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Broadband, DSL, and the Race for Internet Connectivity Essays

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Broadband, DSL, and the Race for Internet Connectivity

Abstract This paper discusses current technologies and trends relating to Internet connectivity. Broadband cable, DSL, and fixed wireless are examined. Issues addressed relating to these technologies are the potential for providers to favor specific content on broadband cable and the 'digital divide' or the trend of inaccessibility of the internet in poor and rural areas.

In recent years, the Internet has radically changed both our economic and social institutions. The driving force behind the Internet has been increasingly cheap, fast, and reliable connections between distant machines. As Internet connectivity increases, internetworking can …show more content…

These issues are discussed in depth in this paper, but first the high-speed technologies are introduced.

Means of High Speed Access

There are currently two competing high-speed connection technologies, DSL and cable modems. DSL uses existing copper phone lines to reach extraordinary transmission speeds. At central offices, which are connected to the Internet via high speed fiber-optic connections, a DSLAM machine routes network traffic along the pre-existing dedicated copper phone lines to consumers. This has the apparent advantage of using pre-existing wiring. There are, however, difficulties. The broadband signal has a limited 3-mile range on copper wire, so DSL is only available in areas near a central office. Also, some newer telephone wires are not compatible with the DSLAM technology. The result is that while DSL may work well in heavily populated areas, but it is far less practical in rural areas.1

Cable broadband uses a modified version of cable TV lines to transmit data at high speed. A cable modem attached to this line allows computers and TVs to access the Internet. This method, developed slightly before DSL, is currently the most popular choice amongst consumers, but there are problems. Standard cable lines were designed for one-way transmission and must be replaced with two-way lines

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