ICT Infrastructure in Emerging Asia: Policy and Regulatory Roadblocks

Abstract

DOI: 10.1355/ae25-2j ICT Infrastructure in Emerging Asia: Policy and Regulatory Roadblocks. Edited by Rohan Samarajiva and Ayesha Zainudeen. New Delhi: Sage Publications India; Ottawa: International Development Research Centre, 2008. Pp. 333. Drawing on research carried out by LirneASIA, an information and communication technology policy and regulation capacity organization active in Asia-Pacific, book sets out to explore principal challenges to increasing access to telecommunications in South and Southeast Asia. Containing contributions from a range of telecoms experts and industry players, it refers to data and case studies from: Bangladesh, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. Notwithstanding technical language, questions book poses and arguments it puts forward will be of interest not just to telecoms policy-makers, regulators, and policy-makers, but also a wider readership that is interested in policy-making process, effects of technology, and role of institutions in shaping outcomes. Starting from contention that connectivity, defined as the opportunity to engage in electronically-mediated communication, information retrieval . . . and publication is positive, book then looks at what technological and regulatory barriers impede greater access to telecommunications services. Influenced by work of Mohamed Yunus and C. K. Prahalad, book is particularly interested in exploring what demands and needs consumers from poorest sections of society, termed Bottom of Pyramid (BOP), have insofar as telecoms services. In particular, book seeks to understand why access has not expanded more quickly in region given liberalization of telecoms sector, falling costs associated with economies of scale and, most importantly, huge unmet demand. The book is structured in four parts, each looking at a different aspect of telecoms sector and containing specific questions. The first section, at Bottom of Pyramid, seeks to uncover what BOP consumers want with regards to telecoms services by drawing on extensive primary data gathered in Sri Lanka and India. The first chapter by Zainudeen looks at choices made by BOP consumers between fixed, mobile, and public access modes. Zainudeen and Iqbal look at strategies BOP consumers use in accessing telecoms and cutting costs. The chapter by Samarijiva et al. looks at demand for telecoms services in conflict-afflicted areas, drawing on survey data from northern Sri Lanka. This makes for interesting reading, as it is not often that policy-makers are given this type of fresh data. Consistent with wider Making Markets Work for Poor literature, findings undercut commonly held assumptions of BOP consumers. The survey findings establish high demand for telecoms, willingness to pay given correct price structures, and quite a high level of awareness and sophistication among BOP consumers. While BOP consumers do not often use conventional cost-cutting strategies seen elsewhere, this may be more to do with constraints under which telecoms services are accessed rather than a lack of sensitivity to cost. Demand for telecoms services is even higher in conflict-afflicted areas than elsewhere, as people need to contact family members frequently and organize remittances. The second section, Access, Against All Odds, looks at expanding access to a broader range of consumers and seeks to explore question whether technological advances in themselves are sufficient to increase access, or whether an enabling policy and regulatory environment is also necessary. In particular, section looks at how non-state actors have found unexpected solutions through initiative and policy work-arounds. Knight-John looks at business model of Grameen Village Phone programme in Bangladesh, which has been able to provide access to 45 per cent of villages in that country. …