Over the past few months new research papers have been posted on www.regulateonline.org for the five 3rd cycle topics falling under the general theme of diversifying participation in network development. Follow the links below to access the research papers and related materials.
Pro Poor Opportunities and Challenges in Liberalising Markets
Strategic use of telecom services on a shoestring in South Asia
As a part of LIRNEasia'’s Telecom Use on a Shoestring project and within the topic of Pro Poor Opportunitioes and Challenges in Liberalising Markets, the use of '’strategic'’ behaviour to curb communication costs amongst the financially constrained in Sri Lanka and India was explored. The findings relating to such ’strategic’ behavior are available for comment in the paper Telecom use on a shoestring: Strategic use of telecom services by the financially constrained in South Asia.
Download the paper
Telecom Use on a Shoestring – Bangladesh
A second paper in LIRNEasia'’s Telecom Use on a Shoestring project looks at Bangladesh. While the India and Sri Lanka paper was based on original surveys, a substantial amount of similar research has already been carried out on Bangladesh in the context of Grameen’s Village Phone program. Therefore, the Bangladesh part of the study is in the form of a meta-analysis of some of these key studies.
Download the paper
Diversifying Network Participation: A Study of India's Universal Service Instruments
A draft version of the research report submitted by Payal Malik and Harsha de Silva of LIRNEasia titled Diversifying Network Participation: Study of India’s Universal Service Instruments is now available for download. The research shows that open access to backbone is precondition for effective use of subsidies that minimize market distortion. In a news release announcing the study LIRNEasia maintains that because there was no open access "the telecom subsidy mechanism operationalized through India’s Universal Service Fund (USF) has unduly served the interests of the government owned incumbent telecom company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL)."
Download the report
Read a commentary by one of the authors published in the Indian Express
A news release about the report states that it “shows that the telecom subsidy mechanism operationalized through India’s Universal Service Fund (USF) has unduly served the interests of the government owned incumbent telecom company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL).
Indicators of Network Development and Use in Developing Countries
Telecom Demand: Measures for Improving Affordability
Led by Professor Robin Mansell at the Media and Communications Department of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), and Claire Milne, Visiting Researcher at LSE, this project has focused on developing a better understanding of affordability as key to understanding telecom demand which, in turn, is central to sound business cases for investment and the achievement of network development in developing countries. The main report and three companion papers are now available.
The series of papers includes the main report by Claire Milne, a paper by Sebastian Ureta on variations in expenditure on communications, a case study by Sangeeth Varghese of Reliance Infocomm, and a paper by Jeffery Wheatley on price elasticity of demand.
Download the reports
Towards an African e-Index: Household and Individual ICT Access across 10 African Countries
Based on the e-Access & Usage Household Survey that was completed during the course of 2004 and 2005, this report is the result of a demand study of individuals and households and how ICT's are used across 10 African countries. This ground-breaking research was launched at the WSIS in Tunis and is now available online. It was produced by WDR partner Research ICT Africa (RIA!).
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ICTs and Disaster Warning
Mobilizing information and communications technologies for effective disaster warning
As an output of the research on ICTs and disaster warning, Rohan Samarajiva, Executive Director of LIRNEasia has published a policy commentary in the journal New Media and Society, (Vol. 7, No. 6, December 2005) "Mobilizing information and communications technologies for effective disaster warning: lessons from the 2004 tsunami".
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Dam-related Hazard Warning System
LIRNEasia in collaboration with The Vanguard Foundation, Sri Lanka National Committee on Large Dams (SLNCOLD), Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG) and Sarvodaya has released A Concept Paper for a Dam-related Hazard Warning System in Sri Lanka: A Participatory Study on Actions Required to Avoid and Mitigate Dam Disasters. The paper is one of the outputs of the ICT and Disaster Warning topic of the current WDR research cycle.
Download the paper
Information Provision and Participation in Regulatory and Policy Processes
Institutional Design of the Regulator in Latin America and the Caribbean
This paper, by DIRSI member Jorge Dussan and Juan Manuel Roldán, establishes the need for a change in the institutional model of telecom regulators in Latin America, aiming for more efficient regulations that address citizen's needs, especially the poorest sectors, through an increase in citizen's participation in decisions affecting them.
This paper is one of a series produced by DIRSI (Regional Dialogue on the Information Society - Diálogo Regional sobre Sociedad de la Información) a WDR partner in Latin America and the Caribbean. The papers were published in the book Digital Poverty: Latin American and Caribbean perspectives.
Download the paper from the DIRSI website or consult the entire book
Innovative Models of Financing, Ownership and Management
Replicability of a Microfinance Approach to Extending Telecommunications Access to Marginal Customers
This research report looks at the fundamental problem of access to telecommunications, and focuses on one of the ‘solutions’ that have emerged in response to this problem -- that adopted by Grameen of Bangladesh. The study examines the replicability of the Grameen model and concludes that the usefulness of the different elements of the model depends on the context in which an access solution is being designed for, and should be adapted accordingly.
Download the report
A news release about the report highlighted that “sixteeen per cent of the revenues of Bangladesh’s Grameen Phone come from four per cent of customers. And they are not the most affluent people; they are village phone ladies.”
Microtelcos in Latin America and the Caribbean
The paper explores a variety of 'microtelcos' - small-scale telecom operators - that are effectively servicing rural areas of Latin America and the Caribbean, despite a less than favorable regulatory environment and little access to public subsidies. The paper examines the theoretical case for microtelcos as an effective alternative to address the ICT needs of the poor, presents examples of microtelcos drawn from across the region, and suggests how existing regulatory obstacles for microtelcos may be removed.
The paper is one of a series produced by DIRSI (Regional Dialogue on the Information Society) a WDR's partner in Latin America and the Caribbean. The papers were published in the book Digital Poverty: Latin American and Caribbean Perspectives.
Download the paper from the DIRSI website.
Download Digital Poverty: Latin American and Caribbean Perspectives.
Community-based Networks and Innovative Technologies
The report Community-based Networks and Innovative Technologies: New models to serve and empower the poor considers how the combination of community-driven enterprises and the new wave of wireless and related technologies may have the potential to extend networks and offer new services to poor communities and to empower them to develop solutions that are more focused on their own development needs. This report by Seán Ó Siochrú and Bruce Girard was published by UNDP as the first in a series about Making ICT Work for the Poor. For more information visit www.propoor-ict.net.
Download the report
WDR / LIRNE.NET news
News from the World Dialogue on Regulation and LIRNE.NET
Rapid response in Bangladesh
As part of its Rapid Response Programme LIRNEasia has provided advice for Bangladesh. In an article published in the Bangladesh newspaper The Daily Star, Rohan Samarajiva, LIRNEasia Executive Director, describes a model designed to make the most of the country's new submarine optical fibre cable.
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Link Centre briefs ICASA
In January the LINK Centre, WDR’s partner in South Africa, held a briefing for the South African regulator, ICASA. The briefing was planned to share the results of South African part of the e-Access and Usage Household Survey that is reported on in the report Towards an African e-Index. One of the areas highlighted in the briefing was the important role that payphones still play as a communications tool.
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Delhi School of Economics Lecture
Reducing the Chasm Between Theory and Practice in Telecom Reform and Information Economy Policies: New Roles for Economic Research, was the topic of Professor William Melody’'s lecture at the Delhi School of Economics on 9 December. He noted that neoclassical market theory provides reference points for assessing the performance of imperfect markets and suggesting standards and tools for market governance through policy and regulation. Yet, more often than not, seemingly sound theoretical recommendations fail badly on implementation.
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LIRNE at C-DOT Symposium
C-DOT, the Centre for Development of Telematics of the Government of India, held its Annual Telecom Symposium in New Delhi on 8 December 2005. Keynote speakers were Professor William Melody, Managing Director of LIRNE.NET and the World Dialogue on Regulation (WDR), and Ashish Sharma, Director Strategy of the WiMax Forum, and Senior Director, Business Development, Alvarion Inc.
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Stimulating Investment in Network Development: Roles for Regulators
The final report from the second WDR research cycle is still available in both print and online. Edited by Amy Mahan and William Melody, the 383 page book contains the body of research and country case studies undertaken to investigate issues and perspectives on the theme Stimulating Investment in Network Development: Roles for Regulators. It has been downloaded more than 1100 times.
Download the book
Buy a hard copy it from amazon.com
Contact WDR publications for a copy
News from the networks
DIRSI meeting scheduled for April
The Regional Dialogue on the Information Society network, (known by its Spanish acronym DIRSI), a WDR regional partner in Latin America and the Caribbean, will be holding a network meeting during the week of April 17-21 in Santiago, Chile. Details of the agenda are yet to be released but it is expected that there will be a joint session with the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. More information will be posted on www.regulateonline.org as it becomes available.
IAMCR annual conference, Cairo, 23-28 July
The International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) will organise its annual conference around the theme Knowledge Societies for All: Media and Communication Strategies and will be hosted by the American University in Cairo. Professor Robin Mansell of LIRNE.NET's partner the Department of Media & Communications at the London School of Economics is the president of IAMCR.
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New Book: From Rural Village to Global Village
WDR and LIRNE.NET associate Heather Hudson has just published a new book. From Rural Village to Global Village: Telecommunications for Development in the Information Age examines the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on both the macro level–societal, socio-economic, and governmental–and sector level–education, health, agriculture, entrepreneurship– emphasizing rural and developing regions.
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A review of the book will appear in the soon to be released Southern African Journal of Information and Communication.
SME E-access and E-usage Index Survey preliminary findings
The Research ICT Africa! network (RIA), a WDR partner, is currently carrying out surveys in 14 African countries on how small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) use information and communication technologies (ICTs). Preliminary conclusions indicate that ICTs can assist informal businesses to become formal and establish a more sustainable basis for income generation.
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Internet Presence of Telecom Researchers
In a paper accepted for publication in Information Technology for International Development Sujata Gamage and Rohan Samarajiva argue that researchers need to pay attention to their ‘internet presence’ and ‘connectivity’ as well. The argument is supported by data on researchers on telecom reform from Asia as found in the social science citation index and scholar.google. The focus of this paper is on ‘presence’. ‘Connectivity’ will be addressed in detail in another paper.
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