down, it is unlikely that rural users will have anything more than voice connectivity. Working with MIDO and/or another local organization,9 LIRNEasia can help in a small way to catalyze the needed energysector reforms.10 Given resource constraints, this would take the form of providing regulatory and policy knowledge relevant to electricity in tandem with capacity building in ICT policy and regulation. Policy enlightenment as well as assistance to regulatory staff and civil society in putting in place an effective consultation mechanism will be included. The independent telecom regulatory agency promised for October 2015 is likely to be behind schedule, given 2015 is an election year and because the consultancy contracts are yet to be signed for the consultancy assistance to the government in establishing the Myanmar Communications Commission and then in ensuring it performs well. This is squarely within the core competencies of LIRNEasia. Additional actions that would contribute to ensuring affordable connectivity are (a) educating decision makers on how to ensure the continuation of an investor-friendly environment within the ICT space, especially by desisting from actions that amount to administrative expropriation, (b) assisting in the provision of adequate, reliable and low-cost international connectivity, (c) monitoring Internet quality of service experience thereby ensuring value for money for users, etc. Many of these activities, especially those related to regulatory capacity building, require repeated interactions with government officials which are difficult from outside the country but can be handled through MIDO and frequent visits. 3.1.1 Expected outcomes  At least one course taught on how to participate in electricity and telecom policy and regulation processes offered for civil-society participants and government officials  Timely and comprehensive responses and advice on ICT reforms and electricity reforms  Advice on assisting in the provision of adequate, reliable and low-cost international connectivity, building on work done with UN ESCAP since 201011  Assisting the regulatory unit to establish a procedure for monitoring Internet quality of service experience thereby ensuring value for money for users, and/or operating a multi-location broadband QoSE initiative and disseminating its results through the media 3.2 Users with skills Myanmar is blessed with a high literacy rate of 92.7 percent. Yet, it performs poorly on secondary and tertiary school enrolment, 50 percent and 14 percent, respectively (see Annex 1). It is perceived that 9 In the event energy sector reforms require different skill sets than those possessed by MIDO and MIDO is not willing to expand the scope of its activities into energy reforms. 10 LIRNEasia and its partners have expertise in energy-sector reform, as illustrated by http://lirneasia.net/capacitybuilding/introductory-energy-regulatory-training-course/. LIRNEasia’s Chair was responsible for the enactment of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka Act in 2002. 11 http://www.unescap.org/our-work/ict-disaster-risk-reduction/asia-pacific-information-superhighway and http://lirneasia.net/2012/12/lirneasia-at-interagency-meeting-convened-by-unescap/ 9