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1. Introduction
This presentation will first define the concept of
broadband and will then discuss its impact today on the phenomenon of
the convergence of telecommunications. It concludes that bandwidth has
become the raw material of such convergence.
2. Broadband network defined
The first step is to define what we mean by
broadband network. A network is a series of interconnected resources
which, managed in some fashion, interact to meet the needs of its
users. Although the meaning of the term broadband is somewhat unclear,
to classify sizes of ranges of communications bands, two criteria are
used: transmission speed and bandwidth.
The transmission or transfer speed is a measure
of the amount of information the network can absorb per unit of
time. Therefore, the faster the transmission speed, the greater the
network’s bandwidth will be.
Bandwidth is also a measure of capacity so that
the greater the network’s bandwidth, the more information the
network can support in a given time period.
With that clarification, we can now provide a
definition of a broadband network as one able to transport large
amounts of information (high bandwidth) in short periods of time (high
transmission speed), which may even become subject to the will of
network users (on-demand communications).
Broadband penetration of networks is a gradual
process, one naturally governed by the demand of users of new services
and of the availability of infrastructure to support them. Throughout
this process, the two aspects of integration play an important part:
the supply of multiple services, whether or not of different types
(service integration) on a single network (network integration).
3. The convergence phenomenon
Today’s service providers have invested huge sums
in their access and transport infrastructure with the initial aim of
forming part of a large service monopoly. The advantages this affords
are market presence and market capacity. The disadvantage is that,
often, the network is based on old, inflexible technology that cannot
be adapted to rigorous modern service demands. Some business
competitors have improved their infrastructure, but have paid a high
price: the above-mentioned regulatory framework means that
infrastructure investment cost recovery periods are lengthy and that,
at today’s swift pace of technological change, such infrastructure
becomes functionally obsolete before costs are truly recovered.
However, the challenge is yet more basic: even if a business
participant has the technological and financial means to invest in a
new technology, often the company will not make the investment as,
under current regulatory structures, any newly-developed technology
must immediately be made available to market competitors, thereby
eliminating any advantage that the innovative provider might enjoy.
The phenomenon of convergence is real and
necessary. It has three elements: convergence of technology, the
apparently inexorable evolution towards a single grouped technological
network capable of providing a vast array of marketable services;
convergence of companies, the tendency of companies to merge as a
means of consolidating their capacities; and convergence of services,
which leads companies that have converged to use knowledge management
techniques to develop customer profiles so that they can create
solutions targeting their specific business challenges.
A series of specific observations may be made in
connection with convergence of services, the ultimate objective of the
three aspects of the convergence phenomenon. Quality of service (QoS),
which may be measured and maintained, has become a marketable product,
and the industry’s most widely repeated mantra has been that services
should be based on customer demands rather than on technological
possibilities.
4. Conclusion
As the price of bandwidth continues to fall and as
it becomes more widely available, applications with ever-greater
bandwidth requirements are being developed. Bandwidth has therefore
become one more component in the series of services providers offer.
Today, providers are developing technologies that will soon enable
them to offer the bandwidth of modems, DSL, and high speed wireless
technologies as if they were Local Multipoint Distribution Services
(LMDS).
Miki Saito
Co-rapporteur
Study Question III: Broadband Access Technologies
Working Group on Advanced Network Technologies and Services
e-mail: [email protected]
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