers. Perhaps this discussion can be taken forward with some good outcomes? ICT infrastructure in conflict zones | L I R N E .
Very US-centric and so pre-knowledge economy, but the main argument is still valid. We need to free up spectrum in a major way. There no need to take cues from the FCC. The reforms can start right here in Asia. Op-Ed Contributor – Why Bandwidth Is the Oil of the Information Economy – Op-Ed – NYTimes.
Risk and the perception of risk are fascinating issues, especially because perception and reality do not always mesh. Here are some links for those who ask about mobile phones causing brain cancer. Findings – 10 Things to Scratch From Your Worry List – NYTimes.com 4. Carcinogenic cellphones.
To an ordinary observer the image on left looks like some monkeys but to Nuwan Waidyanatha that is his complex Early Warning System. Monkeys act as sensors and detectors of hazards (aka a leopard) to deer – who would take immediate action for mass evacuation. Again the image on top right look likes a damper to any engineering student, but to Nuwan that is mass evacuation. The figure below might explain it better with the blue line representing a quick but rough evacuation and the red line a smoother one. What does this figure has to do with Broadband QoS?
Nuwan noted that this leads on from the earlier coversation that were had in regard to Early Warning Systems (EWS) and explained why classification is importat for people in this field. This is important mainly for comparisons between countries, institutions and technologies. And so a ranking should be established. Four examples were identified, Community based last mile hazard warning system Traceability of agriculture markets- trying to maximize the profit of the produce. Dam failure EWS Financial EWS- Looks at currency and banking crisis within a country.
Nuwan Waidyanatha will conduct a colloquium on the topic of ‘My spring break in Kunming: Classification of Early Warning Systems on the 29th of July 2008. The Colloquium will focus on the question that came up during one of the LIRNEasia brain storming sessions which was “what can and what can’t the Last-Mile Hazard Warning System do?”; i.e. what are its capabilities and capacities?
“Without question, the book addresses an important and timely issue. The organization of the book around the four pillars of the business environment, the information infrastructure, the innovation system and human resources, is praiseworthy. The book must be commended for bringing up the topic of what should (and should not) be done, as the Sri Lankan economy moves from reliance on agriculture to reliance on services and valued-added agriculture and industry. It contributes to and adds credence to an ongoing discussion on this subject in Sinhala and English in the popular media” This is the first paragraph of the review Rohan Samarajiva did on ‘Building the Sri Lankan knowledge economy’. The publication was launched sometime back.
The LIRNEasia book has been reviewed in Current Science by Ashok Jhunjhunwala. Below is the last para. The success and failure of policies and regulations need to be studied under such a backdrop. Each nation would have its specificities, and comparisons between nations may often be difficult. It is this difficult task that the book takes up.
The op-ed piece written up on the basis of one of the LIRNEasia benchmark studies, has been published in the leading Bangladesh newspaper, Daily Star. The data and recommendations thus have been published, in various forms, in the special issue of Himal Southasian, in The Dawn, as a Choices column on LBO, and also flashed by AFP. As a result of the latter, it has got play in a number of publications, including in a Vietnam publication, the Mirror online (Sri Lanka), etc. Telecompk.net has also started a discussion.
China has the largest number of mobile users as a country. It now also has the largest number of Internet users. China Surpasses U.S. in Number of Internet Users – NYTimes.
This is from Lankadeepa online. It quotes Prime Minster Ratnasiri Wickramanayake saying one reason of restricting CMDA phones to be used only in one address (registered one) is to prevent the loss of government revenue from international traffic. He was responding to a query by Chief Opposition Whip Joseph Michael Perera MP at the parliament. Sri Lanka uses CDMA technology for fixed connections but with signals available anywhere within local loop, or if not been blocked by the operator even outside, it can be converted to a ‘mobile’. Given the distinct sharing behaviour we have seen at BOP, many may use their CDMAs in multiple locations.
Dr Muhammed Yaseen, who served as a Member of the Authority since 2006, has been appointed to succeed Major General R Shahzada Alam Malik (retd.) at the helm of the PTA. LIRNEasia has been an admirer of the massive improvements the Pakistan telecom sector achieved since Chairman Malik’s appointment in 1 March 2002. We wish him well in his future endeavors and thank him for his dynamic service to the sector. We warmly welcome Dr Yaseen.
Indonesia’s telecommunication giants have demanded the government limit the number of new entrants to the industry, citing limited resources and growing investment risk. The Indonesian Cellular Telephones Association (ATSI) chairman Merza Fachys said limited frequency allocations and phone numbers meant there was no room to accommodate new players. “The government must regulate the number of players so as to ensure the sustainability of the industry,” Merza said in his speech at the annual national coordination meeting on telecommunication, information and media held by the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Unlimited entry to the industry, he said, would crowd the market, increase competition and generate greater investment risk for existing players. Read the full story in AsiaMedia here.
He is not just talking. Neil Tagare brought the world FLAG (Acquired by Reliance in 2003) and Project Oxygen (Never kicked-off). He has now launched an online outfit (BySellBandwidth) where capacity will be traded somewhat like the Real Estate. BusinessWeek and TelecomTV have covered Neil’s latest venture. The idea of setting up an exchange for trading bandwidth between users with too much capacity and those with higher needs fell out of favor several years ago with the demise of Enron and Global Crossing, which were involved in illegal accounting.
Here is the answer to all those longed for a day when energy could be delivered without costly messy wires Op-Ed Contributor – Satellites With Solar Panels Can Beam the Sun’s Energy to Earth. – Op-Ed – NYTimes.com Science fiction? Actually, no — the technology already exists. A space solar power system would involve building large solar energy collectors in orbit around the Earth.
Orascom Telecom – which is currently building a GSM/3G network in the secretive North Korea has apparently secured access to the mighty, if unfinished Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang. The company has been reported by the few foreign residents permitted into the country to be working on the very top of the 105 story building and installing equipment for its mobile network. The Ryugyong Hotel dominates the Pyongyang landscape being by far the largest building in a city already full of monumental structures. Construction was started in 1987, and while the main structure is complete, the government cannot afford to finish off the structure. Construction work stopped in 1992 and the empty shell has been left since then.