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14.2: Duration and Extent of Tele-communications Infrastructure

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    21195
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    Figure 14.1.1 showed the rapid growth in the number of users of telecommunications services. In addition, new applications require large amounts of information to be available rapidly. Figure 14.2.1 shows some of the demands for applications such as videoconferencing and entertainment (such as movies on demand).

    clipboard_e477e43f23df8ffa5cc3c4580b2bfe0b8.png
    Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): New Applications Generate More Demand for Telecommunications. Source: Courtesy of Henrich Hertz Institute, Berlin. Reproduced in: http://cordis.europa.eu/infowin/acts...cts/photon.htm

    A variety of media are used for telecommunications, including copper wires, fiber optic cables and wireless transmission. Even power wires can be used for communication. As an indication of the extent of this infrastructure, Figure 14.2.2 shows a map of submarine communications cable as of 2015. In addition to these undersea cables, roughly 1,000 communications satellites are in orbit around the earth. Internet services also make use of high speed, high capacity connections such as fiber optic cables and satellite communications.

    clipboard_eb1ff4e66ddb8a08eab13b89966714987.png
    Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\): World Map of Submarine Communications Cables. Source: Cable data by Greg Mahlknecht , map by Openstreetmap contributors - http://www.cablemap.info (cable data by Greg Mahlknecht released under GPLv3) http://umap.openstreetmap.fr/de, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/inde...curid=42437752

    The duration and extent of telecommunications infrastructure depend in large part on how the infrastructure is defined. For example, radio and television transmission towers are often classified as entertainment rather than telecommunications (and are omitted from the statistics shown in Figure 14.1.1). Nevertheless, radio and television now may be broadcast or provided over the Internet.

    Wireless communications, particularly with mobile telephones and personal digital assistants (PDAs) have also seen notable growth Clarke, 2014). These services typically connect through cell sites to the regular telecommunications network; with some 300,000 such cell sites existing in the US in 2012 (See Figure 14.2.3).

    clipboard_e366d158cc056b25053bb5ab7d4c48bac.png
    Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\): Numbers of US Cell Sites. Source: Clarke, Richard N. "Expanding mobile wireless capacity: The challenges presented by technology and economics." Telecommunications Policy 38.8 (2014): 693-708. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2013.11.006) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

    With rapid expansion of use and growing speed and capacity, many parts of the telecommunications infrastructure have relatively short lifetimes. Smartphones and computers may become functionally obsolete within five years. In contrast, some parts of the infrastructure may have relatively long lifetimes. Fiber optics

    Interdependence between telecommunications and other infrastructure systems is apparent. For example, telecommunications is needed to manage the electric power grid, while electricity is needed for telecommunications. Back-up power by means such as batteries is provided to ensure continuing telephone service in case of power interruptions.
    The growth of the internet has increased the complexity of the telecommunications network and the extent of infrastructure interdependencies. As an illustration, Figure 14.2.4 shows a partial map of the internet, where nodes are internet protocol (IP) addresses and the length of links shows the typical delay between two IP addresses.

    clipboard_e0f25acd1293852fce950d520ad8c6312.png
    Figure \(\PageIndex{4}\): Partial Map of Internet Connections. Source: By The Opte Project [CC BY 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons By The Opte Project – Originally from the English Wikipedia; https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/inde...?curid=1538544

    This page titled 14.2: Duration and Extent of Tele-communications Infrastructure is shared under a CC BY-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Donald Coffelt and Chris Hendrickson.

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