Adoption, Usage, and Global Impact of Broadband Technologies:

Diffusion, Practice and Policy

Drew KeoghComm 504

2.23.11

Broadband & Impact

• What is Broadband?– High speed• Fixed line• Fixed wireless• Mobile infrastructure

– Media Usage• Social Networking• Remote locations• Breaking news

Broadband and Economy

• Importance– Unserved or under served– Upgrading • Existing to fiber

• Economic– Boost– Competitive

Going Green & Government

• New Technology Benefits– Less cable– Less power

• New “Public Utility”– Education

• Distance learning

– Medical• Access

– Telecommuting• Video conferencing

Current Global Policies

• European Union– Open and competitive– Strengthen innovation & investment– Promotes growth & jobs

• Japan– High speed & affordable– Government involvement– Zero broadband areas elimination– Both fiber and 4G

• Korea– UBcN

• Phone, TV, shopping & TV finance

Global Business Models• Irish

– Metropolitan networks for general purpose• Stokab (Swedish)

– Business model in Stockholm developing and leasing fiber optic networks • Netherlands

– Provide fiber as a utility service, as copper and coaxial becomes obsolete• Catalonia

– Homogenous network throughout 300 municipalities• United States

– UTOPIA (Utah)• Open access/wholesale in 18 communities

– Wireless Philadelphia• Through public and private funding the goal is to close the digital gap

• CANARIE (Canada)– Provide service where there is demand– Create a public Infrastructure

• New Zealand– Low cost network with non expensive hardware

FTTH Deployment

• OneCommunity (Northern Ohio)– Counter deindustrialization & decreasing

population• BVU OptiNet (Bristol, VA)– 850 mile area in Southwest Virginia

• Blizznet (Vienna, Austria)– 1,400 KM of fiber used & 2,200 additional laid

• TRE-FOR (East Jutland, Denmark)– Multi-utility that added Ethernet

Future & Conclusion

• Layout– Where and when without interfering

• Funding– Public vs. Private

• Improvements– White Spaces

• Google Project– 1 Gb/s fiber project

Resources• Dwivdei, Yogesh K. (2011) Adoption, Usage,

and Global Impact of Broadband Technologies: Diffusion, Practice and Policy. Information Science Reference, 8, 128-142.

• Romano, Bruce (2010, September 23) FCC frees up vacant TV airwaves for “super wi-fi” technologies [Press release]. Washington, D.C.: FCC. Retrieved from: http://www.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2010/db0923/DOC-301650A1.pdf

• Woolley, Scott (2011, February 8) A Broadband Boom in the Boondocks. Technology Review. Retrieved from http://www.technologyreview.com/communications/32280