L I R N E . N E T

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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LIRNE.NET researchers from around the world will be participating in the the International Telecommunications Society 17th Biennial Conference, Montreal, Canada (24-27 June). If you are planning to attend ITS, we invite you to come to meet researchers from LIRNEasia, Research ICT Africa (RIA!), the Latin American and Caribbean Regional Dialogue on the Information Society (DIRSI), from the European LIRNE centres, LIRNE.NET and Comunica - at the following sessions.

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LIRNEasia Executive Director, Rohan Samarajiva, is organising a double panel entitled New regulatory approaches in the face of rapidly changing demand: Research from four continents presented by LIRNE.NET. Click on the following to download the LIRNE.NET participants’ bios and abstracts for this session: Helani Galpaya, Hernan Galperin, Alison Gillwald, Anders Henten, Payal Malik, and Rohan Samarajiva.

The first of this double session will be chaired by Randy Spence, Director, Economic and Social Development Affiliates (ESDA) and former Senior Economist, International Development Research Centre; the second part will be chaired by Hank Intven, Partner, McCarthy Tétrault LLP and Member, Telecom Policy Review Panel appointed by the Government of Canada (2005-06).

This double session will take place in the Hampstead Room on Thursday, June 26th, 2008.
Session 5.5 from 1:30 - 3:30 pm
Session 6.6 from 3:30 - 5:00 pm

Click here to download the session description.

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For the Universal Access: Definitions, Delivery and Alternatives 2 session, LIRNEasia researchers will present a paper entitled, Re-examining Universal Service Policies in Telecommunications: Lessons from three South Asian countries, co-authored by Payal Malik and Rohan Samarajiva.

Session 8.1 - LaSalle room - Friday, June 27th, 2008, 2:00 - 3:30 pm

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Professor W.H. Melody will present recent research and analysis during the panel on private equity and telecommunications.

Session 2.7 - St. Pierre room - Wednesday, June 25th, 2008, 2:00 - 3:30pm

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Alison Gillwald, Research Director for the LINK Centre and Research ICT Africa!, and Helani Galpaya, Director of Strategic Development for LIRNEasia, both attended the recent 2008 Global Event on Measuring the Information Society in Geneva, Switzerland on 27 – 29 May. Galpaya acted as Facilitator for the session Advancing the ICT Agenda.

Gillwald presented a first glance at the data of the just completed 2008 E-access and Household Survey of 20 African countries. The presentation can be downloaded here.

Click here to go to the event agenda, with links to all of the presentations.

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The LIRNE Network tools page has two new resources: competition authority resources and a calendar of upcoming events.

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The Dutch Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR), concerned about the future of their national infrastructures, have prepared a report, Infrastructures: Time to Invest, that is likely to be of interest beyond the Netherlands. “The WRR is concerned about the quality of Dutch infrastructures [sewers, energy, telecom, water, etc.] in the long term. The attention devoted by administrators and market players to short-term effects geared towards efficiency, consumer interest and cost, has a detrimental effect on investment in the public interest in the long term.”

Download the report’s table of contents and executive summary here.

A collection of papers (including Professor Bill Melody’s “Private Equity Funds and Public Utilities: Where Incentive Structures Collide”), were prepared for this report and published under New Perspectives on Investment in Infrastructures (v19 jun 08) by Amsterdam University Press. These are also available for download. Click here for the information page or here to download the collection in .pdf.

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