Broadband in Greece? Better late than never

Broadband is necessary for all the countries. We analyze the case of Greece in collaboration with Athanasia Karastogianni.Broadband was and still is, since the moment of its appearance, the most common form of accessing the internet due to the high speeds it can provide to its users. Before broadband there was the dial-up. The dial-up still exists and is a very cheap solution but of course it cannot be compared with the faster broadband.

 

From 1990 to 2003 Greece was relying to PSTN/ISDN modem dial-up. Of course this kind of connection was innovatory at the time but it was extremely slow and eliminated the user from other abilities, like the telephone.

The development of the Broadband in Germany

We analyze the German broadband case in collaboration with Sophie Fuchs. In 1989 ISDN went into the practice service and was expanded with high investment costs. The “Integrated Services Digital Network” or “Integrated Voice and Data Network” is an international standard for a digital telecommunications network. The German term “Integriertes Sprach- und Datennetzwerk” was the original term, it was equal (sometimes even preferred) in addition to the English-language term, which was also introduced in German-speaking countries, to take into account the internationality of the system.

Until the 2000's, ISDN was widely available in Germany, with the spread of IP technology for telephony (VOIP), but ISDN quickly became a discontinued model. In the course of the All-IP conversion, probably the last ISDN connections in 2019 or 2020 are likely to go off the net. ISDN was originally developed for high-quality telephony and quickly became a DSL predecessor with "rapid" transmission rates at that time. A single base channel offered up to 64 Kbps. By cascading a maximum of 6 channels, peak values ​​of 384 Kbit / s were feasible. So-called ISDN primary multiplex connections in the business area even reached summation bit rates of 2 Mbit / s. But such additions were practically priceless at the time.

Keys to improve broadband in Argentina

We analyze the Argentinean development of broadband in collaboration with Agustina Aguirre and Mia Baccanelli. The Internet and the use of broadband connections are accelerating the global digital transformation process. Nowadays, having a good network connection is the key to maintain the user interrelated with the world. The broadband not only made a radical change in the way humans communicate but also facilitated the access to new content in a more rapid way. Moreover, better services were created and employment was developed.

 

The massification of broadband services in Argentina has increased throughout the years. In 2013, the service was slow compared to other border countries such as Chile and Brazil. Nowadays, broadband has increased significantly. The government is expecting to develop a better relationship between quality and speed, universalize the digital inclusion, amplify the internet connection throughout the country, boost regional economies and create quality work. Actual government is looking forward to taking action on the plan in 2018.

Broadband in local municipalities: the case of Premià de Mar

We analyze the broadband reality in Catalonia and in Maresme, focusing in Premià de Mar, in collaboration with the twins Andrea and Irina Balart. Nowadays the broadband has become a reality in Catalonia thanks to the technological advances. Many municipalities have access to different internet networks to download information, as well as to create content. In the present article we will analyze the implementation of broadband in town of Premià de Mar, belonging to Maresme county.

The use of FTTH technology in Catalonia has been increased in the last two years, specifically it has risen 8.8  percentage points regarding 2015. According to a report of 2015 from the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism, 57 municipalities of Catalonia have a coverage of FTTH between 90 and 100, which which represents the reach of 1.8 million households. The FTTH or Fiber to the Home telecommunications technology consists of fiber optic cables that reach customers' homes. It is a technology that offers the known as Triple Play (Internet, television and telephony) and allows you to browse the internet at more than 2 Gbps.

Broadband in the Philippines to develop the country

In this blog we analyze the Philippines broadband evolution with Caroline Mariel E. Aquino and Dyan Gabrielle P. Dino. With 7,107 islands comprising the entire archipelago, the Philippines is slowly moving to become a more digitalized society. According to government data, 46% of Filipinos use internet on a daily basis while 48 million Filipinos actively engage in social media. Although these figures may seem moot as compared to other urbanized countries, the Philippines is a predominantly agricultural society that is slowly adapting to western ways and standards.   

 

The fragmented geography of the island, issues with the private telecommunication companies and political ties with outside nations are just some of the hindrances that have held back the development of broadband in the Philippines in the past. In order to address these issues, the government implemented the National Broadband Plan (NBP) that aims to invest and radically improve the telecommunication and broadband services in the Philippines.

Improving broadband in Ireland

Ireland is a developed but improvable country in broadband, as we analyze in collaboration with Muireann Duffy. With rural electrification in 1940-1950, electricity began to be consumed by households on a daily basis throughout the entire country, paving the way for computers and other such technologies to become staples in Irish homes.

 

Ireland's first form of internet connection came via DSL (digital subscriber line) connections, which connected computers or routers to telephone wires, which were already installed in the vast majority of Irish homes, in order to access the internet. Seeing as Ireland is now regarded as one of the most technologically advanced countries in Europe, if not the world, it is hard to believe these DSL connections only came into use just before the turn of the millennium, meaning that the ordinary people of Ireland have only had household access to internet for roughly 20 years.

How 400 million Europeans followed a Dutch guy on the internet

We analyze the Dutch broadband case in collaboration with Sjors Beukeboom. Piet Beertema sits behind his computer, patiently waiting for a reply from someone in America. It seems ages ago when he send a message straight across the Atlantic Ocean. ‘Unreal’, is what he must have thought when he hit the ‘send’-button on the computer, unsure whether his click with the mouse would get the results he wants. Suddenly a soft ringtone tells Beertema that he has received a new message. “Thanks for the additional information. This is to let you know that we have changed the status of this network to connected.” An Eureka-moment for the Dutch scientist in Amsterdam.

Piet Beertema. A typical Dutch name for a typical Dutch achievement. Beertema was the first European connecting to the precursor of the world wide web, sending a message to the United States at November 17, 1988 at 14:28. Stephan Wolff, the receiver of the message, replied Beertema the morning after. The satisfaction of that soft ringtone is a feeling he will never forget.

La saludable banda ampla a Catalunya

Amb aquest article, amb col·laboració de Daniel Cortés, analitzem l’estat de la banda ampla a Catalunya, centrant-nos en l'entorn gironí i el seu impacte turístic, i, tot seguit, estudiem els avenços que s’estan produint per millorar la connectivitat. Ens centrem en la fibra òptica, una eina encara en desplegament i que està trobant alguns murs lluny de les grans ciutats.

Seguidament, analitzarem alguns punts interessants del desplegament de la fibra òptica a la comarca del Baix Empordà, tal com hem portat a terme amb el Maresme, Girona, Lleida i amb realitats com el sistema universitari català. Aquesta comarca combina la presència de pobles petits i zones urbanes, i d’altres que, per la densitat de població i per les necessitats sorgides arran del turisme, tenen una exigència important de banda ampla.

El uso de los dispositivos telecomunicativos evoluciona

La Sociedad de la Banda Ancha, en plena ebullición al iniciar este 2018 y con un 83% de disponibilidad de fibra óptica en Cataluña, implica infraestructura de base y contenidos. Y también dispositivos. La infraestructura de telecomunicaciones crece y alimenta la movilidad. Y la proliferación de dispositivos (smartphone, tableta, phablet) acompaña a ese dúo esencial.

En la actual coyuntura, el trabajador lleva consigo sus dispositivos. En algunas empresas o entidades se asigna en ocasiones un dispositivo “de empresa”, pero ello puede resultar engorroso, sobre todo para los bolsillos de la americana: resistir el doble de peso durante las reales diez o doce horas de un día laboral convencional podría encender reclamaciones en forma de “gastos de indumentaria”.