L I R N E . N E T

Ken Banks, founder of Founder of kiwanja.net in a recent posting to a mobile for development list on dgroups (Development through Dialogue) comments on the inception of the mobility project. “The challenge was this. How do we empower individuals in developing countries to develop and build their own mobile applications?” (See full post on next page.)

“mobility is a collaborative project which brings together some of the leading academics, technicians, educators and practitioners in the IT and mobile fields with the common goal of developing an exciting and empowering range of tools and resources to unlock the power of mobile applications development for users in the developing world”

Click here to go to the mobility project webpage.

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LIRNEasia has a featured article in the June 2008 issue of the Indian-based international magazine i4d (Information for development). Anu Samarajiva (freelance), Ayesha Zainudeen and Harsha de Silva have contributed an article, LIRNEasia, Sri Lanka: Benefiting the bottom of the pyramid? highlighting LIRNEasia’s research on mobile usage by the poorest sectors of society. Research from LIRNEasia and DIRSI is also referenced in articles of this issue of i4d which is dedicated to the theme of Mobiles for Development. Also of note is an article on A Review of IDRC Projects - Mobiles are leading the way, by Ahmed Tareq Rashid (Researcher for Pan Asia Networking of IDRC) and Kathleen Diga (Researcher for Acacia – ICT4D Africa of International Development Research Centre).

Click here to go to the June 2008 issue of i4d.

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William Melody and Amy Mahan will guest edit a special issue of info - the journal of policy, regulation and strategy for telecommunications, information and media on Network Development: Wireless Applications for the Next Billion New Users. This special issue focused on wireless applications for the next billion users will examine priority issues relating to the extension of ICT infrastructure to the world’s unconnected poor, with particular reference to the design of innovative strategies for network development. The guest editors welcome the submission of draft material or work in progress based on current or recently completed research for possible publication in this special issue.

Deadline for submission: Monday, 4 August 2008.

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In this post, Tahani Iqbal and Nirmali Sivapragasam of LIRNEasia compare recent mobile benchmark studies undertaken in Asia and Latin American and the Caribbean.

The findings from LIRNEasia’s recent comparative study of price and affordability in eight South Asian countries - Mobile Benchmarks South Asia, March 2008 - indicate that Bangladesh has the lowest average monthly cost for using mobile telephony at all levels of use (low, medium and high) for prepaid and postpaid tariff plans, followed closely by Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka. Bhutan, Maldives and Afghanistan have considerably higher average monthly mobile costs among the South Asian countries considered.

The study, which is based on an adaptation of the basket methodology used by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (for February 2006), applies usage charges (for voice and SMS), line rental, connection charges (depreciated over a three year period), and applicable taxes for the different use levels.

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[3 April 2008] LIRNEasia’s Executive Director, Rohan Samarajiva, will present on the topic, “More than voice at the bottom of the pyramid: Telecommunication for development in Asia” at the ICT&S Center, University of Salzburg. The presentation will examine the potential for the take-up of “more-than-voice” applications among the fast growing user populations in the lower socio-economic strata, or the bottom of the pyramid (BOP) in emerging Asia. It will demonstrate the extensive use of telephones (mobile, fixed and public) by the BOP. It will look at usage by current owners as well as non-owners, and more the growth trends and projections for applications other than voice. Texting, payments, and voting are among some of these “more-than-voice” applications that will be looked at. Some of the policy and regulatory barriers that have to be addressed for greater take-up will also be discussed.

Click here for more information from the ICT&S Center.