Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
the impact and efficiency of public and private
investments which depend on high-speed com-
munications. Some governments have realised the
importance of broadband and they have invested
public funds to address the limitations of the
communication market. These investments fall
into two general categories: (a) these for extend-
ing access to unserved or under-served areas and
(b) these for upgrading networks with optic fibre
technologies capable of supporting competitive
services in regions and municipalities. Announced
government stimulus spending on communication
infrastructure will largely target these two types of
investment. For example the American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) was
signed into law on February 17, 2009. The Broad-
band Initiatives funded in the Act are intended
to accelerate broadband deployment across the
United States (AAR, 2009). In addition, as part
of Canada's Economic Action Plan (BC, 2009),
$225 million was provided to Industry Canada
over three years to develop and implement a
strategy to extend broadband coverage to as many
unserved and underserved households as possible,
beginning in 2009-2010. Moreover the UK Gov-
ernment has issued “The Digital Britain Report”
(DB, 2009) which describes the Government's
strategic vision for ensuring that the UK is at the
leading edge of the global digital economy. The
report introduces policies to maximize the social
and economic benefits from digital technologies.
Economic crisis presents serious challenges
and opportunities for structural reform and targeted
investment in strategic areas such as broadband.
The above raises various issues concerning the
best manner that governments could accomplish
these goals without displacing or disrupting pri-
vate investment.
According to Organisation for Economic Co-
operation and Development (OECD) (OECD,
2009) the recent economic crisis has led policy
makers in OECD countries to consider poli-
cies for helping their economies. Most of these
policies involve large government expenditures
to support demand for goods and services while
simultaneously increasing the longer-term pro-
ductive capacity of the economy. Investments
in public infrastructures such as electricity, gas,
water, transportation and communications are
key elements of most policies because they have
immediate impact on demand and employment
as well as their strong potential to expand future
supply.
The strongly pro-cyclical nature of communi-
cation network investment also means that skilled
labor and equipment may be left idle and planned
projects shelved until the economy improves. This
labor and equipment could be quickly shifted to
government-funded projects. At the same time,
governments must ensure that interventions do
not interfere with properly functioning markets
or displace private investment.
Broadband and Green IT
Fibre optics could be characterized as “green”
technology. It dissipates much less energy than
copper based cables and. Furthermore, it saves a
lot of materials because one single strand of glass
can carry as much data as many thousands copper
cables, and it can do over a longer distance without
using electronic equipment to regenerate it.
For example the fibre-optic submarine cables
provide an efficient approach for supporting an
ever growing need for international communica-
tions.
Studies supported by, or associated with,
telecommunications companies in various
countries, suggest broad potential for broadband
technologies in supporting activities relative to
energy consumption reduction and consequence
carbon emissions reduction. When we talk about
broadband, connectivity comes to mind. When
we talk about broadband technology it shouldn't
be limited to technology that supports broadband.
The broadband technology includes also technol-
ogy which is supported by broadband.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search