Towards a policy framework for integrating space technology applications for sustainable development on the information superhighway

2. Building the information superhighway

2.1 Enabling technologies on the information superhighway

The term “convergence” is becoming a buzzword along the information superhighway; it combines various aspects of once seemingly separate undertakings and encompasses a broad set of technological developments, industry restructuring and associated regulatory changes. Convergence is not just about technology, but also about services and doing business, and technology’s interaction with society. The advent of computers and the advancement of digital technology worldwide were the prime movers of this convergence phenomenon sweeping across the world. It has resulted in an entirely new perspective on communication and technology, requiring organizational reorientation around the world, not only cooperatively through newer alliances and mergers, but also competitively through intrusion into one another’s markets (Hukill and others, 2000). Broadly, convergence is understood to encompass the overlapping and ubiquitous use of computer systems, network infrastructure and other electronic communication systems for content creation, packaging, storage, archiving, retrieval and dissemination of digitally encoded information, whether in communications, broadcasting or in information technology. Technological convergence, leading to a seamless integration of all forms of wireline and wireless media on a fully digital information superhighway network, allows access to an array of information from anywhere in the world at any time. For these reasons, any discussions about the information superhighway will not be complete if they do not address the role of enabling technologies, including space technology elements, which essentially drive the convergence and the seamless integration. An understanding of the nature of these developments will help the decision makers to appreciate the underlying issues as they address the altering scenario and the policy framework thereon.

Some of the key technological trends in the development of the information superhighway are summarized at a broad level below.

(a) Increasing the adoption of digital technologies, covering a wide range of disciplines associated with computer, communication and information technologies. Digital source encoding forms the primary basis for the convergence and, once encoded, the data is in “bits”, and the systems and networks handling such information are indifferent to the nature of the source, whether image, sound or text. For example, the basic building block for digital encoding of moving images is the family of standards from the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG);

(b) Availability of high-speed networks, both terrestrial and satellite-based, with high data rate handling capability and spectral efficiency. Transmission technologies such as the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), and Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) will ensure that both existing and new infrastructure can play a role in carrying out the new services. The capabilities are further enhanced by compression techniques implicit in the MPEG standards (European Commission, 1997);

(c) Internet Protocol (IP) emerging as the de facto network protocol and becoming platform-independent. The Internet’s open, non-proprietary approach to standards has ensured rapid enhancement of the capabilities of the World Wide Web, owing to the open approach to browser development taken by many vendors (European Commission, 1997).

Advances in microelectronic devices and technologies are leading to compact and portable multi-function devices such as personal digital assistants (PDA) packed with computing and communication capabilities. With everything becoming digital, analogue components of existing networks are being progressively phased out. Optical fibre, with immense bandwidth, is being increasingly used in wireline networks. The advent of photonics is yet another development, which, with its enormous versatility, presents a challenge to the supremacy of electronics in network circuitry. Advances in digital multiplexing and transmission technologies make it possible to package more information into the existing conduits and move them across the networks with greater speed and efficiency. With everything digital, any medium can be a conduit for any type of content, subject only to the bandwidth limitation. Simultaneous developments in client-server computing make it possible to customize and provide services on demand to fit user requirements. Some of the relevant developments and trends in contemporary technologies related to the information superhighway are summarized in the sections below.

2.1.1 Wireline systems

Wireline systems refer normally to telephone, cable television, and data networks, and individually each one of these has its own technologies and services. With the convergence to digital content and the transmission through cable and multimedia service capabilities, these networks have started resembling each other in terms of technology and functionality. The Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), the most prevalent of the wireline networks, is undergoing transition to digital, except probably for the “last mile” connection and the terminating equipment, which are analogue. With the growth of Internet connectivity on the rise, the demand for digital connectivity to subscribers’ premises has gone up. The ISDN, DSL, cable modem and computer modem technologies permit digital connectivity over the access segment of the telephone network. ATM is a packet-switching technology that provides bandwidth-on-demand and high-speed multimedia transmission over wide area networks. ATM is emerging as a standard with its capability to accommodate all forms of content and the Internet Protocol. Many countries in the region are deploying ATM over the fibre optic backbone of their national information infrastructure. There are also newer technology developments in fibre transmission such as Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM), which yields tremendous transmission speeds and enhanced capacity. Nonetheless, although optical systems are being planned around the region, with China, India and Japan leading the pack, they may not become commonplace in the near future.

The convergence of PSTN and cable television (CATV) networks has started, in which the CATV network, emulating the star configuration of PSTN, has started providing interactive, broadband, switched services to subscribers’ premises. Cable telephony services, cable-based Internet access and interaction services such as pay-per-view (PPV) and video-on-demand (VOD) have already been offered in some countries.

2.1.2 Wireless systems

Radio communication is advancing on many fronts, providing complementary and competing solutions for the fixed and mobile services. Spectrum scarcity is becoming less of an issue as technological advances allow the use of higher frequencies besides more efficient use of the existing spectrum. Recent terrestrial and satellite wireless systems also have provision for digital interaction capabilities at increasing bandwidths. Terrestrial systems have limitations imposed by vagaries of weather, terrain and so on, aside from problems related to incompatible and non-interoperable standards. The alternatives offered by the satellite systems, such as the Fixed Satellite Service (FSS), Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS), Direct-to-Home (DTH), Personal Satellite Service (PSS) and Global Broadband Service (GBS) have the advantages of fast deployment, cost-effectiveness and flexibility.

2.1.3 Mobile telephony

Mobile telephony has been growing fast in the Asian and Pacific region with a phenomenal increase in cellular subscribers. Competing cellular and radio standards have evolved, reflecting the increasing range of alternatives. The second-generation systems, which are digital, unlike the first generation, permit medium-speed data transfer in addition to voice communication. Typical systems include Digital Advanced Mobile Phone System (D-AMP), time division multiple access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), and code division multiple access (CDMA). While digitization, multiple access and the use of higher frequencies allow these systems to have more subscribers, the incompatibility between the TDMA and CDMA systems does not always allow free roaming across networks. The development of third-generation standards in the year 2000, termed Universal Mobile Telecommunications System / International Mobile Telecommunication (UMTS/IMT 2000), allows more efficient use of the spectrum, packet data / IP access and higher data transfer rates with multimedia capabilities. Developed by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the UMTS/IMT 2000 standards are much more widely accepted than other standards, and many countries in the region have set a time frame for implementation of these standards.

2.1.4 Wireless local loop

Wireless local loop (WLL) is yet another promising technology using radio rather than wireline to connect the users to the local exchange. It provides a competitive means of expanding telephone connections to places in the region where the cost of connecting them otherwise may inhibit the provision of basic services. WLL can be fixed or mobile and can work in conjunction with the cellular systems. This low-cost option of adding additional users has attracted attention in the region, with countries such as China, India, Indonesia and the Philippines opting for WLL.

2.1.5 Satellite communication systems

Communication satellites have proved their usefulness in a variety of applications whether in broadcasting, mobile communications, Internet applications, or broadband wide area networking. Figure 2.1 depicts, in a simple form, the most important features of the satellites with regard to some of the important applications.

Source: Lutz, E., M. Werner and A. Jahn, 2000. Satellite Systems for Personal and Broadcast Communications (Berlin, Springer-Verlag).

Figure 2.1 Satellite communication applications

The usefulness of satellite systems for broadcasting is unquestionable, since a single satellite at the altitude of 36,000 km over the equator, known as geostationary orbit (GEO), can cover almost one third of the globe. With 93 non-military geostationary communications satellites providing services to the Asian and Pacific region at the beginning of 2001, carrying a total of 2,155 transponders (APAC, 2002), and many more in the pipeline, the efficacy of the system is no longer in question. Meanwhile, digital satellite broadcasting is making inroads in the form of DTH service and DBS, though the progress made is a bit slow. There are strong cultural and moral viewpoints in some of the countries with regard to the entry of foreign operators and broadcasters. The advent of the WTO regime will put these national policies under pressure in the coming days.

The 1990s saw the evolution of satellite telephony as an alternative to the terrestrial wireless system. Systems such as Iridium and Globalstar, based on low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite systems, and the Intermediate Circular Orbit (ICO) Global Communications system, which is based on medium Earth orbit (MEO), were deployed by a number of commercial operators for regional and global roaming services. While the financial viability of these models has not been proved successful, resulting in non-availability of services, these systems did demonstrate a new way of providing an alternative to the terrestrial system. Like LEOs and MEOs, the geostationary Earth orbit satellites can provide mobile telephony services. Aside from the latency, or round-trip-delay, owing to the time taken by the electromagnetic signal to traverse the distance between the satellite and the ground station, both ways, the GEO satellites have the advantages of proven technology, longer life and lower cost, since only a single satellite need be deployed, as against a number of satellites called for in LEO and MEO systems. Currently, there are two mobile voice services in operation in Asia and the Pacific, both based on GEO satellites. The Asia Cellular Satellite system (ACeS) launched its service in the last quarter of 2000 and is operational in Indonesia and the Philippines. The Middle East-based Thuraya satellite, launched in October 2000, commenced its services in July 2001. Both these systems, however, have some way to go before they can demonstrate profitability.

For broadband communications, satellite technology has made significant inroads in the Asia and Pacific region by the deployment of a large number of VSATs. VSAT systems, with their sophistication, rapid deployment and independent infrastructure, have proved to be more flexible and less expensive than the traditional wireline infrastructure, and they can provide voice, facsimile and data support to hard-to-reach user groups. Since a VSAT network is scalable, sites can be added or throughput increased, incrementally. Growth of the network, even while exponential, is easy to manage, thus saving costs. The number of VSATs in the region has grown from around 5,000 in 1990 to more than 20,000 in 1994, and it may pass 100,000 in 2000.

Currently, satellites are already providing Internet services based on the Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). There are also developments in regard to broadband (Ka-band) communication satellites, with WildBlue, SpaceWay and iPStar planning to enter the market in the next two to three years, and the coming years will see intense competition between the terrestrial and satellite system operators to provide affordable Internet services to the user community. (See chapter 3 for details.)

2.1.6 Internet services

The Internet and the World Wide Web symbolize the convergence of media infrastructure and services. Unlike any other medium, it has empowered the average user to become an originator of content and services, in addition to being a consumer. Used primarily in the early days for email, file transfer and remote login applications, the Internet has graduated to many innovative applications in areas as diverse as distance education, telemedicine, e-commerce, banking, and corporate communication, to name only a few. The browser programs that help the users access the Internet have sophisticated features such as audio and video streaming and other multimedia applications. At present the bandwidth constraints are the prime limitation which, once resolved, will allow more innovative, interactive broadband applications. The number of Internet users in Asia is expected to reach around 150 million in 2003, compared with 76 million in June 2000. Currently it is estimated to be around 100 million, as shown in table 2.1 below (Baugh, 2001).

Table 2.1 Number of Internet users in the Asian and Pacific region

All figures in percentages

By June 2000, Japan, China and the Republic of Korea were the world’s second, third and fourth Internet markets, respectively, by number of users (Giovanni, 2001). Demand for broadband services also shows enormous growth in the region. In August 2000, the Republic of Korea surpassed the United States as the leading user of broadband in the world, though it has less than one fifth of the population of the United States. Taiwan Province of China is expected to have more than one million broadband customers connected by the end of 2001 (APAC, 2002).

Yet another significant development in recent times is the advent of Internet telephony, which permits telephone connection at the marginal cost of Internet access time. It has raised issues such as potential loss of revenue to the telephone companies from long distance and international services, besides calling into serious question the international accounting rates regime and bilateral settlement of payments in telecommunications. Many countries or areas in the region, such as Cambodia; India; the Lao People’s Democratic Republic; Malaysia; and Hong Kong, China; have announced their intention to introduce these services in the near future.

Source: International Data Corporation, December 2001.