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Why Broadband is Needed
Jean Plymale
Seth Peery
Virginia Tech eCorridors Group
Jan. 29, 2004
Today’s Economy
• Based on the creation and distribution of information
• Driven by information and communication technology
(ICTs)
ICTs
• Telecommunication tools that enable direct participation
at local, national and global levels.
• Benefit those with access, hinders those without access
• Any disparity in accessibility is a distinct disadvantage
and a barrier to economic and social growth.
Value
• Formation of social, cultural, and economic relationships
• Multiple modes of communication
• Network value increases with the number of users and
nodes on the network.
• As cost of access decreases, potential value increases.
Availability
• Affordable “true broadband” networks have become
synonymous with regions of economic prosperity
• Usually deployed in response to market demands
• In rural areas, the market may never provide these
services
Why does it matter?
• The Bureau of Labor Statistics
– jobs in IT among the fastest growing occupations
• The Gartner Group
– “true broadband” would increase the US GDP by up to
$500 billion annually in the next 10 years
• The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and
Technology (PCAST)
– The IT sector represents an engine of economic growth
PCAST Recommends
Expanded deployment of broadband with special attention to:
– Development of public/private initiatives for distance education
– Interagency coordination of telemedicine
– Expanding and enabling the scope of telework opportunities
– Investments in E-Gov applications
– Enhance homeland security
CSPP Recommends
Must have in place to benefit in the “Networked World”
• A local network infrastructure
• Networked Places, Access
• Networked application and services
• Networked economy
• Network Enablers
CSPP’s Choose to Compete
• Need for infrastructure development
• Focus on innovation, investment and productivity
• Recommends investment in technologies that will spur
21st century jobs in order to:
– Compete,
– Survive
– Grow
MDC
• Strong physical infrastructure that includes
telecommunications is an essential component of a
sound community.
• The lack of a telecommunication infrastructure puts
businesses and educational institutions at a distinct
disadvantage.
• “people have the capacity to transform their institutions
and communities”
Technet Recommends:
• A national strategy to connect 100M Americans by 2010
• States play key roles in achieving this goal
– allow municipalities to provide services though their own
networks.
– Encourage citizen use of broadband through e-Gov
initiatives.
Citizens will increasingly choose where to live based on the
availability of broadband for work and pleasure.
Communities transforming
• Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency
(Utopia)
• iProvo
• Grant County Washington
• The Digital Rivers
• Corporation for Education Network Initiative in California
(CENIC)
• The Swedish ICT Commission
• Bristol, Danville, Leniwisco, Abingdon…Pulaski? NRV?
Advantages
In 2002 Governor Warner endorsed the Commonwealth’s
economic development strategic plan:
• Make VA the state with the highest percentage of home
hook-ups to affordable broadband.
• Encourage development of broadband capacity
throughout Virginia, …”
Entrepreneurship / Small business
Dr. Zoltan J. Acs and Dr. David B. Audretsch claim
small firms represent abundance of entrepreneurial talent.
• Play key roles in the process of technological change and can effect
the process by which industry evolves
Dr. Andrew Cohill cites the increasing trend of small home based
businesses:
– predicts small, entrepreneurial home based companies will
become the industry leaders of the future
Our Region
NRVPDC
– ~ 6218 businesses
– ~5735 ( 92% ) are small businesses (defined 1-20 employees)
Pulaski County:
– ~1043 businesses
– ~959 (91%) small businesses
Town of Pulaski
– ~445 total,
– ~420 (94%) small businesses
Dublin
– ~129 total,
– ~114 (88%) small businesses
The Facts:
All these diverse groups emphasis:
• true broadband is and will be necessary for the
economic and social prosperity of the future
• true broadband for everyone, benefits everyone
Time to Decide
• Do we have time to wait for “the market” to deliver
broadband?
• Are we willing to gamble on eventual market recognition
of our value
• Its time for Pulaski, the NRV to choose its future.
Advice from Andrew Cohill
• Construct a clear, concise vision that articulates where
they want to go.
• to inspire citizens and promise them a prosperous future.
• Set a goal, create a vision, make it happen!
What is eCorridors?
• A research and outreach program within the Information
Technology department at Virginia Tech
• Our objectives:
– To work with communities, private-sector, and municipal
partners to facilitate rapid development of advanced, fiber
optic, wireless, and “next generation” Internet
infrastructure
– To serve as a catalyst for the deployment of affordable
access to fiber optic network infrastructure that is needed
to create economic and educational opportunities for
citizens and businesses
– To educate communities about alternative technologies
and business models that have worked elsewhere
Rationale
• Access to advanced communications infrastructure has
become critical to ensuring economic competitiveness in
the new Information-based economy
• Inadequate services like most Cable Modems and ADSL
will not give communities the ability to be producers of
information goods and services
• The traditional telecommunications players need to
provide rural communities with true broadband service
• By leveraging advanced optical technologies and
alternative business models, communities can achieve a
“leapfrog” advantage
The eCorridors Strategy
• Provide knowledge and expertise to communities to
raise awareness of what communications infrastructure
is needed to compete in the network economy
• Suggest proven ways to leverage IT for economic
development
• Give communities the tools they need to design and
build a reliable, affordable fiber optic network
infrastructure
eCorridors Research
Strategic Technology Infrastructure for
Regional Competitiveness
in the Network Economy
– 11 Volumes
– Contributors included 60 network
and IT professionals from VT as
well as over 40 private sector
company representatives
– 6 month project (released March
2003)
– Uses the Southwest and
Southside regions as a model
– The report serves as a reference
guide for communities
– Available for free download from
http://www.ecorridors.vt.edu
Volumes of the eCorridors Report
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
Rationale, Environment, and Strategic Considerations
Connecting the Regional Infrastructure to National and International Networks
A Fiber Optic Infrastructure Design for Southside and Southwest Virginia
Fiber Optic Infrastructure Design Guide
Financial Feasibility and Investment Rationale
Leveraging Advanced Optical and Ethernet Technologies
Speculative and Alternative Technologies
Community, Applications, and Services
Demographics for Southside and Southwest Virginia
Health Information Technology and Infrastructure
Education in the 21st Century
Relevance of the eCorridors Report
• A reference guide to community networking and a
case study in fiber design
• A rationale for community networking
• Guidelines for building fiber-optic infrastructure
• An example regional fiber network design and
associated financial model
• Familiarizes the reader with cutting-edge technology and
networking concepts
• Investigates key application areas such as health and
education
The Role of Communities
• eCorridors is a catalyst to promote local empowerment
and regional coordination
• eCorridors exists to educate communities about
applications, technologies, planning, engineering, and
management of Next Generation networks
• Once aware of their options, communities need to take
the initiative to remain competitive in the network
economy
• Regional efforts can bring common interests together
and create a “critical mass”
Guiding Principles
• Separation of services from infrastructure
• Competing service providers operating over an openaccess, independently owned infrastructure
• Let the public and private sectors do what they do best
• True broadband (multi-megabit up to gigabit per second)
• Connection of every premise as an ultimate goal
– The value of a network increases with the number of users
– Innovation and entrepreneurship often occurs at home
• Ethernet and IP-based networking protocols over
least-cost solutions
• Fiber-based design
Bandwidth Comparisons
Dial-up
Cable modem
DSL
T-1
10 Mbps
Ethernet
100 Mbps
Ethernet
Gigabit Ethernet
1000BaseLX
Limitations
• More is needed for economic development and improved
quality of life in a region than communications
infrastructure.
• The eCorridors recommendations are necessary, but not
sufficient conditions for economic development
• Telecommunications is a component of an comprehensive
development policy along with more traditional
infrastructure
• Education and training is and will remain vitally important,
as it improves a region’s human capital and its ability to
realize the benefits of its investment in technology
Contact Us
For more information, contact:
Brenda van Gelder
[email protected]
Jean Plymale
[email protected]
John Nichols
[email protected]
Seth Peery
[email protected]
http://www.ecorridors.vt.edu