More and more today, governments are recognizing that broadband is important for quality of life to all people. They understand that it is necessary to provide broadband in order to allow their citizens to compete globally, and the improvement of education is also directly related to the availability of internet. In fact, broadband penetration is now treated as a key economic indicator. No wonder so many state and local governments are gathering community input in an effort to understand exactly where broadband exists today and to identify areas where expansion is needed.
Broadband is often called "high-speed" access to the Internet, because it usually has a high rate of data transmission. At the turn of the century most residential access was by dial-up, while businesses generally had broadband Internet access connections. In the following years, however, dial-up usage has declined. In rural areas where cable and DSL are frequently unavailable, satellite Internet has become a satisfactory solution.
Cable Internet is a form of broadband Internet access that uses existing cable television infrastructure, that is to say you receive your internet signal on the same cables that provide your television. Generally speaking, Cable TV networks and telephone networks are the two predominant forms of residential Internet access. That is why it is easy to understand why cities and other highly populated areas have broadband service more readily available.
DSL provides digital data transmissions over the wires of a telephone network. This service is simultaneously delivered along with regular telephone service, using the same telephone line. The reason that this is possible is because it employs a higher frequency. The different frequency bands are then separated by the use of a filter. DSL can generally be up to 250 times faster than a dial up modem, allowing you to use the Internet more efficiently, getting more done in less time. Also, Internet access is always on. There is no dialing or logging in.
The reason DSL cannot be used everywhere is because it is limited by the distance between your residence or business and your provider's Central Office. Because the digital signal travels over copper wires, the potency of the signal bleeds off as the distance covered increases.
A fiber-optic network is very similar to the copper-wire system it is slowly replacing. Fiber-optics use light pulses to transmit information down fiber lines --- as opposed to electronic pulses to transmit information down copper lines. Picture a fiber cable as being a very long tube that is coated with a mirror on the inside. When you shine a light in one end of the tube, the light will come out at the far end --- even if it has to bend around a corner. Since optical fibers are thinner than copper wires, more fibers can be bundled into the same diameter of cable and there is far less signal degradation. More and more service providers are switching over to fiber optical networks, but it is a slow and expensive procedure.
In the meantime, many rural users rely on satellite internet. Satellite Internet access is provided through to users world-wide through a network of low earth orbit and geostationary satellites. Satellite internet customers can range from individuals using the internet at home to large businesses with hundreds of PCs. Generally speaking, satellite connections offer transfer speeds up to 30 times faster than dial-up. Equipment is a little more expensive. Normally a 26" satellite dish is required, along with a special satellite modem. The advantage, of course, is you do not have to be hard-wired to a network in order to receive a satellite signal.
The Internet is now 43 years old. There is no technology that has evolved so rapidly. Even if you look back over just the past fifteen years, the Internet has reinvented itself --- some would say many times. Today people work, bank and shop online. We socialize online, meet our prospective mates online, and actually tell the world what we are doing each minute. We listen, watch and read everything online. As technology evolves there is an amazing future ahead --- and many feel the best is yet to come!
By Jesse Schwarz
0 comments:
Post a Comment