Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Japan has one of the fastest broadband services
in the world due to an increase in government
support (DOGC, 2009). Recent investments have
been directed towards (optic) FTTH network
installations which have resulted in broadband
speeds of up to 1Gbps. In Japan FTTH is not
only fast and reliable, but it is also offered with
one of the best prices to speed ratio in the world.
Moreover the Japanese government regularly pro-
vides subsidies of up to 33% for the maintenance
and upkeep of the entire network infrastructure
with the aim of propelling Japan to the forefront
of the fast growing global digital economy. The
Japanese government has introduced a new “zero
broadband areas elimination” policy, which will
spread broadband coverage to the entire country
within two years, to confront this issue. Japan
remains the world's leader in connecting homes
to optic fibre networks with over 30 million
people connected to high-speed networks. Other
developed countries around the world are now
embracing optic fibre technology so as not to be
left behind. It is however not certain if any country
can compete with the Japanese, who have already
begun investing in high-speed wireless network
(Wimax) and 4G mobile transmissions which will
be closely followed by the commercialization of
10 Gbps optic fibre networks and eventually 160
Gbps high speed optical connection.
The Korea Communications Commission
(KCC, 2009) has announced that about 34.1 tril-
lion won (which is composed of about 32.8 trillion
won of private funds and about 1.3 trillion won
of government funds) will be invested to change
the domestic wired, wireless and broadcasting
communication network into an Internet network.
They plan to make the world's best converged
infrastructure of wired, wireless and broadcast-
ing systems with a guaranteed speed of 1 Gbps
for wired networks and 10 Mbps for wireless
networks. When this Ultra Broadband conver-
gence Network (UBcN) is built, customers can
use all converged services including phone calls,
TV, online shopping, and interactive TV finance
with UDTV. Furthermore, customers will also be
able to use high quality and interactive services
like tutoring, medical care, civil affairs solutions,
and e-commerce. When people are outside of the
house, they can use multi-converged services
like Internet access, phone calls, and IPTV 10
times faster than now, using their mobile phones
or private portable devices. The Singapore Gov-
ernment has decreed the structural separation of
new national broadband network infrastructure
from the operating company that will operate its
switches and routers (IDA, 2009). The Singapore
Government would provide up to S$750m of
funding for the network.
The Singapore government in the correspond-
ing Request for Proposal for the passive infrastruc-
ture defines that a Network Company, or NetCo,
will be selected to design, build and operate Layer
1 passive infrastructure that will carry the NGN
traffic, expected to range between 100Mbps and
1Gbps to the end user, with a minimum upload
speed of 50Mbps. A separate Layer 2/3 Operat-
ing Company or Opco will deploy the electronics
such as switches and routers to manage the flow
of traffic on the passive infrastructure. This same
entity will offer wholesale broadband access to
downstream Retail Service Providers, or RSPs.
There must be operational separation between the
Opco and the RSPs. The network is expected to
be complete by 2015 with 50% coverage by 2012.
Best Practices
This section presents best practices concerning
the deployment of broadband networks from two
viewpoints. The first one regards the business mod-
els adopted by several regions or municipalities.
The second viewpoint regards the technological
solutions adopted by regions concerning their
broadband networks.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search