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This is one article from the issue of September, 2002.
For other stories and articles, go to the Current Issue.
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Telework |
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Need For Speed
Broadband Is Still A Dream For Many
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The unrelenting pace of Internet bandwidth expansion continues; we're now approaching the ability to deliver real-time television in a few urban areas. In Europe, pay-per-view services are already available via Internet. Unfortunately, vast regions of North America are still deprived, and many more suffer from spotty, even shoddy, service. Less than 25% of Internet-using households are wired for broadband access today.
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| "Broadband"
is now defined (by the FCC) as at least 200 Kb/s in both directions. | |
The situation will get worse. Corporate portals and major eBusiness websites always have "fat" Internet connections. Most corporations have chosen to locate their servers where they can get fast Internet connections. The software developers are typically nearby and never have to suffer the frustrations of trying to reach their beautiful websites from a motel room in the boondocks.
This disparity between what can be offered and the value of that offering to real users is likely to continue for the rest of this decade.
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The "digital divide" is widening, and the one that matters to you is the divide between those who can get economical broadband access and those who can't.
In a report earlier this year to Congress, the Government Services Administration (GSA) reports this is one of the few remaining technology barriers to widespread (and
environmentally friendly) teleworking and other alternatives to commuting.
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| "The
speed of a teleworker's network connection will impact the overall quality
of a teleworker's home IT environment."
—GSA
Report
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For more details, check out
the paper at the GSA
website.
How'd This Happen?
Congress passed legislation in 1996, designed to encourage competition, but it's had unintended consequences. The resulting collapse in long-distance and cellular phone rates in recent years has had three significant effects on the communications industry:
1 | Their stock market valuations make it harder (and less attractive) to raise capital,
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2 | They have less capital to invest, and
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3 | They need to raise prices for broadband to cover losses in traditional income.
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For all the publicity around Internet broadband rollout plans, they're virtually stalled. In Sacramento, the state capital of California, with a population of 2 million, there are dense areas of businesses and homes where broadband is available on one side of a highway, and no immediate plans to service the other.
The lack of capital also means the communications carriers are no longer doing routine maintenance on their telephone equipment, resulting in declining quality of service. So, in some areas, even dial-up Internet connections are getting slower, more error-ridden, and less reliable.
The same forces are driving the independent suppliers. They're affected both by the lack of capital, and by the fact that most of them have to rely on the deteriorating or non-existent service from the local telephone company to get to the business or residence.
What It Means
Asking people to work from home or the road will probably require that you first investigate whether they will be able to use the technology they need.
Even if broadband access is available, it may not be useful. AT&T Broadband's Internet offering, for instance, has restrictive contract terms that may prohibit its' use in your business. Be sure to evaluate the terms of agreement before signing up. And, have your technology and legal experts review those terms and tell you what they prohibit.
You may have to pay higher rates to get commercial Internet service to the employees' residence. While residential access is in the $40 range in most urban areas, commercial services cost well over $100. However, for that added monthly fee you'll get permission to do what you need on those lines, more reliable service, with faster repair when failures do occur.
Most of the broadband providers can't even tell you with any confidence that you can get service, especially if you live at the edges of the coverage area. You may have to ask neighbors what they've successfully bought. In some cases, you'll actually have to pay up-front, nonrefundable installation fees only to discover you can't get service.
Road Warriors Even Worse Off
If you and your people travel a lot, access to broadband from hotels and motels, airports and airline lounges is spotty at best. It may limit what people are able to do without having to return to the central office. Road warriors may have to stay at more expensive hotels offering broadband Internet access, increasing your travel costs (room rates at better lodging plus Internet access may add $75/night).
Security is a serious problem. Travelers may not even be aware that their broadband connections on the road are totally insecure, so you need to caution them about sending and receiving sensitive information.
There's a truly scary report on the Internet about one computer experts' ability to read the mail of users inside an airline
lounge.
It Will Get Better
Fortunately, this is a short-term problem that will be resolved in coming years, unless new competitors are prohibited from thriving. During the turn of the millennium, companies spent billions laying new high-speed fiber optic cable to carry the anticipated traffic. Less than 10% of that capacity has even been lit up. So, the "fat pipes" to carry broadband traffic are in place, just not yet in use. The remaining problem is the "last mile" (or, in rural areas, "the last ten miles") from the telephone company's offices out to the business or residence, and there are lots of innovative businesses (and government programs) that have emerged to address those issues.
In conclusion: Don't assume that your urban collaborators always have high-speed access available to them, and don't assume all rural users are without.
You can, however, expect the situation to improve in coming years.
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