Access to broadband Internet continues to grow worldwide and already has more than 102 million subscribers in early 2004. Today, digital subscriber lines (DSL) and cable modems are the technologies for broadband access more widely used. Worldwide, the DSL account for 57% of broadband users, followed by cable modem service with 37%. Today the vast majority of broadband connections are made through fixed lines, as it initially was a connection “wired” Internet. So, many economies with low penetration rate of fixed lines or cable television have been left behind in the train of broadband. Even among the roughly 6 million broadband users who do not use DSL or cable modems, most of them using alternative fixed-line networks such as Ethernet / urban or local area networks, which represent an important part of the market Hong Kong (China) and Sweden, or fiber to the home (whose importance grows in Iceland and Japan).
Wireless technologies and standards are evolving and that more and more places where you can access the Internet and other networks. The most popular and widespread of these technologies is “wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi), which offers connectivity at speeds of 11 Mbit / s at a radius of 100 meters, using unlicensed spectrum in the band 2 4 GHz so far, users of broadband wireless platforms are still a large minority, but wireless broadband is becoming a technology residual and it is hoped that wireless broadband technologies to become the most attractive solution in developing countries that do not have a stable and extensive infrastructure of fixed lines.
Connectivity in Action
It was recounted their experience of a trip to Alaska in early 2004 to a village beyond the Arctic Circle where the inhabitants have taken the DSL and wireless broadband services to improve their daily lives, and noted that “Thanks to these broadband technologies, a consortium established links with schools, hospitals and homes. It is a testament to how broadband connectivity can eliminate the gap, reducing isolation, to connect citizens with government services and boost the local economy. ”
Worldwide are being carried out pioneering projects like, where the government conducted public awareness campaigns to encourage the adoption of broadband. Governments, from Bhutan to India and Latin America are experiencing network solutions for broadband, many of them wireless, to reduce the distance and isolation, linking villages and rural areas with national networks.
The cores provide Wi-Fi wireless broadband Internet and send or receive e-mail or voice services using Internet Protocol (VoIP) and are increasingly popular as “free.” Many universities, conferences (including those of the ITU), airports, cafes and hotels offer free access to wireless local area networks (WLAN) for visitors to access these nuclei. The decision by the World Radiocommunication Conference of ITU in July 2003 to provide additional spectrum for Wi-Fi in the range of 5 GHz around the world can also help increase its popularity.
The advent of technologies such as WiMAX (wireless interoperability for microwave access) has raised the question of whether they access platforms at low cost are subject to a licensing regime. Countries like the United States are displayed against, but have established certain parameters for unlicensed use. Wi-MAX and Wi-Bro (Wireless Broadband) capabilities promise coverage much greater than Wi-Fi, up to 50 kilometers for services at fixed locations and 1 kilometer for the vehicles moving.
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