LIRNEasia and its research Rohan Samarajiva, Executive Director Usable knowledge for growing the sector: ICT policy and regulation research from LIRNEasia, New Delhi, 6 March 2006

Agenda  Introducing LIRNEasia, a regional ICT research and capacity-building organization, active across emerging Asia; based in Colombo  2005 research program

Mission  To improve the lives of the people of Asia by facilitating their use of information and communication technologies; by catalyzing the reform of the laws, policies and regulations to enable those uses; by building Asia- based human capacity through research, training, consulting and advocacy

Catalyzing reform Example: Indonesia leased line prices

Building capacity Example: Singapore Training course  Five-day executive training course offered with Infocomm Development Authority & Nanyang Technological University co-sponsorship 36 participants (incl. Deputy Minister, Regulatory agencies, ICT agencies, operators, civil society) 18 countries (S. Africa to Tajikistan; Nigeria to Mongolia)

Dynamic website: lirneasia.net

research program  Diversifying participation in network development “... for many of these potential sources of network investment, the major constraint is neither a lack of effective consumer demand, nor an unwillingness to invest on pure investment grounds.... Rather, the barrier is inherited institutional rigidities as reflected in obsolete laws, policies, regulations, unrestrained monopoly power and political interference that makes investment impossible or raises investment uncertainties dramatically.”

Research presented today  Telecom use on a shoestring Findings from a survey of Sri Lankan and Indian users on less than USD 100 a month  WiFi innovation in Indonesia  Universal service funds and access deficit charges: How to do it right  The importance of backbone  Least cost subsidy auctions: Getting the conditions right

Continuity into  Workshop to initiate work on comparative performance indicators co-hosted by TRAI 16 countries, including all SAARC + Afghanistan, March 1-3, 2006 OECD, ITU & National Regulatory Research Institute, USA as resource persons Research planning meeting, March 4-5, 2006  Manual to be developed for approval in late 2006  Applied in India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand

: Continuity and change  Telecom Regulatory Environment measured across 6 countries  Teleuse on a shoestring, across 6 countries  Study on how ICTs affect transaction costs in agriculture  Last-mile hazard information research  Major capacity building and dissemination program