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We have now reached the stage when virtually anything we want to do in the field of communications is possible. The constraints are no longer technical, but economic, legal, or political.
Arthur C. Clarke. United Nations Telecommunications Day, 1983.
There is no question that technology is moving very quickly to enable new and compelling applications in the LAN, MAN, and WAN environments. Many of these applications are extremely bandwidth-intensive, including high-speed data, video, and even multimedia. Therefore, the traditional voice and data networks must be completely redesigned.
Hundreds of millions of dollars are committed to deploying new network infrastructure in the form of SDH/SONET transmission facilities. ISDN, finally, is living up to its promise, and is becoming widely available. Frame Relay networks now are widely available in the United States and other developed nations, with international connectivity. ATM, although still in its infancy, is becoming available in the LAN, MAN, and WAN worlds. As the basis for B-ISDN, ATM undoubtedly will be widely available in the not-too-distant future. The Internet now boasts many millions of users. Online service providers are experiencing unbelievable growth, with America Online now boasting of approximately 6 million subscribers. Revenues from video services are estimated to be as high as $170 billion by 2003 in the United States, alone. The costs of rebuilding the network infrastructure in support of voice, data, entertainment, video, and multimedia applications is estimated to be as much as $116 billion [15-1] for the telephone company version. The CATV providers, with a different view that is more focused on entertainment and Internet access and with broadband facilities already in place, estimate a cost of $20 to $30 billion [15-2].
This network infrastructure is being developed to deliver something widely known as the Information Superhighway. Initially conceived in the United States as the National Information Infrastructure (NII), heavy sponsorship was proposed by the federal government. That government commitment was withdrawn in favor of commercial development of the concept, which still enjoys government endorsement and encouragement. Internationally, the concept also goes under the names International Information Infrastructure (III) and Global Information Infrastructure (GII).
The concept of the Information Superhighway is a sound one. The applications are exciting and even compelling. Many of the enabling technologies are available and are being deployed and many of the necessary standards have been defined, at least in their early versions. Examples include SDH/SONET, SMDS, Frame Relay and ATM. B-ISDN, the ultimate service offering, still is very much in the early stages of development.
Despite the publicity surrounding The Information Superhighway, it is a broad, sweeping and troubled concept. Its form is not well defined, its applications are not entirely clear, its funding is uncertain, regulatory issues abound, and implementation is by no means assured. Highway or Hypeway? Only time will tell! In that context, it is worth reflecting on the content of a letter sent in 1829 from Martin Van Buren, Governor of New York, to President Andrew Jackson.
Dear Mr. President:
The canal system of this country is being threatened by the spread of a new form of transportation known as railroads. The federal government must preserve the canals for the following reasons.
One: If canal boats are supplanted by railroads, serious unemployment will result. Two: Boat builders would suffer and tow-line, whip and harness makers would be left destitute. Three: Canal boats are absolutely essential to the defense of the United States.
As you may well know, Mr. President, railroad carriages are pulled at the enormous speed of 15 miles per hour by engines which, in addition to endangering life and limb of passengers, roar and snort their way through the countryside, setting fire to crops, scaring the livestock, and frightening women and children. The Almighty certainly never intended that people should travel at such breakneck speed.
(signed)
Martin Van Buren
Governor of New York
The Information Superhighway truly is not a thing, and it will not be an event. Rather, it is a concept that will unfold in various ways and with various capabilities. In India, for example, the I-Way might mean placing a single payphone in every small village, while urban dwellers would gain Internet access. In the United States, select business and residence users in urban areas likely will have access to multiple providers of high-speed networks in support of voice, data, video, and entertainment. U.S. schools and libraries, with government support, will have access, perhaps universally. In secondary and rural U.S. markets, such capabilities will be spotty, if available at all. The development of the I-Way, certainly in full form, will be gradual and will be driven by market forces, more than by social interests and government policy.
Convergence is defined as the moving toward union or one another. In the context of The Information Superhighway, the concept of convergence cuts across a number of dimensions, including a wide range of applications and the underlying technologies. In full form, convergence represents the coming together of every technology and application that we have discussed in the previous 14 chapters.
Applications truly are at the very crux of convergence. The only conceivable reason for investing billions of dollars in network technologies is to serve legitimate, revenue-producing applications. There appears to be no single killer ap driving the Information Superhighway, although the World Wide Web comes close. Certainly, there do exist a number of interesting and productive niche applications which, in various user-specific combinations, constitute a killer ap suite. Multimedia, in full form, is currently viewed as the ultimate in terms of presentation mode, although broad and legitimate WAN applications are yet to be defined.
The network technologies under the umbrella of the Information Superhighway are already being put in place. Analog switches and transmission facilities rapidly are being replaced with digital network elements. This process is largely complete in the carrier backbone networks and the central office exchange networks. The local loop, of course, is virtually 100% analog, at least in the world of voice telecommunications.
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