Conducting Research Studies in the Telecommunication Sector Closing remarks and vote of thanks by Mrs. P.R. Amarasiri, Director of Legal Affairs/TRCSL

 

Implementing ENUM in Sri Lanka - Dr. K.B.N. Ratnayake

Dr. Ratnayake mentioned that ENUM is a vital technology necessary to achieve the convergence of conventional & IP based telephony.  ENUM is one of the technologies which would help the process.  He also mentioned that ENUM proposed to enable network elements such as a telephone  which has an input mechanism limited to numeric keys in a keypad to access services such as web pages and IP telephone address.  He addressed the issue relating to international peering connected with ENUM trials.  He mentioned that it is important to have a highly desirable coordinating body to maintain the DNS Databases with telecom service providers as well.

With ENUM, according to Dr. Ratnyake’s research, users could access alpha numeric internet addresses by dialing just a phone number.

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Analytical studies of Co-channel interference for telecommunication networks –

Dr. K. Pirapaharan

Dr. Pirapaharan said that interference in communication systems is divided in to co-channel and non co-channel interference.  Since the frequency bandwidth is limited for telecommunications and broadcasting the frequency band has to be re used.  He mentioned that frequency re-use method can drastically increase spectrum efficiency. Co-channel interference cannot be absolutely avoided, but careful mapping of the signal distribution with respective spectrum interference could be minimized.

He spoke on co-channel interference in GSM Networks which often degrades speech quality and limits network capacity.  He has selected Galle City and surroundings for the research.

Identified network being GSM in Mobile Communications, fixed wireless and broadcasting services. He emphasized on the need to obtain accurate data.

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Consumer Protection – Mrs. H.S.C. Perera

Mrs. Perera spoke on the importance of looking at the consumers’ side.  The physical side and the mental side.  She mentioned about the 9 steps laid down by the United Nations to protect consumers.  She highlighted John F. Kennedy’s Bill of Rights more specifically the 4 rights of consumers.

(1)   Safety Hazards.

(2)  Giving fraudulent information.

(3)  Right to choose.

(4)  Right to be heard.

She stressed on the importance of consumer awareness. In Matara where the population is 0.73 million, she will conduct a sample survey.  “It will not be a population survey” she said.  She will use a questionnaire on which concerns of consumers will be obtained.

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Quality of Service – Mrs. H.C.S. Perera

She stated that the two research studies will be combined. Speaking on the three important Ps i.e. People, Physical evidence and Process. She expressed the need to consider the mindset of the people specially by service providers.  Mrs. Perera emphasized on time, cost and psychic costs and perceived value being more than expected value.

Talking about customer satisfaction she explained about the 5 gaps which causes unsuccessful delivery of services.  These Five determinant factors will be used for the questionnaire –i.e.

§         Reliability.

§         Responsiveness.

§         Assurance.

§         Empathy.

§         Tangibles.

 

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Forcasting Demand for Telecom Services – Mr. W.I.C.S. Gunasinghe.

He outlined the importance of the study.  He said that the demand for services depend on various factors.  He also expressed concerns about the long waiting lists, where demand declines due to the increase in waiting time. 

He stated that when the initial payment is high people move to other operators.  Advertisement costs will have to be considered.  He said that structural development would increase demand.  He mentioned that if the demand declines we will be able to understand the market for the future.  He expressed the need for policy decisions regarding allocation of resources. 

Explaining about the objectives of the study he said that the research would be based on secondary data which will have to be discussed with TRCSL.  The study employs 2 methods Univariate and multivariate, based on economic models.  Demand forecasting is for the entire country.

Problems and Prospects of Telecommunication Services in the Ratnapura District Professor J.W.D. Somasundara.

The research would include demand for telephone connections including CDMA and other supplementary services provided by operators.  He compared demand for services in various service categories such as fixed, mobile, internet, payphones etc.  He explained the methodology to be adopted for the research.

20 respondents will be selected from each of the 17 Divisional Secretariat areas i.e. 10 people who are using telephones 10 people who are not using telephones which will be on services provided and demand for other services.

Objectives of the study:-

 

  Analyse the attitudes towards information and communication     technologies.

  Affordability.

  Cultural attitudes.

  Family needs.

  Demonstratives effects.

  Need.

 

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Unbundling of Telecommunication Network Elements –

Ms. Malathy Knight John.

She said that Local Loop Un-bundling (LLU) could facilitate competition. As there is insufficient competition LLU is one way of stimulating competition.  She mentioned that it will be an important step towards removing entry barriers to the access and exchange services in telecommunications.

She spoke on the importance of LLU, and mentioned that no study has been carried out as yet on the possibilities and probable implications of implementing LLU in Sri Lanka.  She also said that technical costs would be relatively low.  She mentioned about the importance of creating incentives for incumbents to lease it out for a move towards e-areas where we have brought in broadband facilities.

OECD countries have introduced LLU or have legislation in place, but even OECD countries had problems in implementing LLU. 

She explained the research objectives:-

Ø      How LLU have been implemented.

Ø      Benefits and Strategies.

Ø      Come up with a strategy for Sri Lanka.

Ø      Solutions for TRCSL.

She also highlighted as to how LLU has benefited the industry and consumers in the areas of teledensity, tariffs etc.

Benchmarking on countries at 3 different levels i.e. 

  Countries which have been able to achieve a relatively high performance.

  Countries that have introduced LLU but had difficulties in the process and derived few advantages.

  Countries that have not implemented LLU yet.

She mentioned that it is appropriate to discuss with the operators and come up with a policy paper.

Mrs. Amarasiri concluded by thanking all the research persons for their research proposals and presentations on the same made to the staff of TRCSL. 

She thanked the staff of TRCSL for participating in the workshop and also for their thought provoking contributions. 

 

 

 

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