The Internet in Asia

Somalians send long distance SOS SMS

"My name is Mohammed Sokor, writing to you from Dagahaley refugee camp in Dadaab. Dear sir, there is an alarming issue here. People are given too few kilogrammes of food. You must help." , so read the SMS sent out by a Somalian refugee to the London offices of the UN World Food Programme. This is probably the first time that such a message of help has been sent.

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Singapore's Inteligent Nation 2015 plan

Intelligent Nation 2015 is the Singapore government's 10 year infocomm development master plan aimed at transforming Singapore into a totally wireless, intelligent, economically enriching and competitive nation for Singaporeans from all walks of life. Broadband penetration is expected to increase to 90 % by then to help meet these objectives.  It also aims to  create 80,000 new jobs and double the infocomm industry's contribution to Gross Domestic Product to $26 billion, tripling the country's export  revenue to SGD 60 billion.

Also part of the transformation will be building the Next Generation National Infocomm Infrastructure for a high-speed wired network of up to 1 Gigabit per second islandwide.
33 local and international companies have indicated their interest in the contract to be awarded next year and which will be rolled out by 2012.

World Cup fever goes digital

World Cup fever has definitely hit us -- over the past  12 years, more and more people are turning to the Internet to search for the latest news related to the game. Official World Cup websites were cited as the most likely destinations in Singapore (67%), Malaysia (71%), Thailand (46%) and Australia (57%), but Chinese fans are most likely to head to other sport websites (84%). Many have also turned to their mobile phones to get the latest, which thanks to the help of may mobile operators is something that they can now have access to on the go.

Cambodia bans 3G services to stop porn

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has urged the country's Ministry of Communication to ban the use of 'certain mobile phones', allegedly after his wife and some of her friends received pornographic material over their mobile phones. Two reasons were cited - firstly, to preserve the morality of Cambodians and secondly because its too technologically advanced for them.  It is unknown whether this suggestion will turn to law, but it is highly likely as his legislation are often unchallenged.  Currently, out of Cambodia's population of 13 million, it is estimated that around 10% have mobile access. CamGSM, one of the larger mobile phone operators in Cambodia is already operating a 3G network.

Industry observers have question if it was necessary to implement such drastic measure, or whether the same effect could have been achieved by allowing mobile users to practice individual discretion or to use networking technology to filter pornographic material on their networks.  Other countries have also tried to regulate material made available through this and other new media services. For example. Singapore that's known for its strict censorship laws has implemented "a light-touch regulatory framework" through its Class License scheme that specifies minimum standards for content delivered over the Internet and other new media services such as 3G. 

Mobile telephony and militants

It was only in 2003 that New Delhi allowed mobile services in war-torn Kashmir, banning it in fear that militants would use this service to plan terror attacks. Now, security officials say troops have eliminated many militants by tracking their mobile phones and tapping conservations. For example, when a senior member of an Islamist rebel  called a newspaper office a few minutes after a bomb blast from his mobile phone in Kashmir. Little did he know that this single act would lead to him being captured, by way of tracking down his mobile phone signals.

Militants and governments in other parts of the world are more aware of this potential threat to their activities. The Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka for example have banned the use of mobile phones for this very reason. Instead they use satellite phones that are harder to track. In Nepal, the now ousted royalist government of King Gyanendra  shut down mobile phone services when these instruments were used to plan big rallies against him.

In addition to helping track down militants, mobile phones have also helped save lives in another way in Kashmir- both citizens trapped in building controlled by suicide bombers and hostages kidnapped by militants have used mobile phones to help alert authorities of their where-abouts.

Mobile phone technology to be localized.

Motorola researchers based in Bangalore are examining usage patterns there in an attempt to understand how those in rural areas use their mobile phones, with the aim of making their phones more user-friendly for these folk.  They are not alone - Microsoft in India is attempting to do the same thing, but at a slower pace. One modification that may be put into use soon is to simplify the main page, making it easier for users to access the specific application they want to use. Speech recognition (in different South Asian languages) is another option that is on the table.  Looks like mobile phone technology may become more  'local context friendly' quicker than computers or the Internet!

Mobile phones in the Philippines

Filipinos see the mobile phone as a cheap and convenient way to stay in touch with each other. It is currently estimated that at least 200 million text messages are sent a day in the Philippines. In fact, texting is so prevalent that even the central bank governor and other senior officials answer media inquiries by tapping out a reply on their mobiles.

As there is currently no system to track pre-paid card users, it makes it easy for individuals to send malicious and hoax messages via SMS.  Analysts say text message rumors proliferate because some people wish to portray themselves as being in the know about matters of national security.  Others pass them on to warn family and friends.

Some of the stranger text messages include a message stating the Filipino President Gloria Arroyo has died of a  strange disease and that the head of the armed forces had resigned. Some of these messages picked up so much momentum that government officials have had to go on record to deny them!

E-bullying on the rise

The results of a  four year longitudinal survey in the UK , looking at different forms of e-bullying,  by researchers at  York St John's University College, part of the research team presenting the findings to the British Psychological Society meeting, said: "It is a form of indirect bullying like gossip, that spreads quickly outside of the playground. of over 11,000 children show that 15% of children have received  nasty or aggressive messages.  Their study also suggests that girls were more likely to have been bullied than boys by email or SMS. 

Mobile phones, a new form of voyeurism?

It was recently reported in a Singapore daily that voyeurs are using mobile phones to take compromising pictures of unsuspecting victims in Singaporean MRTs. In fact, one man was so forthcoming that when the lady whose chest he was trying to take a picture of shifted her posture to block him, he merely moved to get better access, and seemed pleased that she was uncomfortable and scared. The victim said that she was not dressed provocatively, and was worried about what could be done with the pictures, especially with the current trend of moblogging and merging of ICTs.

According to SMRT authorities, reports of these incidences are low and that they rarely happen (but that could simply be because many of these cases go unreported as victims are not aware of their rights, and are unlikely to lodge such complaints due to the nature of Asian cultures). However, they do encourage commuters to lodge official complaints if such an incident does occur. According to lawyers, any man who takes a photo of a woman's cleavage can be charged for insulting her modesty, and that victims are protected under the law, as perpetrators can be jailed for up to a year, and fined for outraging her modesty.

If this is the case, then victims are indeed protected by the law and they should start speaking up if something like this ever happens to them.

Mobile phones and protests in the Philippines

In 2001, Filipinos used text messages to organize a massive street protest that led to the downfall of former President Joseph Estrada on corruption allegations, replacing him with Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. This time, Arroyo is the target of the latest mobile phone aided protest- from disseminating information and spreading rumors to mobilizing protesters after she declared a state of emergency last Friday to quell a coup plot against her. Thousands of opposition protesters responded to the declaration by marching along Manila's main as they continued to spread messages as quickly as they received them. Arroyo's camp has tried to crack down on text messages before, saying they were being used to incite sedition, but hasn't really figured out a way to do it without sparking a public outcry.