Policy-relevant findings Presentation to IDRC Board of Governors Kani Lanka Hotel 22 January 2009

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 Our mission To improve the lives of the people of the emerging Asia-Pacific by facilitating their use of ICTs and related infrastructures; by catalyzing the reform of laws, policies and regulations to enable those uses through the conduct of policy-relevant research, training and advocacy with emphasis on building in-situ expertise

Policy-relevant findings Ayesha Zainudeen Research Manager & Demand-Side Specialist, LIRNEasia

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 Study info Objective: To understand how BOP interacts with ICTs (mostly phones) to better inform policy Large surveys of ‘BOP’ conducted in 2005, 2006, 2008 Almost 20,000 face to face interviews in 6 countries since 2005 Bangladesh (2008) Pakistan India Sri Lanka Philippines Thailand

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 Houshold characteristics BangladeshPakistanIndiaSri LankaPhilippines*Thailand Mean (USD) (SD) 117 (106) 127 (115) 99 (79) 151 (92) 127 (64) 172 (66) USD PPP Monthly household income (USD)

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 Household access to communication technologies Computer Phone

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 Recent use of the phone to make/receive calls BangladeshPakistanIndiaSri LankaPhilippinesThailand % of outer sample (those approached belonging to SEC D or E) 95%96%86%88%79%77 % BangladeshPakistanIndiaSri LankaPhilippinesThailand % of outer sample (those approached belonging to SEC D or E) 82%66%65%77%38%72% Used a phone in the last 3 months Used a phone in the last week 7

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 Growth in phone ownership since 2006 survey BOP mostly own mobile phones (brand new, prepaid), except in Sri Lanka Those below 35 years of age more often own phones Men more often own phones in South Asia than women

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 Our predictions vs actual growth ? ?

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 Urban-rural divide in ownership: 2006 vs urban owners for every rural owner

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 What the BOP does with phones Pakistani women rely most often on other peoples’ phones (neighbor or male household member); Pakistani men have their own phones Almost all Bangladeshi mobile owners use ‘missed calls’ (beeps); “missed call” games? Some Filipinos don’t make any calls from their phones; 100% SMS/texting

Usage Missed calls (beeps) Used across the board (except Thailand) – Urban, rural – Men, women – More popular among younger mobile owners Missed calls (beeps) Used across the board (except Thailand) – Urban, rural – Men, women – More popular among younger mobile owners Text messaging (SMS) Less popular than missed calls (except Philippines) – More so among younger, urban mobile owners – Men in Pakistan, Women in Thailand Text messaging (SMS) Less popular than missed calls (except Philippines) – More so among younger, urban mobile owners – Men in Pakistan, Women in Thailand Internet Little use – mostly among younger urban dwellers, more often males in Pakistan and Sri Lanka Awareness still poor, especially among females, rural and older respondents Internet Little use – mostly among younger urban dwellers, more often males in Pakistan and Sri Lanka Awareness still poor, especially among females, rural and older respondents

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 Dissemination Media coverage in 80+ articles 47+ presentations to various audiences (policy makers, regulators, industry, media, etc) – Sri Lankan telecom operators (Oct 07) Indian Universal Service Fund Office (Mar 07) Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (Jun 07) Telenor Research & Innovation Asia Pacific (Mar 08) – Cellular Operators Association of India (Feb 09) …

Stripping out regressive and discriminatory elements from a mobile-only tax Rohan Samarajiva Chair and CEO, LIRNEasia

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 Anatomy of a regressive tax +General taxpre-2007ProposedRevised Value +17.5% VAT & SRL+2.5% MSL +7.5% MSL & 50 Tax as % of value+10% MSLSavings Range of Prepaid ARPUs Relative winners Losers

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 Translation: We will be pleased if Hon. Minister removes the regressive tax of LKR 50 as pointed out by Prof. Rohan Samarajiva, Dr. Harsha de Silva of LIRNEasia and UNP Members. We also request not to increase the mobile subscriber levy to 10%. This tax will have an adverse effect on the common man. From the Hansard, September 6, 2007

September 3, 2008 “I do not accuse the government of being that foolish. They are not killing the goose; their behavior is more like that of trying to milk the goose for more eggs. The end result, however, will be a stressed goose yielding less eggs than it otherwise would have”

It is time for the Ministers of Investment Promotion, Posts and Telecom and related subjects to reeducate the people at Treasury who have forgotten what they were taught in their Public Finance courses. True wisdom lies in making government smaller and more efficient. Until then, desisting from service, technology and group-specific taxes and regressive taxes will do.

November 6, 2008

Benchmarking and regulatory performance Helani Galpaya Chief Operating Officer & Indicators Specialist, LIRNEasia

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 Opportunity: South Asia Broadband Conference, Sep ‘07. Research picked up by AFP

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 AFP story picked up in multiple media outlets, including some in PK “...according to Colombo-based LIRNEasia, a regional telecom think-tank” AFP  Dawn “...according to Colombo-based LIRNEasia, a regional telecom think-tank” AFP  Dawn “ PAKISTANIS PAY MOST IN SOUTH ASIA TO ACCESS IINTERNET”

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 Gets regulator’s attention AND response..and so on. Multiple s/conversations back and forth about methodology, prices

For internal circulation until 11 Feb months later… Price Drop: 64%

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 NRA web site rankings 2005: PK on top

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 PTA mentions in 2006 annual report “…international recognitions given to the country in the field of telecom include the GSMA Government Leadership Award 2006, …, and LIRNEasia Best Website of the Regulator Award”

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 TRE survey results also presented in PK (Jun ‘07). Results in 27 different news items for LIRNEasia

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 Repeated benchmarking  continued engagement. E.g NRA website rankings, PK best in south Asia. Picked up by the Financial Express Financial Express, 18 June 2008

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 Ongoing engagement: 2008 year-end message by new PTA Chairman

From spot to forward markets in Agriculture: An example of catalytic effects of IDRC funded research Harsha de Silva Lead Economist, LIRNEasia

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 Our original research Pre-IDRC –Work started at Dambulla in 2003 IDRC enter the picture in 2007 Beyond IDRC, beyond Dambulla

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 Spot market volatility at Dambulla no price dissemination

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 Price collection using simple ICT tools

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 Disseminating prices big display boards across market

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 Farmer empowerment session history and going price Lowest price and time Highest price and time Last traded price, time and stall number

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 Bigger problem not solved continued longer term volatility

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 Our original research Pre-IDRC –Work started at Dambulla in 2003 IDRC enter the picture in 2007 –How can we reduce this volatility? –Will ICT help? –Approached from an economics stand point Beyond IDRC, beyond Dambulla

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 We broke down the value chain innovation in transaction cost work

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 …and showed the criticality of information cost of information at decision is very high

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 We catalyzed thinking in two directions One –Reducing transaction costs [information search costs] along the [limited] value chain, with ICT The other –Creating forward markets; linking the growing decision with selling decision, with ICT

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 Our original research Pre-IDRC –Work started at Dambulla in 2003 IDRC enter the picture in 2007 –How can we reduce this volatility? –Will ICT help? –Approached from an economics stand point Beyond IDRC, beyond Dambulla

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 infoDev proposes to EU helping reduce transaction costs

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 FARA disseminates in Africa with e-agriculture.org; CGIAR, FAO, GTZ; reduce transaction costs

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 Agriculture at Gates Foundation with GTC developing tech strategy to reduce transaction costs

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 CORE; conflict resolution in LK creating forward markets to link regions

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 Tenet at IIT Madras collaboration to develop forward markets Extending our work to Tenet to help create forward markets in Tamilnadu, India –Economics focus [from tech centric] –Linking small scale farmers with forward exchanges via ICT

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 Way forward LIRNEasia, using IDRC funding, is catalyzing world- wide thinking on improving efficiency in rural agriculture markets using simple and affordable communication technology Need to sustain efforts to generate further evidence and push policymakers to change thinking based on such evidence. It is a challenge but, there is hope!

Capacity Building as Research Sujata Gamage Lead Scientist, LIRNEasia (Knowledge to Innovation Program)

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 In building capacity for telecom reform, we have developed a research stream that extends LIRNEasia’s definition of infrastructure to include knowledge

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 CPRsouth as a capacity building exercise

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 CPRsouth objectives To facilitate the creation, sustenance and continuous advancement of policy intellectuals capable of informed and effective intervention in ICT policy and regulation processes in specific country and regional contexts in the south To develop capacity, stimulate interest, and promote research and systematic study in information and communication technology (ICT) policy and regulatory issues in the South, broadly constituted to include the Asia-Pacific (AP), Africa (AF), Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Central Asian regions (CIS)

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 CPRsouth conferences (3 so far) components Research papers presented as policy briefs by younger researchers (seven sessions; roughly 21 papers) –Papers selected through short-listing of double-blind review of abstracts and subsequent review of full papers; mentoring Plenaries/panels by senior researchers who are successful as public intellectuals (at most four sessions) Tutorials for the next generation of researchers Communication training

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 CPRsouth community (31 countries) growth and consolidation CPR1CPR2CPR3 All Presenters + Young Scholars (cumulative) Repeat applicants (from among presenters)1129 Repeat applicants (from among Young scholars)311 Total Repeat applicants1440 Percent trying to return28%41%

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 CPRsouth outputs (Response Rate: Oct %, 18/37; Oct %, 34/82)

CPRsouth outputs Mary Grace Mirandilla Attended LIRNEasia Executive Course on Regulation in Singapore, September 2005 on IDRC funded scholarship Participated in LIRNEasia networking meeting Jakarta in October 2005 Assisted LIRNEasia Researcher Lorraine Salazar in TRE research in the Philippines in 2006 Participated in CPRsouth1 in Manila as a Young Scholar (conference + tutorials) Was selected as a paper giver at CPRsouth2 in Chennai; Paper was seen as one of the best; currently under review by Information Technology and International Development (MIT Press) Was among Top 7 papers at CPRsouth3 in Beijing; featured in dialogue with Jonathan Aronson

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 Grace: A mode 2 policy intellectual Briefing paper on Philippines telecom policy for "Philippine Development Forum" (government’s primary mechanism for policy dialogue among stakeholders on the development agenda), Feb 2007 "Community telecenters as a development tool for rural areas“ at international conference organized by U. of Philippines National College of Public Administration & Governance, April EOIs for project funding through The Asia Foundation, to AusAID and to University of Washington, 2007 “Support systems for community eCenters,” 4th Knowledge Exchange Conference, Manila, April 2008

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 CPRsouth our research outputs Gamage & Samarajiva, Internet presence as knowledge capacity: The case of research in ICT infrastructure reform

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 CPRsouth our research outputs

For internal circulation until 11 Feb 2009 While building capacity, we are redefining it Current working definition: –“Capacity as a culture of learning and innovation in society”

The geography of CPRsouth