ICT INFRASTRUCTURE IN EMERGING ASIA : POLICY AND REGULATORY ROADBLOCKS BY ROHAN SAMARAJIVA, AYESHA ZAINUDEEN [HARDCOVER]

This volume brings together scholars, practitioners, regulators and policy makers to address the problem of expanding information and communication technology (ICT) connectivity in emerging Asia. It centrally engages the widespread claim that technology by itself-independent of policy and regulatory reform-can improve access to ICTs. In doing so, it shows that complex workarounds are possible, but that they are significantly less effective than the appropriate policy and regulatory reforms.

The key features of the volume are:

" It examines how theoretically optimal concepts are implemented in the hard terrain of emerging Asia.

" It considers the problem of expanding connectivity from various perspectives: that of the user, the operator, the policy maker, the regulator, and civil society.

" It reports the findings of a cutting-edge 3,000+ sample demand-side survey of telecom use at the 'bottom of the pyramid' in India and Sri Lanka.

" It gleans lessons from five Asian countries-Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal and Sri Lanka-based on their experiences with developing telecom connectivity.

" It sheds light on a range of situations and technologies, like telephone use under ceasefire in Sri Lanka, wi-fi in Indonesia, and universal service obligation in India.

" This well-structured volume will be of great value to those who wish to implement policy and regulatory reforms and improve ongoing reforms.