ISSUE 6, February 2006   

Welcome to issue 6

In the broadband world Fibre and generally wired solutions are held as the more scalable solutions for the future needs of broadband users. These solutions will not be offered to all rural dwellers and based on competition only some areas in Europe may never have accessed to any wired broadband solutions. In this newsletter we look at the main wired technologies available. Also in this issue we look at entertainment services and how your kids may well force you to go for higher speed broadband. In the virtual world of online gaming it is kill or be killed and you may well find at your own expenses that you may have been dead for a while if you are using slow speed broadband!

WIRED BROADBAND SOLUTIONS

While telecommunications started from deploying isolated links that directly connect two points, and developed through the stages.

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IS BROADBAND ALL PLAY AND NO WORK

The democratisation of entertainment brought upon by the Internet and broadband but also the increased level of ICT literacy of the younger generation is revolutionising not only the way young people are entertained but also the entertainment and broadcasting industries themselves. By proactively seeking new ways of gaining access to music, movies, televisions shows, games, users are forcing the corporate music and broadcasting industry to rethink their market approach and shares.

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WIRED BROADBAND SOLUTIONS

While telecommunications started from deploying isolated links that directly connect two points, and developed through the stages of isolated islands and networks dedicated to certain applications, the telecommunications environment of today should rather be viewed as an integrated global network.

Two aspects of viewing the networks should be clearly understood and distinguished:
Technology. This is the engineering part. It includes all kinds of hardware a software means that provide physical media along with the due access techniques, modulation and transmission of information between endpoints, interfaces letting applications to access services. "Network Operators and Service Providers". This deals with integrating and selling end-to-end services to the ultimate users. Network operators use technologies that they own themselves or lease from somebody else, as well as cooperate with other operators, to ultimately get their users either connected between them or having access to the needed resources

COPPER

Copper wire has been used for many years as the mainstay of signal transmission. It has low electrical resistance, so the loss due to current flowing in the wires is quite small. It is very easy to work; it can be bent and straightened many times without breaking, i.e. it is malleable. Copper wire cable used in telecommunications comes in two varieties: Twisted pair - Twisted pair data cables for LANs are specified as categories 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7. Most used is CAT-5, specified by standards TIA/EIA 568A, ISO/IEC 11801, EN 50173. Coaxial pair - The 75-ohm cable is commonly used for analogue transmission, including cable TV networks. The 50-ohm cable is commonly used in data networks.

FIBRE

Fibre optics, compared to copper wires, is a relatively new technology. The Fibre optic cables are more expensive in production and maintenance, but they offer significantly more bandwidth, hence higher transmission speeds. Several varieties of optic cables exist today, having different properties.

Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC) system

The HFC network is a broadband access network comprising an optical-Fibre part from the head end location to optical network units (ONUs), which serve the customers via coaxial cable. HFC supports a mix of analogue and digital channels using a frequency-division multiplexing (FDM) scheme. The available bandwidth is split into channels: the downstream traffic contains analogue distribution channels, digital channels for video and audio distribution, and video-on-demand, and finally for the downstream part of interactive services.

Wave Division Multiplexing

Wave Division Multiplexing (WDM and DWDM) is a multiplexing technology that divides the optical beam on a single Fibre strand into its component colours (wavelengths).

One of the main attractions of DWDM is that it can be installed on existing in ground Fibre without digging it up - meaning lower installation costs for additional capacity. This is already having an impact on the cost of long-haul transport, but has yet to make a dent in last mile connectivity, largely due to the costly requirement of laying Fibre in the first place.

BPL (Broadband over Power Line)

Power line communications (PLC) means data transfer via a combination of the power network within the home or office and the metropolitan power distribution grid. Instead of having to install dedicated cabling, PLC uses power lines to carry data. signals and electricity are combined together and, once in the home, all power sockets can be used to connect to the data communications. These systems operate on an unlicensed basis. BPL systems may operate either inside a building (“In-house BPL”) or over utility poles and medium voltage electric power lines (“Access BPL”). As In-house BPL systems can use the electrical outlets available in every room of a building to transfer information between computers and between other home electronic devices, they eliminate the need to install new wires between these devices.

Access BPL systems can be used to provide high speed internet access and other broadband services to homes as well as providing electric utility companies with a means to more effectively manage their electric power distribution operations. Access BPL can be made available in conjunction with the delivery of electric power, it may provide an effective means for last mile delivery of broadband services, and may offer a competitive alternative to digital subscriber line (DSL), cable modem services and other high-speed Internet technologies. BPL is standardised in: ETSI-PLT.

Fibre To The Home

Fibre to the home (FTTH) is the ideal Fibre-optics architecture. In this architecture, Fibre deployment is carried all the way to the customer’s home (premises}. FTTH has been developed in response to several residential access market drivers, including the following: The Internet explosion, second line growth, the desire for higher speeds, alternative strategies such as voice over DSL (VoDSL), voice over IP (VoIP), voice over ATM (VoATM), and cable modems It is commonly assumed that optical Fibre will migrate deeper into broadband access networks, supporting the rollout of higher speed and symmetrical broadband services

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IS BROADBAND ALL PLAY AND NO WORK?

The democratisation of entertainment brought upon by the Internet and broadband but also the increased level of ICT literacy of the younger generation is revolutionising not only the way young people are entertained but also the entertainment and broadcasting industries themselves. By proactively seeking new ways of gaining access to music, movies, televisions shows, games, users are forcing the corporate music and broadcasting industry to rethink their market approach and shares. The music and broadcasting industry in particular seem to have been initially taken by surprise by people’s new downloading habits. The initial defensive reactions of the music industry lead to legal pursuits being carried out against private users having illegally downloaded music. However, the success of the ipods and other mp3 players has meant that legal downloads are now creating a very good revenue stream for the industry. It is expected that these applications along with online gaming will be a major driver for children and young people asking their parents for broadband.

Relevance of Broadband for entertainment

The use of the broadband infrastructure to distribute entertainment services has already taken hold in Europe. The penetration of Playstation devices in Ireland is second only to Japan. The creation of an interactive 3-D video experience for the consumer is underway and will drive the need for broadband in the home. Entertainment has already proven to be one of the first application areas to drive broadband take-up in South Korea, where broadband usage is significantly higher than in the US or the UK and where entertainment companies such as Disney are now teaming with broadband providers to embedded their applications deeper in the pc market.

Standards which have been established for transmission of video signals (MP4) require a 6 Mbps stream to accommodate one High Definition Television (HDTV) channel. It is generally accepted in the industry that for any entertainment use, that four such channels in operation at any time would require a 24 Mbps pipe into the home. 49 File-swapping is an application increasing exponentially in usage. The projected increase in devices requiring file–sharing will stimulate demand for far greater bandwidth in the home. This revolution has just begun and with the raising expectations of users for video download on demand, online gaming, both the bandwidth and symmetry required will mean that not only broadband will be required but higher speeds broadband will be required in rural areas ruling out technologies which will not scale up.

Online Gaming

Broadband allows pc game players a brand new interactive experience by giving them the ability to play console games online. The player is no longer confined to be playing against the computer or against a player physically present in the room but he can now measure his skills against other gamers from around the world and even chat with their team-mates and opponents whilst playing.

The two main games consoles Xbox Live and PlayStation 2 Network Gaming have excellent online gaming services which can only be enjoyed through a broadband connection. The requirement for broadband when it comes to online gaming is vital as there is little point playing if you are not instantly made aware of whether you have hit a target or you have yourself been hit. The latency due to technology such as Satellite is a major drawback for those intending to use broadband to play online.

Broadband TV

Broadband TV is a fairly new technology. Broadband TV uses high-speed Internet connections to allow you to watch television programming on your computer and in most cases for free. One of the most exciting aspects of broadband TV is the ability to watch television programming that is being broadcasted from literally all over the world. Programs can be seen at any time of the day and can be recorded and played back with ease. English-language broadband TV broadcasts are available from a number of countries, and there are also a large number of broadcasts available in other languages. This poses some real challenges to broadcasters and content providers as for example European broadcasters who generally show TV series a few months later than they are shown in the USA, are now competing with the free availability of the US TV

Video on Demand

VOD is an acronym for Video on Demand. Instead of buying a DVD and having a physical copy, or renting from the video store, you can pay to view or download the entire movie. Basically, VOD is a broadband entertainment library service offering the individual viewer the choice of the available content on demand. When the program is requested and confirmed it is then delivered to the viewer over an available broadband channel in encrypted form. A basic assumption is that for the download to be instantenous is that the broadband speeds will be more in the 10-20mgbs than the current rural broadband solutions of 2mgbs they will be encouraged to use it, rather than applying an additional access charge as an extra barrier. However, the current debate in the industry is not if, but when VOD will replace DVD rental, with estimates ranging from 2008 to 2015.

Concluding remarks on Broadband & entertainment

The development of new products and softwares will push the deployment of Broadband in rural communities. But the effects of the new entertainment services and application on life in rural communities are not yet fully comprehended. However, with young people increasingly having the purchasing power when it comes to ICT in the home, it is likely that having access to those services will dictate the type of broadband offerings their parents subscribe to. In terms of cultural and entertainment providers, they still require to put more efforts in the production of live performances may they be theatrical ones or concerts on the Internet, and in doing so opening new avenues for distribution. If not actions are taken in these fields the digital revolution will create more cultural divide than already exists today. For tomorrow’s entertainments services speeds of 2 MBs offered to rural areas of Europe is neither satisfactory nor suitable to ensure that children growing up in rural areas enjoy the same connectivity benefits as their urban counterparts.

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NEWS IN BRIEF

• Despite widespread availability of broadband in the UK, take up seems to be negatively biased towards rural areas. A Point Topic research shows that all top ten local authorities areas with the highest broadband density are in London and the home counties. Broadband density according to them is highest in prosperous suburban areas. Interestingly when compared with previous research Point Topic found that density for poorer families is actually lower than had been assumed.
• Based on BT figures for different regions the report also found that rural areas often have a lower density than the suburbs even where broadband is equally available. The question which has been forward before about ICT and rural areas remains: Are rural population just different from the rest of the population when it comes to wanting to use applications and services? We believe they are not and that given a chance any kid will want to be able to play online or download the latest episode of Star Trek
• A new discussion paper published in January 2006 in Ireland reviews the demand in the Irish Broadband Market. The report like the OECD report before it concludes that the development of broadband should be left alone and that the natural laws of competition will in time ensure coverage and choices for all. However, there is only one mention of rural areas in the report and no updates on how the government's funded aggregation of demands initiatives for smaller towns are progressing.

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The A-Bard Consortium!