Speed of Broadband

Description:

Technically, speed of broadband is measured in terms of data per second. nevertheless, from a user perspective, the speed of broadband is the speed at which they are able to download critical information, such as e-mails, movies or music files.

Enablers:

- Improvement data carriage medium: cable & wireless

- Improvement compressing technologies

- Growth of the new economy (dot.com industries + shift of existing industry to online services)

- Growth of VOIP and further shifts in communication methods from tradtional to digital (i.e. fax replaced by e-mail, TV replaced by WEBTV)

- Growth of online industry platforms

- Mobility: increase usage of broadband functions outside of home/office

Inhibitors:

- Mobility: increase ad-hoc and basic usage

- 2nd Dot.com crash

- Cost of marginal efficiency

- Switching cost for users

- Exit Barriers (inhibits Telecom industry to switch from one technology to the other)

- Real world limitation (output becomes slower than throughput)

Paradigms:

As we spend more time on line and people have more access to computers, we change in the way we tolerate (download) delays and we expect instant access to information.

Because of the populatiry of file sharing and shared archives, there is a change in the perception of ownership of files (why downloading/ saving when you can access infomation any time).

Experts:

IEEE- standard development

Telecom companies

FLAG- (Connection of countries to)

Vint Gray Cerf