Broadband in Zamora: the goal of getting rid of white zones

Broadband has become part of the reality of advanced societies (Broadband Society), especially with the emergence of new technologies and with the developments carried out in this field. Broadband and the type of technology varies according to the plan of telecommunications of each territory, since the characteristics of this are taken into account to know whether to establish one type or another.

Along the following article, in collaboration with Cristina Poyato Santiago, from UPF, we are going deeper into rural and most neglected areas of Spain, specifically we are going to focus in the province of Zamora, located in the autonomous community of Castilla y León. Zamora is known as a zone with a high level of depopulation, that is due to the large extension of the rural area, since a generous part of the province is made up of low-density locations.

(Map of the territory of Zamora. MICHELIN)

First of all, we are going to define some concepts that we are going to talk about, in order to make it easier to understand along the article. Starting with broadband, this is a service that offers data connection and the transmission of documents and files, whether you want to download or upload on certain devices such as mobile phones, computers and laptops, or televisions, for example. In the case that we are going to analyze, we will specify in the type of ADSL broadband. The ADSL (Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line) technology, is a technology that runs by cable and it is characterized by being asymmetrical, that is, it has a download speed different than the upload speed (10Mbps and 4Mbps, respectively). This technology of telecommunications allows the Internet connection and the transmission of files through the copper wires of the telephone line.

Broadband in Hong Kong: fast, very fast

Hong Kong is a city near China, which is different from China. In Hong Kong we have our own broadband provider with high broadband penetration rate. The fiber optical is also developed by Hong Kong people Sir Charles Kuen Kao. Nearly every part of Hong Kong has internet. 

The internet is well-developed in Hong Kong and people rely on the internet for their daily life, in a Broadband Society and cloud journalism environment. In this essay, we will analyze, with the collaboration of Lin Wing Kwan, from UPF, the questions you may rise when talking about broadband in Hong Kong.

Development of Broadband in Rural and Urban Irish Areas

Broadband in Ireland is now considered one of the fastest in the world. And while this might be true for our major cities like Dublin, Cork and Galway, broadband connectivity and speed in rural Irish areas has great potential for improvement. 

For the last 19 years since the first DSL connection went live in Ireland, great lengths have been taken to increase connectivity for the greater population in rural areas. We analyse it in collaboration with Aileen O'Shea. Broadband is becoming more and more of a necessity in our day to day lives, workwise and personally.

The Danish Broadband Society: step by step

In Denmark, 1981, were 231 computers from different Danish universities bound together by the Internet, and 10 years after the numer had increased to 300.000. In 1996 did 12 percent of the Danish population use the Internet two hours each week. 88 percent did not use the internet. In July 2007 did 83 percent of the Danish population, according to Statistics Denmark, have access to the broadband from their private homes. In a new research by Statistics Denmark in 2010 did the number increase to 91 percent of the Danish population who had access to the broadband from their personal homes.

This is why Denmark, studied here in collaboration with Nanna Torp, Peter Ullum, Karoline Neel and Amalie Arendt, is such an interesting country to look at when it comes to the broadband and the development. Denmark was one of the early adopters of broadband and Internet at the same time, and is now leading the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) with a broadband penetration rate of 29,3 subscribers per 100 inhabitants. The broadband rate signifies the amount of the Internet access market that high speed or broadband Internet has captured.

Broadband in the Netherlands: the challenge of rural areas

The Netherlands is one of the European Union’s most advanced countries in terms of broadband. It has one of the world’s fastest average broadband speeds, and the highest percentage of broadband penetration per capita in the world: 99% of all households. In recent times, the Netherlands has become a digital hub, consisting of many digital media and internet companies. We analyse it with the collaboration of Candela Arias-Camison López, from UPF.

Especially Amsterdam, its capital city, is home to many data centres, startups, and multinational digital firms. For example, in a Broadband Society and cloud journalism way, the most important Internet exchange point in the world, AMS-IX, is based in Amsterdam. This is supported thanks to an advanced fiber optic network. 

Broadband in Venezuela: a slow network

Today, everyone, once in their life, have used broadband connection. This internet service is used, in most cases, with a cable connection; although it can be present by Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) or Fiber Optic networks. 

From the internet, messaging and communication never had an easy way as now. The importance of this tool has grown due to the evolution of broadband technology, for that reason, users have better channels of information exchange practically infinite. The speed and efficiency innovation of this technology has caused everyone in the world to be dependent on the internet, and the case of Venezuela, in collaboration with Lenny Yohana Gonçalves, from UPF, is a sample about it.

Broadband in Barcelona: reality and trends

In this article we analyse Barcelona’s broadband. To start with, maybe you are asking yourself: what is broadband? So, we want to start answering this question, thus you can understand better the article, in collaboration with Inés Rey de Olano (Pompeu Fabra University).

Broadband is a high-speed connection to the internet. Before broadband exists, internet access was achieved with ‘narrowband’ up connections that were very slow by today’s standards. Broadband is quicker and allows us to do more on the internet

The Spanish evolution of broadband

We will try to answer the many questions that arise when talking about broadband in Spain, in collaboration with John McAulay Solé. The internet appeared in the country for the first time in the early 1990s: the first Spanish commercial internet provider, Goya Servicios Telemáticos, was born in 1992, and only a year later the first Spanish web server started working in the Iberian country. 

Since then, internet has gone a very long way. In only a quarter of a century, it has gone from being an unknown futuristic concept to an element of every-day use. According to the Asociación de Usuarios de Internet, in 1996 there were only 320,000 internet users in Spain. Since then, that number has risen by more than 12,000% – up to 39.42 million users in 2018. Another interesting stat is the number of people who connect to the internet through their mobile phone. Last year, more than 35 million Spaniards used the internet through these devices, even though this is something which has only been possible since little over a decade ago.

The adaptation of television to HbbTV

The growth of the television offer of HbbTV (Hybrid broadcast broadband TV) and the intention to reinforce the weight of the television service by cable telecommunication operators can convergently converge in a diaphanous intersection between audiovisual and telecommunications.

HbbTV is an interactive standard that, unlike Smart TV, confers power to networks, not manufacturers. Dialogue options with the end customer are multiplied, which can trigger creative news from the journalistic and audiovisual point of view and more seductive formulas from the advertising perspective.

Broadband and its local spreading

Which is the situation of Broadband at local sphere? Broadband Society embraces the municipal activity. It is known that broadband was born in extension of the path information does to all types of communication systems, like enterprises, media or your house. 

Broadband services were promoted by the potency of technology terminals, the support of new communication infrastructures – like fiber optic – and the initiative of administrations and industry (Redes de Banda Ancha). We analyse, in collaboration with Irina Carnicero Moreno, the Catalan case, focusing in Malgrat de Mar (a small village). 

Barcelona, an open digital hub

The protagonism of Catalonia and Barcelona in the broadband development is high. We analyse in collaboration with Héctor Gasulla, Andy Causse and Adrià Laborda the broadband reality in Catalonia, focusing on its capital, which has an interesting history behind it. The importance of communication in Barcelona has been so great throughout its history. 

It is well known that telecommunication is a powerful weapon to control the public opinion from the population and manipulate information such as in the Civil War. One of the best examples were the 18th July 1936 and the May Days of 1937. Although Internet didn’t arrive until the late 1990’s, communications were so important in this period of Spain’s History. We are talking about radio, telephonic lines and telegraphs were so important these days and were used for informing the population, but also to point which are the real enemies.

Some keys for broadband in Spain

Like any other country in the world, Spain has its own broadband world that it’s important to know, especially if you’re Spanish or based in Spain. To understand Spain’s broadband system and the evolution of its Broadband Society, we have to take into account different things, and we analyze it in collaboration with Aina Velasco. 

First of all, we must know the biggest and most important providers. Movistar is, without any doubts, the biggest broadband provider of the whole country, and it’s owned by the telecommunications giant Telefonica. 

Broadband in Germany: promoting fiber optics

German technology is symbol of reliability, quality, innovation and high technology. We analyze the Broadband Society in Germany in collaboration with Natalie Barresi, from UPF. As it refers to high-speed internet broadband, Germany is certainly at the head of the group, right? Wrong, actually Germany scrambles to merely cover large cities with broadband and has consistently missed the dates agreed by both government and telecom companies to build a digital infrastructure that matches their European neighbors’. 

According to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, a research center composed of the world’s most developed economies, Germany’s adoption of fiber-optic cable stands at just 1.8 percent of Internet users, putting it fifth from the bottom in the list of the OECD’s 35 members. In contrast both Japan and South Korea have more than 70 percent of subscribers on super-fast fiber-optic cable.

Broadband in Guatemala: new challenges to advance

The digital era has made broadband a global necessity, yet, many countries are still struggling to cope with this technology. We analyze the case of Guatemala in collaboration with Natalia Gámez, from UPF. The Latin American case is very useful to show the universalization of broadband everywhere, taking in consideration applications like e-commerce and uses in rural and sustainable tourism.

In the framework of the Broadband Society, Guatemala is a country in which the political and economic condition of the same highly influences and limits the telecommunication system of the country, as in many other third world countries. In CECABLE we are collaborating with Latin American research centers to improve communication and telecommunications.