Comment by Riaz Haq on July 10, 2017 at 8:00pm

#Mobile #CellPhone & #Satellites Improve #Farming in #Pakistan. #Irrigation #Agriculture #Water #Technology

https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/mobile-phones-improve-farming...

Mobile phones and satellites are becoming valuable farming tools in Pakistan.

A new program there uses satellite information to estimate how much water a field needs. The satellite then sends this information by text message to farmers' mobile phones.

The program’s aim is to prevent the farmers from overwatering crops. A 2013 report from the Asian Development Bank says Pakistan has some of the most severe water problems in the world. The country’s water availability is similar to Syria’s, where a lack of rainfall has intensified civil war.

Pakistan is only able to store water that can last up to 30 days. That is far below the recommended storage amount of 1,000 days.

Several issues have led to Pakistan’s water crisis. They include climate changes, a growing population, local water mismanagement and a greater demand on farmers.

Many fear the water crisis could weaken relations between Pakistan and India. The two countries share the Indus River.

Turning off the water

Many older Pakistani farmers received agricultural training several years ago, when water was more readily available. They know the risks that come with underwatering crops.

But using too much water can reduce crop harvests.

The Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources found that rice farmers were using more than three times as much water as they needed.

The council asked the Sustainability, Satellites, Water, and Environment research group, at the University of Washington, to get involved. The council wanted the research group to use science to help inform irrigation choices.

Pakistan's program started with 700 farmers in the spring of 2016. By January, 10,000 farmers were receiving text messages with a water amount advisory. For example, one message read: "Dear farmer friend, we would like to inform you that the irrigation need for your banana crop was 2 inches during the past week."

The messages come from a fully-automated system. It uses publicly available satellite information. It also uses models to compute how much water each farmer needs to irrigate.

A national effort

The council plans to expand the program for use across the country, and expects millions of farmers to participate. But first the system must be reviewed.

The researchers want to know how easy it is for farmers to use, and how many follow the irrigation advisories. They also want to know how accurate it is and whether it saves farmers money.

They are collecting responses from farmers over the phone.

Faisal Hossain is with the University of Washington. He says he has not seen a report on the results yet. However, the group heard from one farmer in the program who said he was able to get about 700 kilograms more wheat than his neighbor. The farmer said he believes the irrigation advisories made this possible.

Expanding the program may be difficult. The council may need to work harder to persuade farmers to trust the technology. Those working on smaller farms may not feel comfortable depending on mobile phone technology.

Mobile phones are already very common in Pakistan, however. And last year the Punjab government announced that it would give out 5 million smartphones to farmers.

Comment by Riaz Haq on July 15, 2017 at 10:06am

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE > PAKISTAN
Pakistan most affordable country in world for telecom, ICT services: WEF

https://tribune.com.pk/story/1219605/pakistan-affordable-country-wo...

Pakistan has been ranked as most the affordable country for ICT services, according to a report published by the World Economic Forum.

The WEF on Thursday published its annual “Global Information Technology Report 2016” which showed Pakistan’s technology and telecom market had the world’s lowest price points as compared to other markets from around the globe.

The report analysed relevant indexes from 139 global markets and rated them against each other. The countries were rated for their financial conditions as well as other factors such as usage, general environment, and impact.

“Pakistan is the market with the lowest price points,” the report said.

Comment by Riaz Haq on July 27, 2018 at 10:52am

#Pakistan’s #4G #broadband #speed of 14.03 megabits per second (Mbps) faster than #India’s 9.12 Mbps, according to speedtest.net of Ookla – a global leader in fixed broadband and mobile network testing applications, data and analysis.

https://tribune.com.pk/story/1762876/2-pakistans-4g-broadband-speed...

Despite the challenges Pakistan faces in promoting information technology and bringing more and more people online, international internet speed gauging platform Ookla has said that Pakistan’s 4G mobile broadband is faster than its neighbour India’s.

Pakistan is ranked 96th in the world in download speed on mobile broadband based on the June Speed-test Global Index, with average speed of 14.03 megabits per second (Mbps). It is better than that in India which stands at 109th place with average speed of 9.12 Mbps,according to speedtest.net of Ookla – a global leader in fixed broadband and mobile network testing applications, data and analysis.

According to the website, the global average of mobile internet download speed is estimated at 23.54 Mbps.

Indian operators are focusing on spreading 4G outreach than injecting more speed into the already present 4G service, according to OpenSignal that specialises in wireless coverage mapping.

Smartphone usage is on the rise in India with 358 million mobile internet users and more users are coming online, resulting in slower mobile internet speeds, says a report in the Indian publication The Economic Times.

Because of the vast area, India has higher latency which is one of the reasons consumers are receiving slower internet.

Latency is the duration taken by a data packet to move between the user’s device and internet server. The higher the latency, the slower the user’s internet experience.

Pakistan’s 3G/4G subscribers stand at 56 million with 75% teledensity, meaning 25% population has not yet been covered, particularly in Balochistan. In this province, 46% of population has no access to either mobile, wireless or fixed line network.

Number of 3G, 4G users reaches 49.5m by Jan 2018

The Universal Service Fund (USF), which collects funds from all cellphone service providers in an attempt to expand telecom infrastructure, has disbursed grants worth Rs50 billion to mobile operators for projects in different telecom regions.

Its five out of six fibre optic projects are for Balochistan which is likely to get better facilities in future.

However, in fixed internet, India is better than Pakistan as it is ranked 62nd with average internet speed of 23.27 Mbps while Pakistan stands at 122nd place with internet speed of 7.55 Mbps.

4G services launched in Gwadar

Pakistan also lags behind India in the Inclusive Internet Index of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) mainly due to unavailability of content in local languages.

Comment by Riaz Haq on July 20, 2020 at 9:05am

#India's smartphone shipments plummeted 48% YoY in Q2, a big blow to #Modi's #DigitalIndia initiative to attract foreign #tech investments. #COVID19 #Lockdown #coronavirus https://www.businessinsider.com/indian-smartphone-shipments-plummet... via @businessinsider

Smartphone shipments in India fell to 17.3 million units in Q2 2020, representing a precipitous 48% year-over-year (YoY) decline, according to Canalys. The Canalys report suggests that the decline was due to lack of supply more than lack of demand: More than 96% of smartphones sold in India had been assembled domestically, but manufacturing facilities suspended operations during the coronavirus lockdown that began in March and lasted through mid-May.

Xiaomi and Oppo — which together accounted for 43% of Q2 2020 shipments in India — began importing smartphones from China to India to bolster the limited supply. Coronavirus cases have soared in India since the lockdown ended, particularly in dense urban areas, according to The New York Times. And the economic impacts of the lockdown will not easily be reversed, considering nearly 10 million migrant workers relocated back to villages during the economic stoppage, and an estimated 500,000 of those individuals traveled by foot or bike, sometimes for hundreds of miles, according to Brookings.

The rapid decline in smartphone shipments will disrupt the Indian government's efforts to grow the digital economy. As outlined in the Digital India initiative, India's economic development is predicated on growing the base of smartphone users to expand internet access, which is intended to attract foreign investment in the tech sector. Only 40% of India's 1.3 billion residents currently have internet access, per eMarketer.

The slowdown in smartphone shipments represents a significant disruption to India's digitization trajectory, and the prospects of a recovery are slim to none through the remainder of 2020. This will hinder Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Self-Reliant India" initiative, which aims to use tariffs and subsidies to encourage companies to employ workers in India if they want access to the massive digital consumer market.

India will now be further reliant on big tech companies to accelerate digitization by subsidizing resources needed for internet access. Tech giants have played a central role in expanding internet access within India, as they are often willing to subsidize internet and devices in a bid to grow market share. For example, Jio, the largest wireless carrier in India by subscribers, made its JioPhone "effectively free" in India as the initial payment of Rs 1,500 ($20) would be refunded after three years of service.

Jio offers data for as cheap as Rs 199 ($2.60) per month — we believe Jio will further subsidize plans, as this can expand the market for the super app it is developing in partnership with Facebook. Facebook even tried to give internet access away for free in India under its Free Basics program, but the government intervened on net neutrality grounds, as the service would have only given users access to 80 websites sanctioned by Facebook.

Just last week, Google agreed to purchase a $4.5 billion stake in Jio, and the companies intend to develop an entry-level 5G smartphone aimed at upgrading 350 million people in India who currently use 2G phones. The Indian government will likely look more favorably towards these sorts of initiatives as the coronavirus has disrupted its digitization timeline, and big tech will be given greater leeway to expand access to its services through subsidies as a result.

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