The Exclusivity of Ultrafast Communication Networks

• Author: Dr. ir. B.H.M. Custers
• Position: Research Fellow
• Pages: 247-253

Page 247

1. Introduction

In the last decades, it has become clear that people are not only increasingly using information and communication technologies, but are also becoming increasingly dependent on them. As a result, numerous actions that people used to do in person or on paper are now performed digitally. For instance, many people are no longer booking their flight tickets through a travel agency in town, but use the Internet. In many countries, people request their tax returns via their home computers, no longer using paper files. Instead of going to a shop to buy a CD, many people nowadays download their music from the Internet.

Many companies and government organizations are using the increasing possibilities of offering their services digitally. The main reasons for this are the ability to use a more targeted approach and to reduce costs. The targeted approach is simply to adapt to the clients or users, who may find it easier to book a flight ticket at home at their computer than to go out, find an office and be dependent on opening hours. Hence, a travel agency may rapidly lose market share and profit if it does not have an online office for bookings. Regarding the costs, it may also be much less expensive to offer products and services on the Internet than keeping a shop in a shopping street or mall where rental costs are high and personnel is expensive.

At first glance, there is nothing wrong with offering more customized and cheaper services via the Internet. However, there may be a considerable drawback for people who do not have access to the Internet. Because digital services may address most customers and may involve fewer costs, it may ultimately no longer be profitable for companies to have offices in town where people can go to for their products or services. As a result of Internet trade, many music stores, travel agencies and bank offices have already downsized or closed. It is expected that many more will follow in the years to come. People who do not have access to services offered digitally are increasingly experiencing difficulties obtaining the services and products they require. Most people who are not connected to the Internet do not have a subscription for financial reasons. Particularly those shops in town that remain focus on the high end of the market, with very personalized and tailor-made services. In short, the communication networks are gaining in exclusivity, increasing the gap between those who are connected (the haves) and those who are not (the have-nots). In this contribution, it will be investigated how ultrafast communication will influence this exclusivity of the communication networks.

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In Section 2, we will discuss briefly the technological developments regarding ultrafast communication networks. In Section 3, the term exclusivity will be discussed in more detail. The main reasons for exclusivity, costs and knowledge will be investigated in Section 4. Exclusivity may result in social polarization and in manipulation of the information when there are only a limited number of providers of structure and content. This is dealt with in Section 5, while Section 6 offers conclusions and some suggestions on how to deal with these effects.

2. Ultrafast Communication Networks

Technological change is exponential. According to Moore's Law, the number of transistors on an integrated circuit (a 'chip' or 'microchip') for minimum component costs doubles every 24 months (Schaller, 1997). This more or less implies that storage capacity doubles every two years or that data storage costs are reduced by fifty percent every two years. This empirical observation by Gordon Moore was made in 1965; by now, this doubling speed is approximately 18 months. Moore's Law deals with storage capacities, but similar observations are made for communication speed and volume. According to Gilder's Law, the total bandwidth availability of US communication systems has tripled every twelve months since the 1980s and will expand at the same rate for the next 30 years to come (Raessens, 2001).

Moore's Law is not only about making existing technologies more efficient. It also takes into account the new ideas and inventions in the field of information technology. The latest developments to increase the speed and volume of information transfer on communication networks are focused on changing from electronic communication to optical communication. This is likely to result in a significant increase in the speed and volume of information transfer on communication networks. This new type of communication is referred to as ultrafast communication, cf. (Miller, 2004).

In order to achieve all-optical networks, efforts are being made to develop and introduce optical communication hubs. Many fiber optic cables are already used for communicating optical signals over longer distances, but there are currently no optical alternatives for many electronic building blocks, such as flip flops, gates, buffers, memories, shift registers, and transistors.

Optical communication is not the only method for ultrafast communication. Wireless communication, using electromagnetic waves, is also considerably faster than electronic communication systems. The speed of wireless networks is often slowed down because wireless networks may involve electronic transmission at both ends of a data transmission. The development of all-optical building blocks will overcome this limitation for optical communication systems. Wireless systems are largely beyond the scope of this contribution, although this is a development that should not be ignored, particularly because it addresses the current limitations of fixed networks.

3. Exclusivity

Although the introduction above may give a clue about what we mean with exclusivity, it is important to have a closer look at what exclusivity really involves. We consider this important because exclusivity is a term that is hard to grasp. It is even more difficult to qualify the degree of exclusivity of a particular network.

In this contribution, exclusivity is defined as an aggregated form of accessibility. Basically it can be stated that when I have access to the communication networks, I am included, and when I do not have access to the communication networks, I am excluded. Obviously this refers to the possibility of access, not the actual access. For instance, if a family has only one computer, the time of access will have to be divided somehow between the family members, but it is fair to state that all family members have access, even though it may be limited in time. Obviously this example becomes different if more people have to share one computer. Accessibility decreases considerably when people do not have Internet access at home, but only at Internet cafes. Internet access at work may be limited, as an employer may block particular pages or not grant Internet access at all.

Usually exclusivity is not a black or white situation, but a sliding scale. The skills of Internet users usually increase along with the amount of time spent using the Internet. However, there is a basic level of accessibility that can determine the exclusivity of a communication system. Take the example of filling out tax return forms. Minimum conditions for 'being included' in the digital service may include, for instance, two hours of Internet access at a private place...