Реферат на тему Telecommunications. Networks and telecommunications реферат

Реферат - Telecommunications - Иностранный язык

CONTENT

1. INTRODUCTION
2. DEVELOPING OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS
3. SATTELITE SERVICES
4. INTERNET
5. ADVANCING ROLE OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN BANKING
6. RUSSIA’S TELECOMMUNICATIONS ROADS GET WIDER, MORE EXPENSIVE
7. FUTURE OF DEVELOPMENT
8. CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION

No one can deny the role of telecommunications for society. Currently hundreds of millions of people use wireless communication means. Cell phone is no longer a symbol of prestige but a tool, which lets to use working time more effectively. Considering that the main service of a mobile connection operator is providing high quality connection, much attention in the telecommunication market is paid to the spectrum of services that cell network subscriber may receive.

DEVELOPING OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Late in the nineteenth century communications facilities were augmented by a new invention – telephone. In the USA its use slowly expanded, and by 1900 the American Telephone and Telegraph Company controlled 855,000 telephones; but elsewhere the telephone made little headway until the twentieth century. After 1900, however, telephone installations extended much more rapidly in all the wealthier countries. The number of telephones in use in the world grew at almost 100 per cent per decade. But long-distance telephone services gradually developed and began to compete with telegraphic business. A greater contribution to long-range communication came with the development of wireless. Before the outbreak of the First World War wireless telegraphy was established as a means of regular communication with ships at sea, and provided a valuable supplement to existing telegraph lines and cables. In the next few years the telephone systems of all the chief countries were connected with each other by radio. Far more immediate was the influence that radio had through broadcasting and by television, which followed it at an interval of about twenty-five years.

Telephones are as much a form of infrastructure as roads or electricity, and competition will make them cheaper. Losses from lower prices will be countered by higher usage, and tax revenues will benefit from the faster economic growth that telephones bring about. Most important of all, by cutting out the need to install costly cables and microwave transmitters, the new telephones could be a boon to the remote and poor regions of the earth. Even today, half the world’s population lives more than two hours away from a telephone, and that is one reason why they find it hard to break out of their poverty. A farmer’s call for advice could save a whole crop; access to a handset could help a small rural business sell its wares. And in rich places with reasonable telephone systems already in place, the effect of new entrants – the replacement of bad, overpriced services with clever, cheaper ones – is less dramatic but still considerable.

Global phones are not going to deliver all these benefits at once, or easily. Indeed, if the market fails to develop, it could prove too small to support the costs of launching satellites. Still, that is a risk worth taking. And these new global telephones reflect a wider trend. Lots of other new communication services – on-line film libraries, personal computers that can send video-clips and sound-bites as easily as they can be used for writing letters, terrestrial mobile-telephone systems cheap enough to replace hard-wired family sets – are already technically possible. What they all need is deregulation. Then any of them could bring about changes just as unexpected and just as magical as anything that Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone has already achieved.

SATTELITE SIRVICES

Our world has become an increasingly complex place in which, as individuals, we are very dependent on other people and on organizations. An event in some distant part of the globe can rapidly and significantly affect the quality of life in our home country.

This increasing independence, on both a national and international scale, has led us to create systems that can respond immediately to dangers, enabling appropriate defensive or offensive actions to be taken. These systems are operating all around us in military, civil, commercial and industrial fields.

A worldwide system of satellites has been created, and it is possible to transmit signals around the globe by bouncing them from on satellite to an earth station and thence to another satellite.

Originally designed to carry voice traffic, they are able to carry hundreds of thousands of separate simultaneous calls. These systems are being increasingly adopted to provide for business communications, including the transmission of traffic for voice, facsimile, data and vision.

It is probable that future satellite services will enable a great variety of information services to transmit directly into the home, possibly including personalized electronic mail. The electronic computer is at the heart of many such systems, but the role of telecommunications is not less important. There will be a further convergence between the technologies of computing and telecommunications. The change will be dramatic: the database culture, the cashless society, the office at home, the gigabit-per-second data network.

We cannot doubt that the economic and social impact of these concepts will be very significant. Already, advanced systems of communication are affecting both the layman and the technician. Complex functions are being performed by people using advanced terminals which are intended to be as easy to use as the conventional telephone.

The new global satellite-communications systems will offer three kinds of service, which may overlap in many different kinds of receivers:

Voice. Satellite telephones will be able to make calls from anywhere on earth to anywhere else. That could make them especially useful to remote, third-world villages (some of which already use stationary satellite telephones), explorers and disaster-relief teams. Today’s mobile phones depend on earth-bound transmitters, whose technical standards vary from country to country. So business travelers cannot use their mobile phones on international trips. Satellite telephones would make that possible.

Massaging. Satellite messagers have the same global coverage as satellite telephones, but carry text alone, which could be useful for those with laptop computers. Equipped with a small screen like today’s pagers, satellite messagers will also receive short messages.

Tracking. Voice and messaging systems will also tell their users where they are to within a few hundred metres. Combined with the messaging service, the location service could help rescue teams to find stranded adventurers, the police to find stolen cars, exporters to follow the progress of cargoes, and haulage companies to check that drivers are not detouring to the pub. Satellite systems will provide better positioning information to anyone who has a receiver for their signals.

INTERNET

The internet, a global computer network which embraces millions of users all over the world, began in the United States in 1969 as a military experiment. It was designed to survive a nuclear war. Information sent over the Internet takes the shortest path available from one computer to another. Because of this, any two computers on the Internet will be able to stay in touch with each other as long as there is a single route between them. This technology is called packet swithing. Owing to this technology, if some computers on the network are knocked out (by a nuclear explosion, for example), information will just rout around them. One such packet-swithing network which has already survived a war is the Iraqi computer network which was not knocked out during the Gulf War.

Most of the Internet host computers (more than 50%) are in the United States, while the rest are located in more than 100 other countries. Although the number of host computers can be counted fairly accurately, nobody knows exactly how many people use the Internet, there are millions worldwide, and their number is growing by thousands each month.

The most popular Internet service is e-mail. Most of the people, who have access to the Internet, use the network only for sending and receiving e-mail messages. However, other popular services are available on the Internet: reading USENET News, using the World-Wide-Web, telnet, FTP, and Gopher.

In many developing countries the Internet may provide businessmen with a reliable alternative to the expensive and unreliable telecommunications systems of these countries. Commercial users can communicate cheaply over the Internet with the rest of the world. When they send e-mail messages, they only have to pay for phone calls to their local service providers, not for calls across their countries or around the world. But who actually pays for sending e-mail messages over the Internet long distances, around the world? The answer is very simple: users pay their service provider a monthly or hourly fee. Part of this fee goes toward its costs to connect to a larger service provider, and part of the fee received by the larger provider goes to cover its cost of running a worldwide network of wires and wireless stations.

But saving money is only the first step. If people see that they can make money from the Internet, commercial use of this network will drastically increase. For example, some western architecture companies and garment centers already transmit their basic designs and refined by skilled – but inexpensive – Chinese computer-aided-design specialists.

However, some problems remain. The most important is security. When you send an e-mail message can travel through many different networks and computers. The data is constantly being directed towards its destination by special computers called routers. However, because of this, it is possible to get into any of the computers along the route, intercept and even change the data being sent over the Internet. In spite of the fact that there are many good encoding programs available, nearly all the information being sent over the Internet is transmitted without any form of encoding, i.e. “in the clear”/ But when it becomes necessary to send important information over the network, these encoding programs may b useful. Some American banks and companies even conduct transactions over the Internet. However, there are still both commercial and technical problems which will take time to be resolved.

ADVANCING ROLE OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN BANKING

Role of telecommunications in banking as in other businesses nowadays is extremely important. We can even say that this field is critical success factor for the modern bank or banking system.

There are two different approaches in terms of ownership to building banking communications in the world. One approach that is chosen for example by banking system of Russia and some other former Soviet Union countries is building of private banking networks from the start. This approach has certain benefits, mainly from security prospective. On the other hand building private banking networks requires permanent and serious involvement of banks in financing, support and development of telecommunications systems. Other approach is building banking communications over existing public services in the country. Some of main benefits of this approach are relatively low level of investments in communications and possibility of sharing achievements in this field with other businesses. At the same time in the future it will be easier for central bank to minimize it's involvement is this field then in the case of private banking communication systems.

There are number of most important banking systems and services that are based on communications.

Electronic Funds Transfer System — System facilitating electronic transfer of domestic interbank and intrabank (interbranch) payment instruments.

International Financial Telecommunications — Same as EFTS but for international operations.

National Money markets and auctions — System allowing electronic trading of financial instruments and stocks within the banking system.

Centralized accounting and analysis of available reserves and government budget across country

Centralized electronic processing of personal Credit-and-Debit card operations.

The importance of fast and reliable electronic information exchange between financial institutions grows with economy of country and requires deployment of modern technologies in the banking system.

RUSSIA'S TELECOMMUNICATIONS ROADS GET WIDER, MORE EXPENSIVE

In the last days of 2000 the government approved «in principle» of a draft concept for developing the market of telecommunications services, extending till the year 2010. What are the likely implications of that decision?

Under the approved project further efforts in the telecommunications market must be geared to meet the growing demand for communications services. According to the Ministry of Communications, 54,000 communities in Russia have not a single telephone. Communications networks development has been and still is the job of traditional operators. Bills paid by retail subscribers cover a mere 77 percent of local telephone communications costs.

According to the most conservative estimates, the development of the national telephone infrastructure will require an investment of $33 billion over a period of ten years. The number of ordinary telephones will grow from 31.2 million in 2000 to 47.7 million in 2010, and of mobile telephones, from 2.9 million to 22.2 million. The army of Internet users by 2010 will go up from 2.5 million to 26.1 million.

For communications operators to be effective control will be established of the fair access of one operator to the other operator's network. No operator will be allowed to refuse access to its infrastructure to another operator. And tariffs for all market participants should be the same.

Having examined the concept the Ministry of Communication, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade and the Anti-Monopoly Policies Ministry ordered finalizing the document within a two-month deadline and present it in one package with a plan for implementation measures to the Cabinet of Ministers. In the meantime, the Russian communications market is booming. Investments in 2000 exceeded by far those witnessed by pre-crisis 1997. National industrial operators are in the growth phase.

For the past few years the telecommunications divisions of several giants (such as the Ministry of Railways, Gazprom and others companies) have stormed the domestic market, but none has gained full access to this day. The possibility remains, though, that these companies next year may gain the status of a full-fledged operator. However, before they can count on the right to provide communications services in the domestic market, the operators of corporate telecommunications networks must settle their debts to the government, Communications Minister Leonid Reiman told Vek. He believes that these operators may settle their liabilities by transferring part of their shares to the State Property Ministry.

The Communications Ministry has conducted negotiations with the Defense Ministry on using certain frequencies for civilian purposes. Reiman said four percent of the radio frequencies were used by civil services, 20 percent, jointly by military and civil services, and the others were exempt from conversion. The Communications Ministry does not dismiss the possibility of operators' financial participation in the conversion of frequency ranges to civilian uses altogether. The issue of licenses to use vacant frequencies through contests may prove a means to raise funds for the mobile communication sector. The government has approved of issuing contested licenses for frequency ranges above 1800 MHz, and for third generation cellular systems.

Of the main methods the government uses to control the telecommunications market, alongside technological policies and perfection of service provision principles, one should point to the control of tariffs, minimization of cross subsidies, optimization of tariffs structure by consumer and regional sectors, transition as of 2002 to limit pricing-based tariffs, and the introduction of a system of universal services. The effective control and operation of the industry should provide support for domestic producers and safeguard national interests during the restructuring of companies, including Svyazinvest.

Svyazinvest is in the process of enlargement and reorganization. Instead of the 89 regional operators it is creating a new structure uniting seven to fifteen communications operators. This measure is expected to make the company easier to control and increase its shareholder value. The General Director of OAO Nizhegorodsvyazinform Vladimir Lyulin and Managing Director of the investment bank Group Gamma Timur Khusainov in December signed a contract on the provision of information and consulting services within the framework of the unification of eleven regional communications operators in the Volga river area.

Nizhegorodsyavinform will be the base company in the Volga area, taking over ten other regional communications operators — OAO Kirovelektrosvyaz, OAO Martelkom of the Republic of Mari El,

OAO Svyazinform of the Republic of Mordovia, OAO Elektrosvyaz of the Orenburg Region, OAO Svyazinform of the Penza Region, OAO Svyazinform of the Samara Region, Saratovelektrosvyaz, Telecommunications Networks of the Udmurt Republic, Elektrosvyaz of the Ulyanovsk Region, and Svyazinform of the Chuvash Republic. The unification process is due to be completed by the beginning of 2003.

The number of trunk communication lines over the past two years grew noticeably. Rostelecom and Transtelecom have been discussing the possibilities of Asia-Europe traffic. Companies in the West have turned an attentive ear to this news. Some are drawing plans for doing business in Russia. The main conclusion is that the economy's drift from material production to information technologies implies the growing role of telecommunications. Those companies which fail to reorganize their policies and development priorities in time, will fail in market competition. A shift of the emphasis from the transmission of voice to the transmission of data is the mainstream trend in the telecommunications business.

Market economy development will give Russia convenient and high quality telecommunications roads. However, only those companies that have opted for new development models will make a rapid headway.

FUTURE OF DEVELOPMENT

Future is speed and power. New technologies in electronics continue to develop. Computers become more compact, fast and inexpensive. The smaller chips' size the closer it placed one another and electric signal goes much faster. Technology exert revolutionary influence on society only when it is universal. Real revolution in manufacture, accumulation, treatment of matter begins when first universal metal-working machines appeared and telecommunication systems were created. In ancient machines energy source was combined with machine itself, but in process of development, division of manufacture, transmission and consumption of energy took place.

Revolutionary modifications in use of energy connected with appearance of universal electric machines and power grids. Social changes to informational society take in all countries.

On base of analogy between matter, energy and information we can have ideas about future. Earlier, for example, number of manufactured metal played the strategic role and was the description of development. Now we save metal, energy and we think about energy saving technologies.

It is very difficult to predict many steps of informatization. Telecommunications changes world very much.

CONCLUSION

In each device developed by human, collection and processing of information take place. Even simple soda water apparatus when it receives money, this apparatus collect and analyze information about coin and then either return the coin or give glass of soda water. In that way telecommunications may change us and world in future.

Nobody knows what our future will be like. Some people say that big spacecrafts will be built and that people will visit distant planets and make their settlements there. Some people say that technology will be developed to such an extent that computers will control the world. Others think that there will be world disasters floods, droughts and earthquakes alike — and that they will destroy the human race. Christians believe that the end of the world is near and that the God will come to part the good people from the bad ones. There are people who believe that pollution will cause the decline and fall of the mankind and there are those who predict that a gigantic shooting star will crash into the Earth at the turn of the century. Some people claim that alliens are planning to attack and turn us into their slaves.

So, is there, after all, a slight chance that people will finally come to their senses and that there will be at least no starvation and wars?

I think that bright future is in front of us. Just take a quick glance through history and you will realize it too: in ancient times people killed each other in order to have meat for dinner, later in order to satisfy their own vanity and today without any reason at all. As you can notice, we are developing very fast! Neighbors are killing each other out of boredom; mothers are killing their newborn babies out of some little sick reasons. Isn’t it obvious that we are considerably improving species which is getting wiser every day?

If we try to make this world better we shall succeed. But, are we ready to do it now? Are we really environment friendly while not recycling but just piling rubbish in the middle of once green meadows, while shooting bears and foxes just because of their fur? Are we really worried about thousands of hungry people while we are throwing away fresh food in garbage bins? Do we really care about all those thirsty children while we are splashing about in swimming pools? Are we really concerned about dangerously polluted air our descendants will have to inhale while we are driving happily our flashy cars? Can we even try to imagine the ugliness of the desert we are going to leave to our grandchildren?

It could be estimated that an average person spends a minute a year thinking about the future of our planet and I do not know if I should compliment this or not. Is it an achievement after all?

I express my gratitude for devoting people’s lives to saving our future world by making other people aware that the appalling problems of poverty and arms build-up should be dealt with soon and that, among many other things, our seas and forests deserve more protection than they get. The only way we can show the Earth our respect is to change our attitude and behavior before it is too late. So let’s do it now.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. BOGATSKIY I.S., DYUKANOVA N.M. “BUSINESSCOURSE OF ENGLISH”, KIEV “LOGOS”, 2003

2. TIMOSHINA A.A., MIKSHA L.S. “ENGLISH OF MODERN ECONOMICS” MOSCOW “ANT”, 2002

3. “AGE” №51, 2000

4. A.JEJELAVA, Z. KUKAVA “CURRENT STAGE AND FUTURE PROSPECTS OF DEVELOPMENT OF THE GEORGIAN BANKING SYSTEM TELECOMMUNICATIONS INFROSTRUCTURE’, TBILISI

www.ronl.ru

Реферат на тему Telecommunications

Telecommunications & Networking Report Essay, Research Paper

1. 23-Sep-99: ?Free Web Services Challenge AOL?s Dominance? – Internet business analysts generally are not yet convinced of the viability of the free web service business model for bring profitable. None-the-less, most agree that the free access will probably take a significant chunk of AOL?s market share before running out of investor?s money.

2. 23-Sep-99: ?Visitalk.com Builds White Pages for Web Phone Calls? – Visitalk.com has unveiled plans to simplify the routing of phone calls over the Internet. They will provide a directory service which will provide subscribers with a unique 12 digit Internet phone number. The directory will capture user?s current IP address and update their database, serving as a switchboard for Internet phone calls which are routed over IP. This solves a major problem with the fact that IP addresses change for users as they move from computer to computer.

3. 23-Sep-99: ?Cisco to But Software Maker for $325 Million? ? Cisco Systems agreed to acquire WebLine Communications, a software maker producing e-mail routing and collaborating software. WebLine is to be assimilated into Cisco?s Applications Technology Group. This was Cisco?s 12th acquisition this year.

4. 24-Sep-99: ?Firm Agrees to Purchase Cable-Modem Technology? ? Intel agreed to purchase the cable modem technology of Stanford Telecommunications, Inc. The deal puts Intel face to face in the marketplace with Broadcom Corp., which currently holds the majority market share for cable modem chips.

5. 24-Sep-99: ?Qualcomm Pact Targets Wireless Network Products? ? Lucent Technologies signed a development agreement with Qualcomm to product wireless networking equipment. Qualcomm will give its CDMA technology, including chips and software to Lucent. Lucent plans to have trial systems utilizing the technology in place next year.

6. 24-Sep-99: ?MCI Worldcom, Sprint Ponder Merger? ? The world?s second and third largest long-distance carriers are in talks are in talks over a possible merger. The deal would give MCI it?s only nationwide wireless network. An obvious stumbling block over such a large telcom merger would be close scrutiny by regulators. It is also expected that regional Bell companies may soon have permission to compete in the long distance market as well.

7. 24-Sep-99: ?Earthlink and MindSpring to Merge, Forming No. 2 Internet Access Firm? ? This deal makes the new Internet Provider second only to AOL. The combined company will have 3 million subscribers, still a far cry from AOL?s 18 million, but none-the-less a viable competitor.

8. 27-Sep-99: ?Teledesic ?Sky Internet? May Start Sooner? ? Teledesic chief Craig McCaw is attempting to raise funds for his planned ?Sky Internet.? However, McCaw has also been exploring partnerships with other wireless providers including Motorola, Spaceway, and Hughes electronics, to implement a smaller scale version of their planned system to prove viability.

9. 27-Sep-99: ?Microsoft Corp. Agrees to Invest In Net Start-Up? ? Microsoft agreed to invest $15 million in Akamai Technologies Inc. Akamai provides services which focus on speeding the downloading of web pages. As part of this agreement, Akamai will develop a version of it?s software to run on Windows NT, as opposed to it?s current Unix based versions.

10. 28-Sep-99: ?Maker of Voice Software for the Web Is Acquired? ? Mpath Interactive Inc. acquired Resounding Technology to strengthen its position as a provider of Internet voice software. Resounding Technologies? Roger Wilco software had been very successful in providing Internet voice chat.

11. 4-Oct-99: ?BellSouth Makes Bid to Acquire Sprint? ? BellSouth made a bid to purchase wireless provider Sprint as Sprint & WorldCom came closer to closing their deal. Spring is expected to go with the WorldCom offer, even though the BellSouth offer if more lucrative. Regardless, either acquisition would face regulatory issues.

12. 4-Oct-99: ?Paul Allen is Investing $1.65 Billion In Telecommunications Firm RCN Corp.? ? RCN is planning to use the investment to speed development of its high-speed fiber optic network. RCN is one of several companies known as competitive local exchange carriers (CLEC?s) trying to take a share of the local telephone business.

13. 5-Oct-99: ?Big Landlords Are Joining Telecom Fray? ? Eight of the largest office space landlords are joining venture capitalist Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Bryers to form a new company, Broadband Office. The company is to provide high speed Internet access to it tenants.

14. 6-Oct-99: ?Novell Plans to Create Repository for Information on Internet Users? ? Novell brought online its new service called Digitalme, aimed at providing a personal data repository. This was a move to compete with Microsoft?s recently unveiled Passport service. This was Novell?s first venture into Internet based services, as the company is known for network management software.

15. 7-Oct-99: ?AT&T?s Top Cable Executive Resigns Amid Internet-Access Fracas? ? After making public statements denying that AT&T had been in secret talks with AOL, Leo Hindery resigned as AT&T?s top cable & Internet executive. This was in response to the fact that AT&T had, in fact, been talking privately with AOL, and had not told Hindery.

16. 11-Oct-99: ?That?s a WAP; How the Cell Phone and Web Contracted an Arranged Marriage? ? A new technology known as Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is spreading fast. The technology allows web based components to be brought to cell phones. Motorola estimates that half of the estimated 200 million cell phones manufactured next year will be shipped with WAP enabled browsers.

17. 11-Oct-99: ?Global Crossing Strikes Deal With Racal? ? Global Crossing added another company to its portfolio to strengthen its international undersea & land-based networks to handle growing Internet traffic. This is an indication that Europe will be the site of the next major telco rivalries, as acquisition gives Global Crossing an additional 7,300 kilometers of fiber-optic networks in Europe.

18. 12-Oct-99: ?AT&T, BT to Accelerate Expansion of Global Venture? ? AT&T & British Telecom?s joint venture, Concert, has announced plans to expand its frame relay service by 50-60% by early next year. This venture is structured differently than previously failed joint telecom ventures. Concert will own nearly all the switching and networking hardware, as opposed to relying on alliances for managing customer service.

19. 12-Oct-99: ?Norfolk Southern Forms Unit to Aid Telecom Ventures? ? Norfolk Southern Corp. announced it has formed a unit to develop fiber-optic and microwave systems. The company said it will market it?s 21,600 miles of right-of ways for use by telecom companies. This would relieve the telecom developers of the high cost of easements required for network development.

20. 12-Oct-99: ?Five Firms Seek to Develop Security Standard for PC?s? ? Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel & Microsoft have announced plans to form a group to standardize security for PC?s. The new group will be called Trusted Computed Platform Alliance, and will embrace input from other companies. They plan to have a proposal for a security specification by late 2000 to be licensed openly.

21. 18-Oct-99: ?Dragging Bill Payers Onto the Internet Envelope by Envelope? ? Paytrust, an Internet startup, is trying to transform the way consumers pay bills. The Yankee Group, a technology consumer group estimates that 4.5% of households paid bills online last year.

22. 18-Oct-99: ?In a Race to the Web, Phone Upstarts Grab Turf? ? Covad Communications Group has announced plans to provide local telephone service in addition to DSL service. The regional bells now dwarf new entrants into the local phone service market by 80%.

23. 19-Oct-99: ?Nortel Networks to Acquire Clarify in $2.1 Billion Stock Transaction? ? Nortel Networks, seeking to expand its customer management business bought software make Clarify. Nortel, who primarily provides equipment & software for networks, says the move was designed to allow businesses to increase personalized transactions on the Internet.

24. 21-Oct-99: ?Double Trouble: AT&T Corp. Might Want to Think About Setting Its Fight With ISP?s? ? George W. Bush stated that if he is elected, he would urge AT&T to open its cable plants openly. Bush?s stated choice for his Secretary of State, Colin Powell, is on AOL?s board, and a close friend of AOL?s chief Steve Case.

25. 21-Oct-99: ?Intuit to Integrate Web Links Into Small Business Software? ? Intuit said it will be paid fees by web sites providing business-to-business services to be included in its QuickBooks product. This move was to consolidate small business services as part of it?s offering. Intuit currently dominates the market for small-business financial software.

26. 21-Oct-99: ?IBeam?s Desnoes is Betting on Use of Satellites To Transmit Audio and Video Over the Internet? ? IBeam is building a $250 million network that bundles media traffic & feeds it to a satellite link to ISP?s. This method allows faster population of ISP servers when a high demand event such as a concert or breaking news story. It will allow IBeam to cut the prices charged to media companies by half and improving the quality of audio & video delivered over the Internet.

27. 25-Oct-99: ?AT&T?s Plans for Cable Deals Suffer Setbacks? ? Since AT&T announced negotiations with Time-Warner, plans for deals with other major cable players have slowed, as the other companies wait to see the terms of the Time-Warner deal. AT&T is betting that it will once again provide local phone service along with high-speed Internet access. AT&T has also already began talks with AOL & Mindspring for providing Internet content.

28. 25-Oct-99: ?Europe is Next Frontier for U.S. Telecom Deals? ? As the major players become consolidated in the U.S., the next telecom deals are likely to be in the European arena in the form of major acquisitions. Major telecom players want to be able to provide ?one-stop shopping? for their major corporate customers and their global telecommunications needs. Major targets in Europe include Mannesmann AG, and Deutsche Telekom.

29. 27-Oct-99: ?Nortel Tops Forecasts as Net Rises 61%, Raises Revenue Expectations for 2000? ? Fueled by sales to telephone and Internet service providers, Nortel Networks Corp. topped analysts estimates, with a 61% increase in earnings over last quarter. Nortel said it growth of fiber-optic networks was particularly strong.

30. 27-Oct-99: ?Microsoft Says Its Windows 2000 System Won?t Reach Customers Until Next Year? ? Microsoft formally announced the release date for it?s high end business computing environment, Windows 2000, has slipped to Feb. 17, 2000. Windows 2000 is intended to compete head-to-head with large Unix based Internet servers. Microsoft?s competitors, most notably Sun Microsystems, says Windows 2000 won?t come close to the capabilities of Unix.

31. 1-Nov-99: ?McCaw to Invest As Much As $1.2 Billion To Get ICO Global Out of Bankruptcy? ? Cellular phone magnate Craig McCaw will invest as much as $1.2 billion in ICO Global Communications Ltd. to rescue the satellite phone system vendor out of bankruptcy. This is one of several recent investments in satellite based networks by McCaw. The company hopes to emerge from bankruptcy and begin providing phone service by mid 2001.

32. 1-Nov-99: ?Nextel Eager to Buy NextWave Spectrum? ? Nextel has announced that it will pay $6 billion for radio spectrum that was bought by auction from the government in 1996 for $4.7 billion by NextWave Personal Communications. The deal is at a stand-still, though, as NextWave is currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. Furthermore, the sale would require the FCC to rule on several related regulatory issues.

33. 1-Nov-99: ?AT&T Is Blocked In Plan to Raise Monthly Fee 50%? ? The FCC temporarily halted AT&T?s plan to raise its monthly fee charged to residential consumers by 50%, as it investigates the carrier?s pricing policies. Sprint raised its fees recently by 18%, while MCI stated it plans to keep its rate constant.

34. 1-Nov-99: ?Tellabs Inc. Buys Software Assets? ? Tellabs agreed to pay $35 million for some specific proprietary digital signal processing software from DSP Software Engineering, Inc. Tellabs, a maker of telecommunications hardware, plans to integrate the software into its next generation switching system.

35. 4-Nov-99: ?Simon to Sell Net Services to Link Mall Tenants? ? Simon Property Group, the largest owner of shopping malls in the U.S. announced plans to provide high speed Internet access to its mall tenants. This is the second such move by mall landlords to provide telecom services. The company has created a subsidiary called TennantConnect.Net.

36. 8-Nov-99: ?Web Access Via Cell Phones Is Expected To Be Introduced? ? Bell Atlantic Corp. announced plans to introduce web access for cell phones and other wireless devices. Users will need a special wireless phone which starts at $120. Bell Atlantic?s move was in the wake of similar recent announcements by Sprint & Vodafone Airtouch PLC.

37. 9-Nov-99: ?Arch Sets Stock Deal for Larger PageNet As Firms Seek to Turn Page on Debt Woes? ? Arch Communications Group, the second largest paging service, agreed to purchase PageNet. The paging industry has faced troubles lately from wireless telephone players, which can easily provide paging services in addition to telephony services.

38. 11-Nov-99: ?Information Appliances to Nudge PC?s at Comdex Show? ? Information appliance makers including Motorola, Cidco & Boundless will be introducing numerous information appliances at the Comdex show. Boundless will be presenting a tablet device with the sole purpose is accessing the Internet & e-mail. Motorola will be unveiling a pager with Internet & e-mail access, while Cidco offers a device for handling e-mails only at a very low cost of $99.

39. 11-Nov-99: ?RCN Investment Casts Paul Allen As Industry Turncoat? ? Paul Allen recently invested in ?RCN Corp., a company which specializes in building competing cable and communications networks. RCN enraged Cablevision by teaming up with a local electric utility to avoid the expense of constructing a competing cable network. Allen currently owns stakes in cable, Internet and phone service providers, poising himself as a communications Tycoon.

40. 11-Nov-99: ?Telecom Start-Up Sees Gold in Copper Lines? ? Advanced Switching Communications (ASC) plans to build a low-cost product to harness the existing infrastructure of copper lines in providing a single set of equipment to link to access technologies. ASC has developed a box which will convert data from DSL, T-1 and traditional twisted pair wires and move it onto the Internet. The product is fully scalable as additional bandwidth is needed, adding to its potential as a viable alternative for consumer data access.

41. 16-Nov-99: ?Sony and 3Com to Jointly Develop New Palm Products? ? Sony & 3Com struck a deal where Sony will be able to use Palm?s operating system, while Palm will use Sony?s flash-memory technology. The move represents a move by Sony to take a stake in the rapidly expanding information appliance industry, which connect to the Internet more easily than a PC. Sony has already introduced two products for downloading music & video from the Internet and play on a personal device, within the licensing and copyright laws of the industry.

42. 16-Nov-99: ?AT&T Corp.? ? AT&T is expanding its wireless service to Los Angeles, filling a large gap in its coverage. Along with this move, AT&T launched PocketNet, a wireless-data service which provides web services to cell phones. Also, AT&T launched a separate agreement with OmniSky to offer nationwide Internet & e-mail services to 3Com?s Pilot handheld device.

43. 17-Nov-99: ?Comcast To Buy Cable-TV Firm Lenfest? ? After Comcast was outbid for MediaOne by AT&T, AT&T, aimed at making peace with Comcast, agreed to sell Lenfest. The move will firmly establish Comcast as the 3rd cable TV operator.

44. 18-Nov-99: ?The Search Continues for a Single Wireless Standard? ? There are currently a half-dozen standards in place for wireless service from Global System for Mobile Communications to Time Division Multiple Access. Right now the force seems to be a convergence between GSM & TDMA, creating a dominant standard. None-the-less, giants like Sprint & Bell Atlantic favor Code Division Multiple Access.

45. 19-Nov-99: ?Privacy Concerns Rise As Plans for Tracking Cell Phone Users Unfold? ? The FCC has mandated that all wireless providers be able to pinpoint the location of a wireless 911 call within 100 feet by October 2001. Also, recently the agency mandated that wireless providers be able to provide the beginning and ending location of a phone call to law enforcement officials.

46. 22-Nov-99: ?Deal Would Give Vodafone a Leg Up in A Heated Race? ? Vodafone announced a bid for Mannesmann AG, in an attempt to build the first pan-European wireless network. This would be a major benefit for Vodafone in being able to offer flat rate plan over the entire European coverage area.

47. 22-Nov-99: ?Cabletron to Sell Unit for Stock of $860 Million? ? In an effort to regain focus on high-end networking hardware, Cabletron has agreed to sell an Internet equipment business to Efficient Networks. Cabletron is shedding non-core businesses in an attempt to make itself a viable takeover target. Efficient Networks, which makes DSL modems, bought FlowPoint, which makes DSL routers.

48. 22-Nov-99: ?AT&T Expects Delays In Closing MediaOne Deal? ? AT&T and MediaOne most likely will not finalize their proposed deal until the second quarter of 2000. The delay is largely due to a lengthy regulatory review by the Department of Justice. The deal, which is none-the-less expected to go through, will make AT&T into the nations? largest cable TV service provider.

49. 23-Nov-99: ?Nextel Sets a Deal to Buy Phones from Kyocera? ? In a move marking the first time Nextel has bought phones from a third party other than Motorola, Kyocera has agreed to provide the next generation of phones for Nextel. Kyocera has been a leader in wireless technology, and recently unveiled a phone designed to receive streaming video.

50. 26-Nov-99: ?Court Overturns Ruling on NextWave, Spelling Good News for FCC?s Valuation? ? An appeals court overturned a bankruptcy ruling that valued NextWave Personal Communications at $1.02 billion, less than a quarter the price it had bid. The ruling marked a victory for the FCC which is hoping to reclaim billions of dollars for spectrum licenses. The move also spelled good news for Nextel, which is hoping to buy the troubled NextWave for $6 billion.

The Future of Telecommuters

The Future of Telecommuters

As the our global network known as the Internet increases its size and speed, the future of telecommuting becomes more and more promising. Generally speaking, telecommuting is defined as spending at least one day out of a five day work week working in one?s home. In a growing number of companies, traditional office space is giving way to home offices, living rooms and even kitchens as employees work from home, from their cars or virtually anywhere. Until recently, technology was the main barrier to telecommuting. Now the biggest hurdles are cultural, organizational and managerial. Those organizations that have introduced well designed and supported home-working schemes have benefited from lower costs, higher productivity, greater flexibility and a more motivated workforce.

Both companies and employees are discovering the benefits of virtual workspaces. Businesses that successfully incorporate them will be able to significantly cut their overhead costs. It would cost much less to have a few people answering phones at home at 3 o’clock in the morning than running a skeleton crew in a heated/air-conditioned, lighted, and such office building. The employer can offer telecommuting as an option for prospective employees to improve recruitment. As an added bonus, companies heighten their public image as environmentally conscious by saving some ozone by curtailing traffic and commuters. They?re also finding that by being flexible, they?re more responsive to customers, while retaining key personnel whom otherwise might be lost to a spouse?s transfer or a new child. Left to generally work on their own terms, employees most often are happier, as well as more creative and productive.

How are employees likely to benefit? That depends mostly to which particular employee we are referring. Telecommuting allows someone with a physical handicap that could not actually commute to the workplace to still function as a valuable employee. It would allow someone who has small children and feels a great need to be home for them to still work and have a career. The distance an employee must travel daily to work is a factor that can induce great amounts of frustration and expense in one?s life. Telecommuting can alleviate this stress. And, employees who successfully embrace the concept are better able to manage their work and personal lives. Allowing greater freedom and bestowing greater responsibility can enhance job satisfaction. However, employees should be aware of some of the pitfalls of telecommuting as well as the benefits. It is estimated that telecommuters earn less overall then office workers.

Managers often fear that employees will not get enough work done if they can?t see them. Most veterans of the virtual office, however, maintain that the exact opposite is true. All too often, employees wind up fielding phone calls in the evening or stacking an extra hour or two on top of an eight-hour day. Not surprisingly, that can create an array of problems, including burnout, errors and marital conflict. Another potential problem with which virtual employees must deal is handling all the distractions that can occur at home. As a result, many firms will provide workers with specific guidelines for handling work at home. The majority of workers will adjust and become highly productive in an alternative office environment. The most important thing for a company to do is to give suggestions that will help workers adapt.

This new work environment is designed around the concept that one?s best thinking isn?t necessarily done at a desk or in an office. Sometimes, it?s done in a conference room with several people. Other times it?s done on a ski slope or driving to a client?s office. The idea is to eliminate the boundaries about where people are supposed to think, to create an environment that is stimulating and rich in resources. Employees decide on their own where they will work each day, and are judged on work produced rather than on hours put in at the office. Because workers aren?t in the same place every day, they may be exposed to a wider range of people and situations. And that can open their eyes and minds to new ideas and concepts.

Technology is obviously the driving force behind the shift to telecommuting. Technology can be relatively straightforward – a good PC with licensed office software and a modem or DSL connection to the central systems. These must in turn be designed to enable remote working – for example database applications should use client-server techniques to minimize workstation bandwidth requirements. For many home-workers a combination of email, file-transfer and intranet/internet access is sufficient. Some Internet service providers are offering secure gateway services into corporate systems, an advantage being national and international access for the price of a local call

A broad range of information and communications technologies is beginning to enable better organizational effectiveness, efficiency and customer service:

 High speed computer and phone system networking allows staff to use any standard desktop, independently of location – main office, other office, home or on-the-move

 Intranets (high speed internal internets) are easy to implement and maintain and can offer simple, standard interfaces to most corporate applications including legacy mainframe and client-server systems

 Integrated desktop applications, such as Microsoft Office, can streamline and automate a wide variety of office tasks with minimal programming effort

 With computer-telephony integration (CTI) the IT and phone systems (fixed and portable) can work in harmony to deliver advanced messaging and call-center solutions

 The Internet is already widely used in the technology sector for customer service and support – use will extend to other sectors as networks improve and consumer and business usage grows, especially with the advent of Internet-enabled televisions

 Document image processing (DIP) and optical character recognition (OCR) support the elimination of paper and streamline associated processes, for example by scanning incoming mail and other documents.

Companies maintain links with the mobile work force in a variety of ways. Employees access their E-mail and voicemail daily; important messages and policy updates are broadcast regularly into the mailboxes of thousands of workers. When the need for teleconferencing arises, it can put hundreds of employees on the line simultaneously. Typically, the organization?s mobile workers link from cars, home offices, hotels, even airplanes. Virtual workers are only a phone call away. Certainly, telephony has become, and will continue to be a powerful driver in the virtual-office boom. Satellites and high-tech telephone systems, such as DSL lines, allow companies to zoom data from one location to another at light speed. Organizations will link to their work force and hold virtual meetings using tools such as video-conferencing.

The trend is being bolstered by growing corporate acceptance of the workstyle and a recognition by employers that it is mutually beneficial for them and their employees. The strong economy coupled with high employment rates has created a positive environment for alternative workstyles and has prompted employers to use the telecommuting option to lure highly sought-after, skilled employees.

Joanne Pratt, president of Joanne H. Pratt Associates cited three factors that are driving the growth of telecommuting:

 Internet growth

The Internet has created a demand for PCs and provided an incentive to set up a home office.

 Technology has reached a critical mass

Cell phones, notebook computers and other technologies have resulted in the workforce that is equipped to work anywhere.

 Work/life balance

Employees are paying attention to work/life choices and even conditioning their acceptance of new jobs on pre-approval to telecommuting.

In its first major study of telecommuting in two years, FIND/SVP reports 11 million Americans now telecommute to the office. That’s a 30% jump from two years ago and a 175% leap from 1990. FIND/SVP expects U.S. telecommuting to swell another 3 million by the year 2001. Another research company, The Yankee Group, agrees the telecommuting workforce is growing at a brisk clip (18% per year). The American Management Association forecasts a 171% growth in telecommuting over the next five years. The rapid technology adoption was also noticed by the FIND/SVP survey, which discovered that an estimated 31 percent of telecommuters use the Internet, more than double the average rate for home users, and 75 percent of telecommuters use personal computers.

Looking ahead, it’s just a simple matter of mathematics. Computer and networking equipment is getting better and cheaper. Office space is getting more expensive. Highway traffic is becoming more congested. It’s only a matter of time until home workers become as numerous as office workers. Eventually, this will mean that IT departments have to become as adept at supporting these remote workers as they are at supporting LAN-based users in company offices. Keeping a fleet of temperamental laptop computers up and running is part of the headache. Keeping the connection to the Internet up 24-by-7 will also loom large, as will volume purchases of personal fax machines and printers.

Society is on the frontier of a fundamental change in the way the workplace is viewed and how work is handled. In the future, it will become increasingly difficult for traditional companies to compete against those embracing the virtual office. Clearly, many considerations must factor into a decision by a company to implement a telecommuting program. However, companies that embrace the concept are sending out a loud message. They?re making it clear that they?re interested in their employees? welfare, that they?re seeking a competitive edge, and that they aren?t afraid to rethink their work force for changing conditions. Those are the ingredients for future success.

bukvasha.ru

Telecommunications : :

CONTENT

1. INTRODUCTION
2. DEVELOPING OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS
3. SATTELITE SERVICES
4. INTERNET
5. ADVANCING ROLE OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN BANKING
6. RUSSIAS TELECOMMUNICATIONS ROADS GET WIDER, MORE EXPENSIVE
7. FUTURE OF DEVELOPMENT
8. CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION

No one can deny the role of telecommunications for society. Currently hundreds of millions of people use wireless communication means. Cell phone is no longer a symbol of prestige but a tool, which lets to use working time more effectively. Considering that the main service of a mobile connection operator is providing high quality connection, much attention in the telecommunication market is paid to the spectrum of services that cell network subscriber may receive.

DEVELOPING OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Late in the nineteenth century communications facilities were augmented by a new invention telephone. In the USA its use slowly expanded, and by 1900 the American Telephone and Telegraph Company controlled 855,000 telephones; but elsewhere the telephone made little headway until the twentieth century. After 1900, however, telephone installations extended much more rapidly in all the wealthier countries. The number of telephones in use in the world grew at almost 100 per cent per decade. But long-distance telephone services gradually developed and began to compete with telegraphic business. A greater contribution to long-range communication came with the development of wireless. Before the outbreak of the First World War wireless telegraphy was established as a means of regular communication with ships at sea, and provided a valuable supplement to existing telegraph lines and cables. In the next few years the telephone systems of all the chief countries were connected with each other by radio. Far more immediate was the influence that radio had through broadcasting and by television, which followed it at an interval of about twenty-five years.

Telephones are as much a form of infrastructure as roads or electricity, and competition will make them cheaper. Losses from lower prices will be countered by higher usage, and tax revenues will benefit from the faster economic growth that telephones bring about. Most important of all, by cutting out the need to install costly cables and microwave transmitters, the new telephones could be a boon to the remote and poor regions of the earth. Even today, half the worlds population lives more than two hours away from a telephone, and that is one reason why they find it hard to break out of their poverty. A farmers call for advice could save a whole crop; access to a handset could help a small rural business sell its wares. And in rich places with reasonable telephone systems already in place, the effect of new entrants the replacement of bad, overpriced services with clever, cheaper ones is less dramatic but still considerable.

Global phones are not going to deliver all these benefits at once, or easily. Indeed, if the market fails to develop, it could prove too small to support the costs of launching satellites. Still, that is a risk worth taking. And these new global telephones reflect a wider trend. Lots of other new communication services on-line film libraries, personal computers that can send video-clips and sound-bites as easily as they can be used for writing letters, terrestrial mobile-telephone systems cheap enough to replace hard-wired family sets are already technically possible. What they all need is deregulation. Then any of them could bring about changes just as unexpected and just as magical as anything that Alexander Graham Bells telephone has already achieved.

SATTELITE SIRVICES

Our world has become an increasingly complex place in which, as individuals, we are very dependent on other people and on organizations. An event in some distant part of the globe can rapidly and significantly affect the quality of life in our home country.

This increasing independence, on both a national and international scale, has led us to create systems that can respond immediately to dangers, enabling appropriate defensive or offensive actions to be taken. These systems are operating all around us in military, civil, commercial and industrial fields.

A worldwide system of satellites has been created, and it is possible to transmit signals around the globe by bouncing them from on satellite to an earth station and thence to another satellite.

Originally designed to carry voice traffic, they are able to carry hundreds of thousands of separate simultaneous calls. These systems are being increasingly adopted to provide for business communications, including the transmission of traffic for voice, facsimile, data and vision.

It is probable that future satellite services will enable a great variety of information services to transmit directly into the home, possibly including personalized electronic mail. The electronic computer is at the heart of many such systems, but the role of telecommunications is not less important. There will be a further convergence between the technologies of computing and telecommunications. The change will be dramatic: the database culture, the cashless society, the office at home, the gigabit-per-second data network.

We cannot doubt that the economic and social impact of these concepts will be very significant. Already, advanced systems of communication are affecting both the layman and the technician . Complex functions are being performed by people using advanced terminals which are intended to be as easy to use as the conventional telephone.

The new global satellite-communications systems will offer three kinds of service, which may overlap in many different kinds of receivers:

Voice. Satellite telephones will be able to make calls from anywhere on earth to anywhere else. That could make them especially useful to remote, third-world villages (some of which already use stationary satellite telephones), explorers and disaster-relief teams. Todays mobile phones depend on earth-bound transmitters, whose technical standards vary from country to country. So business travelers cannot use their mobile phones on international trips. Satellite telephones would make that possible.

Massaging. Satellite messagers have the same global coverage as satellite telephones, but carry text alone, which could be useful for those with laptop computers. Equipped with a small screen like todays pagers, satellite messagers will also receive short messages.

Tracking. Voice and messaging systems will also tell their users where they are to within a few hundred metres. Combined with the messaging service, the location service could help rescue teams to find stranded adventurers, the police to find stolen cars, exporters to follow the progress of cargoes, and haulage companies to check that drivers are not detouring to the pub. Satellite systems will provide better positioning information to anyone who has a receiver for their signals.

INTERNET

The internet, a global computer network which embraces millions of users all over the world, began in the United States in 1969 as a military experiment. It was designed to survive a nuclear war. Information sent over the Internet takes the shortest path available from one computer to another. Because of this, any two computers on the Internet will be able to stay in touch with each other as long as there is a single route between them. This technology is called packet swithing. Owing to this technology, if some computers on the network are knocked out (by a nuclear explosion, for example), information will just rout around them. One such packet-swithing network which has already survived a war is the Iraqi computer network which was not knocked out during the Gulf War.

Most of the Internet host computers (more than 50%) are in the United States, while the rest are located in more than 100 other countries. Although the number of host computers can be counted fairly accurately, nobody knows exactly how many people use the Internet, there are millions worldwide, and their number is growing by thousands each month.

The most popular Internet service is e-mail. Most of the people, who have access to the Internet, use the network only for sending and receiving e-mail messages. However, other popular services are available on the Internet: reading USENET News, using the World-Wide-Web, telnet, FTP, and Gopher.

In many developing countries the Internet may provide businessmen with a reliable alternative to the expensive and unreliable telecommunications systems of these countries. Commercial users can communicate cheaply over the Internet with the rest of the world. When they send e-mail messages, they only have to pay for phone calls to their local service providers, not for calls across their countries or around the world. But who actually pays for sending e-mail messages over the Internet long distances, around the world? The answer is very simple: users pay their service provider a monthly or hourly fee. Part of this fee goes toward its costs to connect to a larger service provider, and part of the fee received by the larger provider goes to cover its cost of running a worldwide network of wires and wireless stations.

But saving money is only the first step. If people see that they can make money from the Internet, commercial use of this network will drastically increase. For example, some western architecture companies and garment centers already transmit their basic designs and refined by skilled but inexpensive Chinese computer-aided-design specialists.

However, some problems remain. The most important is security. When you send an e-mail message can travel through many different networks and computers. The data is constantly being directed towards its destination by special computers called routers. However, because of this, it is possible to get into any of the computers along the route, intercept and even change the data being sent over the Internet. In spite of the fact that there are many good encoding programs available, nearly all the information being sent over the Internet is transmitted without any form of encoding, i.e. in the clear/ But when it becomes necessary to send important information over the network, these encoding programs may b useful. Some American banks and companies even conduct transactions over the Internet. However, there are still both commercial and technical problems which will take time to be resolved.

ADVANCING ROLE OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN BANKING

Role of telecommunications in banking as in other businesses nowadays is extremely important. We can even say that this field is critical success factor for the modern bank or banking system.

There are two different approaches in terms of ownership to building banking communications in the world. One approach that is chosen for example by banking system of Russia and some other former Soviet Union countries is building of private banking networks from the start. This approach has certain benefits, mainly from security prospective. On the other hand building private banking networks requires permanent and serious involvement of banks in financing, support and development of telecommunications systems. Other approach is building banking communications over existing public services in the country. Some of main benefits of this approach are relatively low level of investments in communications and possibility of sharing achievements in this field with other businesses. At the same time in the future it will be easier for central bank to minimize it's involvement is this field then in the case of private banking communication systems.

There are number of most important banking systems and services that are based on communications.

Electronic Funds Transfer System - System facilitating electronic transfer of domestic interbank and intrabank (interbranch) payment instruments.

International Financial Telecommunications - Same as EFTS but for international operations.

National Money markets and auctions - System allowing electronic trading of financial instruments and stocks within the banking system.

Centralized accounting and analysis of available reserves and government budget across country

Centralized electronic processing of personal Credit-and-Debit card operations.

The importance of fast and reliable electronic information exchange between financial institutions grows with economy of country and requires deployment of modern technologies in the banking system.

RUSSIA'S TELECOMMUNICATIONS ROADS GET WIDER, MORE EXPENSIVE

In the last days of 2000 the government approved "in principle" of a draft concept for developing the market of telecommunications services, extending till the year 2010. What are the likely implications of that decision?

Under the approved project further efforts in the telecommunications market must be geared to meet the growing demand for communications services. According to the Ministry of Communications, 54,000 communities in Russia have not a single telephone. Communications networks development has been and still is the job of traditional operators. Bills paid by retail subscribers cover a mere 77 percent of local telephone communications costs.

According to the most conservative estimates, the development of the national telephone infrastructure will require an investment of $33 billion over a period of ten years. The number of ordinary telephones will grow from 31.2 million in 2000 to 47.7 million in 2010, and of mobile telephones, from 2.9 million to 22.2 million. The army of Internet users by 2010 will go up from 2.5 million to 26.1 million.

For communications operators to be effective control will be established of the fair access of one operator to the other operator's network. No operator will be allowed to refuse access to its infrastructure to another operator. And tariffs for all market participants should be the same.

Having examined the concept the Ministry of Communication, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade and the Anti-Monopoly Policies Ministry ordered finalizing the document within a two-month deadline and present it in one package with a plan for implementation measures to the Cabinet of Ministers. In the meantime, the Russian communications market is booming. Investments in 2000 exceeded by far those witnessed by pre-crisis 1997. National industrial operators are in the growth phase.

For the past few years the telecommunications divisions of several giants (such as the Ministry of Railways, Gazprom and others companies) have stormed the domestic market, but none has gained full access to this day. The possibility remains, though, that these companies next year may gain the status of a full-fledged operator. However, before they can count on the right to provide communications services in the domestic market, the operators of corporate telecommunications networks must settle their debts to the government, Communications Minister Leonid Reiman told Vek. He believes that these operators may settle their liabilities by transferring part of their shares to the State Property Ministry.

The Communications Ministry has conducted negotiations with the Defense Ministry on using certain frequencies for civilian purposes. Reiman said four percent of the radio frequencies were used by civil services, 20 percent, jointly by military and civil services, and the others were exempt from conversion. The Communications Ministry does not dismiss the possibility of operators' financial participation in the conversion of frequency ranges to civilian uses altogether. The issue of licenses to use vacant frequencies through contests may prove a means to raise funds for the mobile communication sector. The government has approved of issuing contested licenses for frequency ranges above 1800 MHz, and for third generation cellular systems.

Of the main methods the government uses to control the telecommunications market, alongside technological policies and perfection of service provision principles, one should point to the control of tariffs, minimization of cross subsidies, optimization of tariffs structure by consumer and regional sectors, transition as of 2002 to limit pricing-based tariffs, and the introduction of a system of universal services. The effective control and operation of the industry should provide support for domestic producers and safeguard national interests during the restructuring of companies, including Svyazinvest.

Svyazinvest is in the process of enlargement and reorganization. Instead of the 89 regional operators it is creating a new structure uniting seven to fifteen communications operators. This measure is expected to make the company easier to control and increase its shareholder value. The General Director of OAO Nizhegorodsvyazinform Vladimir Lyulin and Managing Director of the investment bank Group Gamma Timur Khusainov in December signed a contract on the provision of information and consulting services within the framework of the unification of eleven regional communications operators in the Volga river area.

Nizhegorodsyavinform will be the base company in the Volga area, taking over ten other regional communications operators - OAO Kirovelektrosvyaz, OAO Martelkom of the Republic of Mari El,

OAO Svyazinform of the Republic of Mordovia, OAO Elektrosvyaz of the Orenburg Region, OAO Svyazinform of the Penza Region, OAO Svyazinform of the Samara Region, Saratovelektrosvyaz, Telecommunications Networks of the Udmurt Republic, Elektrosvyaz of the Ulyanovsk Region, and Svyazinform of the Chuvash Republic. The unification process is due to be completed by the beginning of 2003.

The number of trunk communication lines over the past two years grew noticeably. Rostelecom and Transtelecom have been discussing the possibilities of Asia-Europe traffic. Companies in the West have turned an attentive ear to this news. Some are drawing plans for doing business in Russia. The main conclusion is that the economy's drift from material production to information technologies implies the growing role of telecommunications . Those companies which fail to reorganize their policies and development priorities in time, will fail in market competition. A shift of the emphasis from the transmission of voice to the transmission of data is the mainstream trend in the telecommunications business.

Market economy development will give Russia convenient and high quality telecommunications roads. However, only those companies that have opted for new development models will make a rapid headway.

FUTURE OF DEVELOPMENT

Future is speed and power. New technologies in electronics continue to develop. Computers become more compact, fast and inexpensive. The smaller chips' size the closer it placed one another and electric signal goes much faster. Technology exert revolutionary influence on society only when it is universal. Real revolution in manufacture, accumulation, treatment of matter begins when first universal metal-working machines appeared and telecommunication systems were created. In ancient machines energy source was combined with machine itself, but in process of development, division of manufacture, transmission and consumption of energy took place.

Revolutionary modifications in use of energy connected with appearance of universal electric machines and power grids. Social changes to informational society take in all countries.

On base of analogy between matter, energy and information we can have ideas about future. Earlier, for example, number of manufactured metal played the strategic role and was the description of development. Now we save metal, energy and we think about energy saving technologies.

It is very difficult to predict many steps of informatization. Telecommunications changes world very much.

CONCLUSION

In each device developed by human, collection and processing of information take place. Even simple soda water apparatus when it receives money, this apparatus collect and analyze information about coin and then either return the coin or give glass of soda water. In that way telecommunications may change us and world in future.

Nobody knows what our future will be like. Some people say that big spacecrafts will be built and that people will visit distant planets and make their settlements there. Some people say that technology will be developed to such an extent that computers will control the world. Others think that there will be world disasters floods, droughts and earthquakes alike - and that they will destroy the human race. Christians believe that the end of the world is near and that the God will come to part the good people from the bad ones. There are people who believe that pollution will cause the decline and fall of the mankind and there are those who predict that a gigantic shooting star will crash into the Earth at the turn of the century. Some people claim that alliens are planning to attack and turn us into their slaves.

So, is there, after all, a slight chance that people will finally come to their senses and that there will be at least no starvation and wars?

I think that bright future is in front of us. Just take a quick glance through history and you will realize it too: in ancient times people killed each other in order to have meat for dinner, later in order to satisfy their own vanity and today without any reason at all. As you can notice, we are developing very fast! Neighbors are killing each other out of boredom; mothers are killing their newborn babies out of some little sick reasons. Isnt it obvious that we are considerably improving species which is getting wiser every day?

If we try to make this world better we shall succeed. But, are we ready to do it now? Are we really environment friendly while not recycling but just piling rubbish in the middle of once green meadows, while shooting bears and foxes just because of their fur? Are we really worried about thousands of hungry people while we are throwing away fresh food in garbage bins? Do we really care about all those thirsty children while we are splashing about in swimming pools? Are we really concerned about dangerously polluted air our descendants will have to inhale while we are driving happily our flashy cars? Can we even try to imagine the ugliness of the desert we are going to leave to our grandchildren?

It could be estimated that an average person spends a minute a year thinking about the future of our planet and I do not know if I should compliment this or not. Is it an achievement after all?

I express my gratitude for devoting peoples lives to saving our future world by making other people aware that the appalling problems of poverty and arms build-up should be dealt with soon and that, among many other things, our seas and forests deserve more protection than they get. The only way we can show the Earth our respect is to change our attitude and behavior before it is too late. So lets do it now.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1.                       BOGATSKIY I.S., DYUKANOVAN.M. BUSINESSCOURSE OF ENGLISH, KIEV LOGOS, 2003

2.                       TIMOSHINA A.A., MIKSHA L.S. ENGLISH OF MODERN ECONOMICS MOSCOW ANT, 2002

3.                       AGE 51, 2000

4.                       A.JEJELAVA, Z. KUKAVA CURRENT STAGE AND FUTURE PROSPECTS OF DEVELOPMENT OF THE GEORGIAN BANKING SYSTEM TELECOMMUNICATIONS INFROSTRUCTURE, TBILISI

stud-baza.ru

Реферат: Telecommunications

CONTENT

1. INTRODUCTION

2. DEVELOPING OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

3. SATTELITE SERVICES

4. INTERNET

5. ADVANCING ROLE OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN BANKING

6. RUSSIA’S TELECOMMUNICATIONS ROADS GET WIDER, MORE EXPENSIVE

7. FUTURE OF DEVELOPMENT

8. CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION

No one can deny the role of telecommunications for society.Currently hundreds of millions of people use wireless communication means.Cell phone is no longer a symbol of prestige but a tool, which lets to use working time more effectively. Considering that the main service of a mobile connection operator is providing high quality connection, much attention in the telecommunication market is paid to the spectrum of services that cell network subscriber may receive.

DEVELOPING OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Late in the nineteenth century communications facilities were augmented by a new invention – telephone. In the USA its use slowly expanded, and by1900 the American Telephone and Telegraph Company controlled 855,000 telephones; but elsewhere the telephone made little headway until the twentieth century. After 1900, however, telephone installations extended much more rapidly in all the wealthier countries. The number of telephones in use in the world grew at almost 100 per cent per decade. But long- distance telephone services gradually developed and began to compete with telegraphic business. A greater contribution to long-range communication came with the development of wireless. Before the outbreak of the FirstWorld War wireless telegraphy was established as a means of regular communication with ships at sea, and provided a valuable supplement to existing telegraph lines and cables. In the next few years the telephone systems of all the chief countries were connected with each other by radio.Far more immediate was the influence that radio had through broadcasting and by television, which followed it at an interval of about twenty-five years.

Telephones are as much a form of infrastructure as roads or electricity, and competition will make them cheaper. Losses from lower prices will be countered by higher usage, and tax revenues will benefit from the faster economic growth that telephones bring about. Most important of all, by cutting out the need to install costly cables and microwave transmitters, the new telephones could be a boon to the remote and poor regions of the earth. Even today, half the world’s population lives more than two hours away from a telephone, and that is one reason why they find it hard to break out of their poverty. A farmer’s call for advice could save a whole crop; access to a handset could help a small rural business sell its wares. And in rich places with reasonable telephone systems already in place, the effect of new entrants – the replacement of bad, overpriced services with clever, cheaper ones – is less dramatic but still considerable.

Global phones are not going to deliver all these benefits at once, or easily. Indeed, if the market fails to develop, it could prove too small to support the costs of launching satellites. Still, that is a risk worth taking. And these new global telephones reflect a wider trend. Lots of other new communication services – on-line film libraries, personal computers that can send video-clips and sound-bites as easily as they can be used for writing letters, terrestrial mobile-telephone systems cheap enough to replace hard-wired family sets – are already technically possible. What they all need is deregulation. Then any of them could bring about changes just as unexpected and just as magical as anything thatAlexander Graham Bell’s telephone has already achieved.

SATTELITE SIRVICES

Our world has become an increasingly complex place in which, as individuals, we are very dependent on other people and on organizations. An event in some distant part of the globe can rapidly and significantly affect the quality of life in our home country.

This increasing independence, on both a national and international scale, has led us to create systems that can respond immediately to dangers, enabling appropriate defensive or offensive actions to be taken.These systems are operating all around us in military, civil, commercial and industrial fields.

A worldwide system of satellites has been created, and it is possible to transmit signals around the globe by bouncing them from on satellite to an earth station and thence to another satellite.

Originally designed to carry voice traffic, they are able to carry hundreds of thousands of separate simultaneous calls. These systems are being increasingly adopted to provide for business communications, including the transmission of traffic for voice, facsimile, data and vision.

It is probable that future satellite services will enable a great variety of information services to transmit directly into the home, possibly including personalized electronic mail. The electronic computer is at the heart of many such systems, but the role of telecommunications is not less important. There will be a further convergence between the technologies of computing and telecommunications. The change will be dramatic: the database culture, the cashless society, the office at home, the gigabit-per-second data network.

We cannot doubt that the economic and social impact of these concepts will be very significant. Already, advanced systems of communication are affecting both the layman and the technician . Complex functions are being performed by people using advanced terminals which are intended to be as easy to use as the conventional telephone.

The new global satellite-communications systems will offer three kinds of service, which may overlap in many different kinds of receivers:

Voice. Satellite telephones will be able to make calls from anywhere on earth to anywhere else. That could make them especially useful to remote, third-world villages (some of which already use stationary satellite telephones), explorers and disaster-relief teams. Today’s mobile phones depend on earth-bound transmitters, whose technical standards vary from country to country. So business travelers cannot use their mobile phones on international trips. Satellite telephones would make that possible.

Massaging. Satellite messagers have the same global coverage as satellite telephones, but carry text alone, which could be useful for those with laptop computers. Equipped with a small screen like today’s pagers, satellite messagers will also receive short messages.

Tracking. Voice and messaging systems will also tell their users where they are to within a few hundred metres. Combined with the messaging service, the location service could help rescue teams to find stranded adventurers, the police to find stolen cars, exporters to follow the progress of cargoes, and haulage companies to check that drivers are not detouring to the pub. Satellite systems will provide better positioning information to anyone who has a receiver for their signals.

INTERNET

The internet, a global computer network which embraces millions of users all over the world, began in the United States in 1969 as a military experiment. It was designed to survive a nuclear war. Information sent over the Internet takes the shortest path available from one computer to another. Because of this, any two computers on the Internet will be able to stay in touch with each other as long as there is a single route between them. This technology is called packet swithing. Owing to this technology, if some computers on the network are knocked out (by a nuclear explosion, for example), information will just rout around them. One such packet- swithing network which has already survived a war is the Iraqi computer network which was not knocked out during the Gulf War.

Most of the Internet host computers (more than 50%) are in the UnitedStates, while the rest are located in more than 100 other countries.Although the number of host computers can be counted fairly accurately, nobody knows exactly how many people use the Internet, there are millions worldwide, and their number is growing by thousands each month.

The most popular Internet service is e-mail. Most of the people, who have access to the Internet, use the network only for sending and receiving e-mail messages. However, other popular services are available on theInternet: reading USENET News, using the World-Wide-Web, telnet, FTP, andGopher.

In many developing countries the Internet may provide businessmen with a reliable alternative to the expensive and unreliable telecommunications systems of these countries. Commercial users can communicate cheaply over the Internet with the rest of the world. When they send e-mail messages, they only have to pay for phone calls to their local service providers, not for calls across their countries or around the world. But who actually pays for sending e-mail messages over the Internet long distances, around the world? The answer is very simple: users pay their service provider a monthly or hourly fee. Part of this fee goes toward its costs to connect to a larger service provider, and part of the fee received by the larger provider goes to cover its cost of running a worldwide network of wires and wireless stations.

But saving money is only the first step. If people see that they can make money from the Internet, commercial use of this network will drastically increase. For example, some western architecture companies and garment centers already transmit their basic designs and refined by skilled– but inexpensive – Chinese computer-aided-design specialists.

However, some problems remain. The most important is security. When you send an e-mail message can travel through many different networks and computers. The data is constantly being directed towards its destination by special computers called routers. However, because of this, it is possible to get into any of the computers along the route, intercept and even change the data being sent over the Internet. In spite of the fact that there are many good encoding programs available, nearly all the information being sent over the Internet is transmitted without any form of encoding, i.e.“in the clear”/ But when it becomes necessary to send important information over the network, these encoding programs may b useful. Some American banks and companies even conduct transactions over the Internet. However, there are still both commercial and technical problems which will take time to be resolved.

ADVANCING ROLE OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN BANKING

Role of telecommunications in banking as in other businesses nowadays is extremely important. We can even say that this field is critical success factor for the modern bank or banking system.

There are two different approaches in terms of ownership to building banking communications in the world. One approach that is chosen for example by banking system of Russia and some other former Soviet Union countries is building of private banking networks from the start. This approach has certain benefits, mainly from security prospective. On the other hand building private banking networks requires permanent and serious involvement of banks in financing, support and development of telecommunications systems. Other approach is building banking communications over existing public services in the country. Some of main benefits of this approach are relatively low level of investments in communications and possibility of sharing achievements in this field with other businesses. At the same time in the future it will be easier for central bank to minimize it's involvement is this field then in the case of private banking communication systems.

There are number of most important banking systems and services that are based on communications.

Electronic Funds Transfer System - System facilitating electronic transfer of domestic interbank and intrabank (interbranch) payment instruments.

International Financial Telecommunications - Same as EFTS but for international operations.

National Money markets and auctions - System allowing electronic trading of financial instruments and stocks within the banking system.

Centralized accounting and analysis of available reserves and government budget across country

Centralized electronic processing of personal Credit-and-Debit card operations.

The importance of fast and reliable electronic information exchange between financial institutions grows with economy of country and requires deployment of modern technologies in the banking system.

RUSSIA'S TELECOMMUNICATIONS ROADS GET WIDER, MORE EXPENSIVE

In the last days of 2000 the government approved "in principle" of a draft concept for developing the market of telecommunications services, extending till the year 2010. What are the likely implications of that decision?

Under the approved project further efforts in the telecommunications market must be geared to meet the growing demand for communications services. According to the Ministry of Communications, 54,000 communities in Russia have not a single telephone. Communications networks development has been and still is the job of traditional operators. Bills paid by retail subscribers cover a mere 77 percent of local telephone communications costs.

According to the most conservative estimates, the development of the national telephone infrastructure will require an investment of $33 billion over a period of ten years. The number of ordinary telephones will grow from 31.2 million in 2000 to 47.7 million in 2010, and of mobile telephones, from 2.9 million to 22.2 million. The army of Internet users by2010 will go up from 2.5 million to 26.1 million.

For communications operators to be effective control will be established of the fair access of one operator to the other operator's network. No operator will be allowed to refuse access to its infrastructure to another operator. And tariffs for all market participants should be the same.

Having examined the concept the Ministry of Communication, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade and the Anti-Monopoly Policies Ministry ordered finalizing the document within a two-month deadline and present it in one package with a plan for implementation measures to the Cabinet ofMinisters. In the meantime, the Russian communications market is booming.Investments in 2000 exceeded by far those witnessed by pre-crisis 1997.National industrial operators are in the growth phase.

For the past few years the telecommunications divisions of several giants (such as the Ministry of Railways, Gazprom and others companies) have stormed the domestic market, but none has gained full access to this day. The possibility remains, though, that these companies next year may gain the status of a full-fledged operator. However, before they can count on the right to provide communications services in the domestic market, the operators of corporate telecommunications networks must settle their debts to the government, Communications Minister Leonid Reiman told Vek. He believes that these operators may settle their liabilities by transferring part of their shares to the State Property Ministry.

The Communications Ministry has conducted negotiations with the DefenseMinistry on using certain frequencies for civilian purposes. Reiman said four percent of the radio frequencies were used by civil services, 20 percent, jointly by military and civil services, and the others were exempt from conversion. The Communications Ministry does not dismiss the possibility of operators' financial participation in the conversion of frequency ranges to civilian uses altogether. The issue of licenses to use vacant frequencies through contests may prove a means to raise funds for the mobile communication sector. The government has approved of issuing contested licenses for frequency ranges above 1800 MHz, and for third generation cellular systems.

Of the main methods the government uses to control the telecommunications market, alongside technological policies and perfection of service provision principles, one should point to the control of tariffs, minimization of cross subsidies, optimization of tariffs structure by consumer and regional sectors, transition as of 2002 to limit pricing- based tariffs, and the introduction of a system of universal services. The effective control and operation of the industry should provide support for domestic producers and safeguard national interests during the restructuring of companies, including Svyazinvest.

Svyazinvest is in the process of enlargement and reorganization.Instead of the 89 regional operators it is creating a new structure uniting seven to fifteen communications operators. This measure is expected to make the company easier to control and increase its shareholder value. TheGeneral Director of OAO Nizhegorodsvyazinform Vladimir Lyulin and ManagingDirector of the investment bank Group Gamma Timur Khusainov in December signed a contract on the provision of information and consulting services within the framework of the unification of eleven regional communications operators in the Volga river area.

Nizhegorodsyavinform will be the base company in the Volga area, taking over ten other regional communications operators - OAO Kirovelektrosvyaz,OAO Martelkom of the Republic of Mari El,

OAO Svyazinform of the Republic of Mordovia, OAO Elektrosvyaz of theOrenburg Region, OAO Svyazinform of the Penza Region, OAO Svyazinform of the Samara Region, Saratovelektrosvyaz, Telecommunications Networks of theUdmurt Republic, Elektrosvyaz of the Ulyanovsk Region, and Svyazinform of the Chuvash Republic. The unification process is due to be completed by the beginning of 2003.

The number of trunk communication lines over the past two years grew noticeably. Rostelecom and Transtelecom have been discussing the possibilities of Asia-Europe traffic. Companies in the West have turned an attentive ear to this news. Some are drawing plans for doing business inRussia. The main conclusion is that the economy's drift from material production to information technologies implies the growing role of telecommunications . Those companies which fail to reorganize their policies and development priorities in time, will fail in market competition. A shift of the emphasis from the transmission of voice to the transmission of data is the mainstream trend in the telecommunications business.

Market economy development will give Russia convenient and high quality telecommunications roads. However, only those companies that have opted for new development models will make a rapid headway.

FUTURE OF DEVELOPMENT

Future is speed and power. New technologies in electronics continue to develop. Computers become more compact, fast and inexpensive. The smaller chips' size the closer it placed one another and electric signal goes much faster. Technology exert revolutionary influence on society only when it is universal. Real revolution in manufacture, accumulation, treatment of matter begins when first universal metal-working machines appeared and telecommunication systems were created. In ancient machines energy source was combined with machine itself, but in process of development, division of manufacture, transmission and consumption of energy took place.

Revolutionary modifications in use of energy connected with appearance of universal electric machines and power grids. Social changes to informational society take in all countries.

On base of analogy between matter, energy and information we can have ideas about future. Earlier, for example, number of manufactured metal played the strategic role and was the description of development. Now we save metal, energy and we think about energy saving technologies.

It is very difficult to predict many steps of informatization.Telecommunications changes world very much.

CONCLUSION

In each device developed by human, collection and processing of information take place. Even simple soda water apparatus when it receives money, this apparatus collect and analyze information about coin and then either return the coin or give glass of soda water. In that way telecommunications may change us and world in future.

Nobody knows what our future will be like. Some people say that big spacecrafts will be built and that people will visit distant planets and make their settlements there. Some people say that technology will be developed to such an extent that computers will control the world. Others think that there will be world disasters floods, droughts and earthquakes alike - and that they will destroy the human race. Christians believe that the end of the world is near and that the God will come to part the good people from the bad ones. There are people who believe that pollution will cause the decline and fall of the mankind and there are those who predict that a gigantic shooting star will crash into the Earth at the turn of the century. Some people claim that alliens are planning to attack and turn us into their slaves.

So, is there, after all, a slight chance that people will finally come to their senses and that there will be at least no starvation and wars?

I think that bright future is in front of us. Just take a quick glance through history and you will realize it too: in ancient times people killed each other in order to have meat for dinner, later in order to satisfy their own vanity and today without any reason at all. As you can notice, we are developing very fast! Neighbors are killing each other out of boredom; mothers are killing their newborn babies out of some little sick reasons.Isn’t it obvious that we are considerably improving species which is getting wiser every day?

If we try to make this world better we shall succeed. But, are we ready to do it now? Are we really environment friendly while not recycling but just piling rubbish in the middle of once green meadows, while shooting bears and foxes just because of their fur? Are we really worried about thousands of hungry people while we are throwing away fresh food in garbage bins? Do we really care about all those thirsty children while we are splashing about in swimming pools? Are we really concerned about dangerously polluted air our descendants will have to inhale while we are driving happily our flashy cars? Can we even try to imagine the ugliness of the desert we are going to leave to our grandchildren?

It could be estimated that an average person spends a minute a year thinking about the future of our planet and I do not know if I should compliment this or not. Is it an achievement after all?

I express my gratitude for devoting people’s lives to saving our future world by making other people aware that the appalling problems of poverty and arms build-up should be dealt with soon and that, among many other things, our seas and forests deserve more protection than they get. The only way we can show the Earth our respect is to change our attitude and behavior before it is too late. So let’s do it now.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. BOGATSKIY I.S., DYUKANOVA N.M. “BUSINESSCOURSE OF ENGLISH”, KIEV

“LOGOS”, 2003

2. TIMOSHINA A.A., MIKSHA L.S. “ENGLISH OF MODERN ECONOMICS” MOSCOW

“ANT”, 2002

3. “AGE” №51, 2000

4. A.JEJELAVA, Z. KUKAVA “CURRENT STAGE AND FUTURE PROSPECTS OF

DEVELOPMENT OF THE GEORGIAN BANKING SYSTEM TELECOMMUNICATIONS

INFROSTRUCTURE’, TBILISI

www.neuch.ru

Реферат - Telecommunication Essay Research Paper Telecommunication1 IntroductionComputer and

Telecommunication Essay, Research Paper

Telecommunication

1. Introduction

Computer and telephone networks inflict a gigantic impact on today’s

society. From letting you call John in Calgary to letting you make a withdraw

at your friendly ATM machine they control the flow of information. But today’s

complicated and expensive networks did not start out big and complicated but

rather as a wire and two terminals back in 1844. From these simple networks to

the communication giants of today we will look at the evolution of the network

and the basis on which it functions.

2. The Beginnings

2.1. Dot Dot Dot Dash Dash Dash Dot Dot Dot

The network is defined as a system of lines or structures that cross.

In telecommunications this is a connection of peripherals together so that they

can exchange information. The first such exchange of information was on May 24,

1844 when Samuel Morse sent the famous message “What hath God wrought” from the

US Capitol in Washington D.C. across a 37 mile wire to Baltimore using the

telegraph. The telegraph is basically an electromagnet connected to a battery

via a switch. When the switch is down the current flows from the battery

through the key, down the wire, and into the sounder at the other end of the

line. By itself the telegraph could express only two states, on or off. This

limitation was eliminated by the fact that it was the duration of the connection

that determined the dot and dash from each other being short and long

respectively. From these combinations of dots and dashes the Morse code was

formed. The code included all the letters of the English alphabet, all the

numbers and several punctuation marks. A variation to the telegraph was a

receiving module that Morse had invented. The module consisted of a

mechanically operated pencil and a roll of paper. When a message was received

the pencil would draw the corresponding dashes and dots on the paper to be

deciphered later. Many inventors including Alexander Bell and Thomas Edison

sought to revolutionize the telegraph. Edison devised a deciphering machine.

This machine when receiving Morse code would print letters corresponding to the

Morse code on a roll of paper hence eliminating the need for decoding the code.

2.2. Mr. Watson, Come Here!

The first successful telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell.

He along with Elisha Gray fought against time to invent and patent the telephone.

They both patented their devices on the same day-February 14, 1876- but Bell

arrived a few hours ahead of gray thus getting the patent on the telephone. The

patent issued to Bell was number 174,465, and is considered the most valuable

patent ever issued. Bell quickly tried to sell his invention to Western Union

but they declined and hired Elisha Gray and Thomas Edison to invent a better

telephone. A telephone battle began between Western Union and Bell. Soon after

Bell filed suit against Western Union and won since he had possessed the basic

rights and patents to the telephone. As a settlement Western Union handed over

it’s whole telephone network to Bell giving him a monopoly in the telephone

market. During his experiments to create a functional telephone Bell pursued

two separate designs for the telephone transmitter. The first used a membrane

attached to a metal rod. The metal rod was submerged in a cup of mild acid. As

the user spoke into the transmitter the membrane vibrated which in turn moved

the rod up and down in the acid. This motion of the rod in the acid caused

variations in the electrical resistance between the rod and the cup of acid.

One of the greatest drawbacks to this model was that the cup of acid would have

to be constantly refilled. The second of Bell’s prototypes was the induction

telephone transmitter. It used the principle of magnetic induction to change

sound into electricity. The membrane was attached to a metal rod which was

surrounded by a coil of wire. The movement of the rod in the coil produced a

weak electric current. An advantage was that theoretically it could also be

used both as a transmitter and a receiver. But since the current produced was

so weak, it was unsuccessful as a transmitter. Most modern day telephones still

use a variation of Bell’s design. The first practical transmitter was invented

by Thomas Edison while he was working for the Western Union. During his

experiments Edison noticed that certain carbon compounds change their electrical

resistance when subjected to varying pressure. So he sandwiched a carbon button

between a metal membrane and a metal support. The motion of the membrane

changed the pressure on the carbon button, varying the flow of electricity

through the microphone. When the Bell Vs. Western Union lawsuit was settled the

rights to this transmitter were also taken over by Bell.

2.3. Please Wait, I’ll Connect You.

The first network of telephones consisted of switchboards. When a

customer wanted to place a call he would turn a crank on his telephone terminal

at home. This would produce a current through the line. A light at the

switchboard would light up. The caller would tell the operator where he wanted

to call and she would connect him by means of inserting a plug into a jack

corresponding to the desired phone. In earlier years he found that he could use

the ground as the return part of the circuit, but this left the telephone very

susceptible to interference from anything electrical. So in the mid 1880s Bell

realized that he would have to change the telephone networks from one wire to

two wire. In 1889 Almon Brown Strowger invented the telephone dial which

eliminated the use for telephone operators.

2.4. The Free Press Reported That President Carter…….

French inventor Emile Baudot created the first efficient printing

telegraph. The printing telegraph was the first to use a typewriter like

keyboard and allowed eight users to use the same line. More importantly, his

machines did not use Morse code. Baudot’s five level code sent five pulses for

each character transmitted. The machines did the encoding and decoding,

eliminating the need for operators. After some improvements by Donald Murray

the rights to the machine were sold to Western Union and Western Electric. The

machine was named the teletypewriter and was also known by it’s nickname TTY. A

service called telex was offered by Western Union. It allowed subscribers to

exchange typed messages with one another.

3. From The Carterfone to the 14,400

3.1. I’ll Patch Her Up On The Carterfone, Captain.

The first practical computers used the means of punched cards as a

method of storing data. These punched cards held 80 characters each. They

dated back to the mechanical vote-counting machine invented by Hermen Hollerith

in 1890. But this type of computer was very hard and expensive to operate.

They were very slow in computing speed and the punch cards could be very easily

lost or destroyed. One of the first VDTs (Video Display Terminal) was the Lear-

Siegler ADM-3A. It could display 24 lines of 80 characters each (a remarkable

feat of technology). One of the regulations that AT&T passed was that no other

company’s equipment could be physically connected to any of it’s lines or

equipment. This meant that unless AT&T invented a peripheral it would not be

legal to connected to the telephone jack. In 1966 a small Texas company called

Carterfone invented a simple device that could go around these regulations. The

Carterfone allowed for a company’s radio to be connected to the telephone system.

The top portion of the Carterfone consisted of molded plastic. When a radio

user needed to use the telephone, the radio operator at the base station placed

the receiver in the Carterfone and dialed the number. This allowed the user to

call through the radio. AT&T challenged the integrity of the Carterfone on the

phone lines and lost the battle in court. In 1975 the FCC passed Part 68 rules.

They were specifications that, if met would allow third party companies to sell

and hook up their equipment to the telephone network. This turned the telephone

industry upside down and challenged AT&T’s monopoly in the telephone business.

3.2. So Gentelmen A’ Will Be 65

With more and more electronic communication and the invention of VDTs

the shortcomings of the Baudot code were realized. So in 1966, several

telecommunications companies devised a replacement for the Baudot code. The

result was the American Standard Code for Information Interchange, or ASCII.

ASCII uses 7 bits of code, allowing it to represent 128 characters without a

shift code. The code defined 96 printable characters (A through Z in upper- and

lowercase, numbers from 0 to 9, and various punctuation marks) and several

control characters such as carriage return, line feed, backspace etc. ASCII

also included an error checking mechanism. An extra bit, called the parity bit,

is added to each character. When in even parity mode, the bit would have a

value of one if there was an even number of ones and zero if there was an odd

number of ones. IBM invented it’s own code which used 8 bits of code giving 256

character possibilities. The code was called EBCDIC, for Extended Binary Coded

Decimal Interchange Code and was not sequential. The Extended ASCII was

designed so that PCs could again attain compatibility with the IBM machines.

The other upper 128 characters of the EASCII code include pictures such as lines,

hearts and scientific notation. In 1969 guidelines were set for the

construction of serial ports. The RS-232C standard was established to define a

way to move data over a communications link. The RS-232C is commonly used to

transmit ASCII code but can also transmit Baudot and EBCDIC data. The connector

normally uses a 25 pin D shell connector with a male plug on the DTE (Data

Terminal Equipment) and a female plug on the DCE (Data Communications Equipment).

3.3. Hello Joshua, Would You Like To Play A Game…

In the 1950s a need arose to connect computer terminals across ordinary

telephone lines. This need was fulfilled by AT&T’s Bell 103 modem. A modem

(modulator/demodulator) is used to convert the on-off digital pulses of computer

data into on-off analog tones that can be transmitted over a normal telephone

circuit. The Bell 103 operated at a speed of 300 bits per second, which at that

time was more than ample for the slow printing terminals of the day. The Bell

103 used two pairs of tones to represent the on-off states of the RS-232C data

line. One pair for the modem that is calling and the other pair for the modem

answering the call. The calling modem sends data by switching between 1070 and

1270 hertz, and the answering modem by switching between 2025 and 2225 hertz.

The principle on which the Bell 103 operated is still in use today. During the

sixties and seventies the concept of mainframe networks arose. A mainframe

consisted of a very powerful computer to which thousands of terminals were

connected. The mainframe worked on a timesharing process. Timesharing was when

many users on terminals could use limited amounts of the host computer’s

resources, thus letting many parties access the host at the same time. This

type of network, however, was very expensive, and since on time sharing you

could only use small amounts of the host’s total computing power (CPU), the use

of the terminal was slow and sluggish. In the late seventies the personal

computer was introduced to the public. A personal computer consisted of a

monitor, a keyboard, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and various other

connectors and memory chips. The good things about PCs were that they did not

have to share their CPU and that the operating costs of these systems were much

less that that of their predecessors. The computers could, with a software

package, emulate terminals, and be connected to the mainframe network. Bell

laboratories came up with the 212a unit which operated at the speed of 1200 bits

per second. This unit, however, was very susceptible to noise interference.

3.4. Hey Bell! I Can Hang Myself Up!

After the breakup of the AT&T empire that controlled the modem industry,

many other companies started to create new designs of modems. Hayes

Microcomputer Products, took the lead in the PC modem business. Hayes pioneered

the use of microprocessor chips inside the modem itself. The Hayes Smartmodem,

introduced in 1981, used a Zilog Z-8 CPU chip to control the modem circuitry and

to provide automatic dialing and answering. The Hayes unit could take the phone

off the hook, wait for the dialtone, and dial a telephone number all by itself.

The Hayes Smartmodems sometimes had more powerful CPUs than the computers that

they were connected to. The next advancement was the invention of the 2400 bits

per second modem. The specifications came from the CCITT, an industry standard

setting organization composed of hundreds of companies world wide. The new

standard was designated as V.22bis and is still in use today. Other CCITT

standards that followed were the V.32 (9600 bps), the V.32bis (14400 bps), the

V42 (error control), and the V42bis (data compression). Virtually all modems

today conform to these standards. The next big computer invention was the fax

modem. It uses the on-off data transmission just as a modem but for the purpose

of creating a black and white image. Each on-off signal represents a black or

white area on the image. The image is sent as a set of zeros and ones and is

then reconstructed on the receiving end.

4. LANs

4.1. I Donnwanna File-Share!

Network Operating Systems (OS) are actually a group of programs that

give computers and peripherals the ability to accept requests for service across

a network and give other computers the ability to correctly use those services.

Servers share their hard disks, attached peripherals such as printers and

optical drives, and communication devices. They inspect requests for proper

authorization, check for conflicts and errors and then perform the requested

service. There is a multitude of different types of servers. File servers are

equipped with large hard drives that are used to share files and information, as

well as whole applications. The file-server software allows shared access to

specific segments of the data files under controlled conditions. Print servers

accept print jobs sent by anyone on the network. These servers are equipped

with spooling software (saving data to disk until the printer is ready to accept

it) that is vital in the situations where many requests can pour in at the same

time. Network Operating Systems package requests from the keyboard and from

applications in a succession of data envelopes for transmission across the

network. For example, Novell’s NetWare will package a directory request in an

IPX (Internetwork Packet Exchange) packet, and the LAN adapter will then package

the IPX request into an Ethernet frame. In each step information about data and

error control data is added to the packet.

4.2. Eight Go In One Comes Out

The Network Interface Card or LAN adapter, is an interface between the

computer and the network cabling. Within the computer it is responsible for the

movement of data between the RAM (Random Access Memory) and the card itself.

Externally it is responsible for the control of the flow of data in and out of

the network cabling system. Since typically computers are faster than the

network, the LAN adapter must also function as a buffer between the two. It is

also responsible for the change of the form of data from a wide parallel stream

coming in eight bits at a time to a narrow stream moving one bit at a time in

and out of the network port. To handle these tasks the LAN adapters are

equipped with a microprocessor and 8-64K of RAM. Some of the cards include

sockets for ROM chips called Boot ROM. These chips allow computers without hard

drives to boot operating systems from the file server.

4.3. Take Your Turn!

Ethernet and Token Ring network adapters use similar systems of

electrical signaling over the network cable. These signals are very similar to

the Baudot and Morse codes. A technique called Manchester encoding uses voltage

pulses ranging from -15v to +15v in order to transmit the zeros and ones. The

network cable has only one drawback, it can only carry signals from one network

card at a time. So each LAN architecture needs a media-access control (MAC)

scheme in order to make the network cards take turns transmitting into the cable.

Ethernet cards listen to the traffic on the cable and transmit only if there is

a break in the traffic when the channel is quiet. This technique is called

Carrier-Sense Multiple Access With Collision detection (CSMA/CD). With

collision detection, if two cards start transmitting at the same time, they see

the collision, stop, and resume some time later. Token Ring networks use a much

more complex process called token passing. Token Ring cards wait for permission

in order to transmit into the cable that forms an electrical loop. The cards

use their serial numbers in order to find the master interface card. This card

starts a message called a token. When a card with information to send receives

the token, it sends the data across the network. After the addressed interface

card receives the information and returns it to the originating card, the token

is given back to the master to be passed onto the next card. The ARCnet network

uses a very similar system to that of the Token Ring. Instead of using a token,

the master card keeps a table of all active cards and polls each one in turn,

giving permission to transmit.

4.4. Tied In A Knot

Various types of cabling are used to connect the LAN adapters to the

servers. Unshielded twisted pair wires offer rather slow speed, are very

inexpensive, are small, and can only span very short distances. These cables

use the RJ-45 connector. Coaxial cable offers fast speed, is rather expensive,

has a medium sized diameter, and can span medium distances. Coaxial cable uses

BNC connectors. The shielded twisted pair cable offers fast speed, is more

expensive than the coaxial cable, has a large diameter, and can only span short

distances. These cables use the IBM data connector. The fiber optic cable is

the fastest possible type of data transfer, costs astronomical amounts of money,

has a tiny diameter, and can span very long distances. This cable uses the ST

fiber optic connector. Wiring hubs are used as central points for the cables

from the network interface cards.

5.5. Loves Me, Loves Me Not, Server Based, Peer To Peer…

There are two general types of LANs. The Server-based networks rely on

one major server to store data, offer access to perhiperals, handle the printing

and accomplish all the work associated with network management. The Server-

based networks have a high start up cost, but offer high security as well as

ease of operation. These networks become more economical as more computers are

added to the network. In Peer to peer networks the network responsibilities are

divided among many computers. Some act as file servers, others as print servers,

some as CD-ROM servers, tape drive servers, etc. The Startup cost of these

networks is much cheaper, but when more computers are added to the network, some

of the servers may not be able to handle the extra activity.

5. Links Between LANs

5.1. She Just Won’t Send Sysop!

Most networks have very short information transfer ranges. But, in an

ever shrinking world the need for links between LANs has never been higher.

This section will explain the components and information needed to link LANs.

When an electric current travels over a long length, it’s charge decreases, and

it is susceptible to electromagnetic interference. To combat the length problem

a component has been devised. A repeater is a little box that is inserted

between a cable. It’s primary function is to amplify the weakening pulse and

send it on it’s way. Bridges are used to analyze the station address of each

Ethernet packet and determine the destination of the message. The Routers strip

the outer Ethernet packets of a data packet in order to get the data. This data

is sent to other routers in other places of the world and then repackaged by

those routers. The removal of the excess data packets by the routers decreases

the time required to transfer that data. If networks use the same addressing

protocol, bridges can be used to link them, however, if they use different

addressing protocols, only routers may be used. During these times MANs

(Metropolitan Area Networks) are in use and development today. These use

routers that are connected preferably via a fiber optic cable, to create one

large network.

5.2. Pluto Calling Earth!

Any networks larger than 1000m typically rely on telephone digital lines

for data transfer. These networks are called Circuit Switched Digital Networks.

Circuit Switched Digital Networks utilize a switching matrix at the central

office of a telephone company that connects local calls to long distance

services. The Telephone companies now offer dial up circuits with signaling

rates of 56, 64, and 384 kilobits per second as well as 1.544 megabits per

second. Another type of LAN to LAN connections are packet switching networks.

These are services that a network router calls up on a digital line. They

consist of a group of packet switches that are connected via intraswitch trunks

(usually fiber optic) that relay addressed packets of information between them.

Once the packet reaches the destination packet switch, it sends it via another

digital connection to the receiving router.

www.ronl.ru

telecommunications

Telecommunications & Networking Report Essay, Research Paper

1. 23-Sep-99: ?Free Web Services Challenge AOL?s Dominance? – Internet business analysts generally are not yet convinced of the viability of the free web service business model for bring profitable. None-the-less, most agree that the free access will probably take a significant chunk of AOL?s market share before running out of investor?s money.

2. 23-Sep-99: ?Visitalk.com Builds White Pages for Web Phone Calls? – Visitalk.com has unveiled plans to simplify the routing of phone calls over the Internet. They will provide a directory service which will provide subscribers with a unique 12 digit Internet phone number. The directory will capture user?s current IP address and update their database, serving as a switchboard for Internet phone calls which are routed over IP. This solves a major problem with the fact that IP addresses change for users as they move from computer to computer.

3. 23-Sep-99: ?Cisco to But Software Maker for $325 Million? ? Cisco Systems agreed to acquire WebLine Communications, a software maker producing e-mail routing and collaborating software. WebLine is to be assimilated into Cisco?s Applications Technology Group. This was Cisco?s 12th acquisition this year.

4. 24-Sep-99: ?Firm Agrees to Purchase Cable-Modem Technology? ? Intel agreed to purchase the cable modem technology of Stanford Telecommunications, Inc. The deal puts Intel face to face in the marketplace with Broadcom Corp., which currently holds the majority market share for cable modem chips.

5. 24-Sep-99: ?Qualcomm Pact Targets Wireless Network Products? ? Lucent Technologies signed a development agreement with Qualcomm to product wireless networking equipment. Qualcomm will give its CDMA technology, including chips and software to Lucent. Lucent plans to have trial systems utilizing the technology in place next year.

6. 24-Sep-99: ?MCI Worldcom, Sprint Ponder Merger? ? The world?s second and third largest long-distance carriers are in talks are in talks over a possible merger. The deal would give MCI it?s only nationwide wireless network. An obvious stumbling block over such a large telcom merger would be close scrutiny by regulators. It is also expected that regional Bell companies may soon have permission to compete in the long distance market as well.

7. 24-Sep-99: ?Earthlink and MindSpring to Merge, Forming No. 2 Internet Access Firm? ? This deal makes the new Internet Provider second only to AOL. The combined company will have 3 million subscribers, still a far cry from AOL?s 18 million, but none-the-less a viable competitor.

8. 27-Sep-99: ?Teledesic ?Sky Internet? May Start Sooner? ? Teledesic chief Craig McCaw is attempting to raise funds for his planned ?Sky Internet.? However, McCaw has also been exploring partnerships with other wireless providers including Motorola, Spaceway, and Hughes electronics, to implement a smaller scale version of their planned system to prove viability.

9. 27-Sep-99: ?Microsoft Corp. Agrees to Invest In Net Start-Up? ? Microsoft agreed to invest $15 million in Akamai Technologies Inc. Akamai provides services which focus on speeding the downloading of web pages. As part of this agreement, Akamai will develop a version of it?s software to run on Windows NT, as opposed to it?s current Unix based versions.

10. 28-Sep-99: ?Maker of Voice Software for the Web Is Acquired? ? Mpath Interactive Inc. acquired Resounding Technology to strengthen its position as a provider of Internet voice software. Resounding Technologies? Roger Wilco software had been very successful in providing Internet voice chat.

11. 4-Oct-99: ?BellSouth Makes Bid to Acquire Sprint? ? BellSouth made a bid to purchase wireless provider Sprint as Sprint & WorldCom came closer to closing their deal. Spring is expected to go with the WorldCom offer, even though the BellSouth offer if more lucrative. Regardless, either acquisition would face regulatory issues.

12. 4-Oct-99: ?Paul Allen is Investing $1.65 Billion In Telecommunications Firm RCN Corp.? ? RCN is planning to use the investment to speed development of its high-speed fiber optic network. RCN is one of several companies known as competitive local exchange carriers (CLEC?s) trying to take a share of the local telephone business.

13. 5-Oct-99: ?Big Landlords Are Joining Telecom Fray? ? Eight of the largest office space landlords are joining venture capitalist Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Bryers to form a new company, Broadband Office. The company is to provide high speed Internet access to it tenants.

14. 6-Oct-99: ?Novell Plans to Create Repository for Information on Internet Users? ? Novell brought online its new service called Digitalme, aimed at providing a personal data repository. This was a move to compete with Microsoft?s recently unveiled Passport service. This was Novell?s first venture into Internet based services, as the company is known for network management software.

15. 7-Oct-99: ?AT&T?s Top Cable Executive Resigns Amid Internet-Access Fracas? ? After making public statements denying that AT&T had been in secret talks with AOL, Leo Hindery resigned as AT&T?s top cable & Internet executive. This was in response to the fact that AT&T had, in fact, been talking privately with AOL, and had not told Hindery.

16. 11-Oct-99: ?That?s a WAP; How the Cell Phone and Web Contracted an Arranged Marriage? ? A new technology known as Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is spreading fast. The technology allows web based components to be brought to cell phones. Motorola estimates that half of the estimated 200 million cell phones manufactured next year will be shipped with WAP enabled browsers.

17. 11-Oct-99: ?Global Crossing Strikes Deal With Racal? ? Global Crossing added another company to its portfolio to strengthen its international undersea & land-based networks to handle growing Internet traffic. This is an indication that Europe will be the site of the next major telco rivalries, as acquisition gives Global Crossing an additional 7,300 kilometers of fiber-optic networks in Europe.

18. 12-Oct-99: ?AT&T, BT to Accelerate Expansion of Global Venture? ? AT&T & British Telecom?s joint venture, Concert, has announced plans to expand its frame relay service by 50-60% by early next year. This venture is structured differently than previously failed joint telecom ventures. Concert will own nearly all the switching and networking hardware, as opposed to relying on alliances for managing customer service.

19. 12-Oct-99: ?Norfolk Southern Forms Unit to Aid Telecom Ventures? ? Norfolk Southern Corp. announced it has formed a unit to develop fiber-optic and microwave systems. The company said it will market it?s 21,600 miles of right-of ways for use by telecom companies. This would relieve the telecom developers of the high cost of easements required for network development.

20. 12-Oct-99: ?Five Firms Seek to Develop Security Standard for PC?s? ? Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel & Microsoft have announced plans to form a group to standardize security for PC?s. The new group will be called Trusted Computed Platform Alliance, and will embrace input from other companies. They plan to have a proposal for a security specification by late 2000 to be licensed openly.

21. 18-Oct-99: ?Dragging Bill Payers Onto the Internet Envelope by Envelope? ? Paytrust, an Internet startup, is trying to transform the way consumers pay bills. The Yankee Group, a technology consumer group estimates that 4.5% of households paid bills online last year.

22. 18-Oct-99: ?In a Race to the Web, Phone Upstarts Grab Turf? ? Covad Communications Group has announced plans to provide local telephone service in addition to DSL service. The regional bells now dwarf new entrants into the local phone service market by 80%.

23. 19-Oct-99: ?Nortel Networks to Acquire Clarify in $2.1 Billion Stock Transaction? ? Nortel Networks, seeking to expand its customer management business bought software make Clarify. Nortel, who primarily provides equipment & software for networks, says the move was designed to allow businesses to increase personalized transactions on the Internet.

24. 21-Oct-99: ?Double Trouble: AT&T Corp. Might Want to Think About Setting Its Fight With ISP?s? ? George W. Bush stated that if he is elected, he would urge AT&T to open its cable plants openly. Bush?s stated choice for his Secretary of State, Colin Powell, is on AOL?s board, and a close friend of AOL?s chief Steve Case.

25. 21-Oct-99: ?Intuit to Integrate Web Links Into Small Business Software? ? Intuit said it will be paid fees by web sites providing business-to-business services to be included in its QuickBooks product. This move was to consolidate small business services as part of it?s offering. Intuit currently dominates the market for small-business financial software.

26. 21-Oct-99: ?IBeam?s Desnoes is Betting on Use of Satellites To Transmit Audio and Video Over the Internet? ? IBeam is building a $250 million network that bundles media traffic & feeds it to a satellite link to ISP?s. This method allows faster population of ISP servers when a high demand event such as a concert or breaking news story. It will allow IBeam to cut the prices charged to media companies by half and improving the quality of audio & video delivered over the Internet.

27. 25-Oct-99: ?AT&T?s Plans for Cable Deals Suffer Setbacks? ? Since AT&T announced negotiations with Time-Warner, plans for deals with other major cable players have slowed, as the other companies wait to see the terms of the Time-Warner deal. AT&T is betting that it will once again provide local phone service along with high-speed Internet access. AT&T has also already began talks with AOL & Mindspring for providing Internet content.

28. 25-Oct-99: ?Europe is Next Frontier for U.S. Telecom Deals? ? As the major players become consolidated in the U.S., the next telecom deals are likely to be in the European arena in the form of major acquisitions. Major telecom players want to be able to provide ?one-stop shopping? for their major corporate customers and their global telecommunications needs. Major targets in Europe include Mannesmann AG, and Deutsche Telekom.

29. 27-Oct-99: ?Nortel Tops Forecasts as Net Rises 61%, Raises Revenue Expectations for 2000? ? Fueled by sales to telephone and Internet service providers, Nortel Networks Corp. topped analysts estimates, with a 61% increase in earnings over last quarter. Nortel said it growth of fiber-optic networks was particularly strong.

30. 27-Oct-99: ?Microsoft Says Its Windows 2000 System Won?t Reach Customers Until Next Year? ? Microsoft formally announced the release date for it?s high end business computing environment, Windows 2000, has slipped to Feb. 17, 2000. Windows 2000 is intended to compete head-to-head with large Unix based Internet servers. Microsoft?s competitors, most notably Sun Microsystems, says Windows 2000 won?t come close to the capabilities of Unix.

31. 1-Nov-99: ?McCaw to Invest As Much As $1.2 Billion To Get ICO Global Out of Bankruptcy? ? Cellular phone magnate Craig McCaw will invest as much as $1.2 billion in ICO Global Communications Ltd. to rescue the satellite phone system vendor out of bankruptcy. This is one of several recent investments in satellite based networks by McCaw. The company hopes to emerge from bankruptcy and begin providing phone service by mid 2001.

32. 1-Nov-99: ?Nextel Eager to Buy NextWave Spectrum? ? Nextel has announced that it will pay $6 billion for radio spectrum that was bought by auction from the government in 1996 for $4.7 billion by NextWave Personal Communications. The deal is at a stand-still, though, as NextWave is currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. Furthermore, the sale would require the FCC to rule on several related regulatory issues.

33. 1-Nov-99: ?AT&T Is Blocked In Plan to Raise Monthly Fee 50%? ? The FCC temporarily halted AT&T?s plan to raise its monthly fee charged to residential consumers by 50%, as it investigates the carrier?s pricing policies. Sprint raised its fees recently by 18%, while MCI stated it plans to keep its rate constant.

34. 1-Nov-99: ?Tellabs Inc. Buys Software Assets? ? Tellabs agreed to pay $35 million for some specific proprietary digital signal processing software from DSP Software Engineering, Inc. Tellabs, a maker of telecommunications hardware, plans to integrate the software into its next generation switching system.

35. 4-Nov-99: ?Simon to Sell Net Services to Link Mall Tenants? ? Simon Property Group, the largest owner of shopping malls in the U.S. announced plans to provide high speed Internet access to its mall tenants. This is the second such move by mall landlords to provide telecom services. The company has created a subsidiary called TennantConnect.Net.

36. 8-Nov-99: ?Web Access Via Cell Phones Is Expected To Be Introduced? ? Bell Atlantic Corp. announced plans to introduce web access for cell phones and other wireless devices. Users will need a special wireless phone which starts at $120. Bell Atlantic?s move was in the wake of similar recent announcements by Sprint & Vodafone Airtouch PLC.

37. 9-Nov-99: ?Arch Sets Stock Deal for Larger PageNet As Firms Seek to Turn Page on Debt Woes? ? Arch Communications Group, the second largest paging service, agreed to purchase PageNet. The paging industry has faced troubles lately from wireless telephone players, which can easily provide paging services in addition to telephony services.

38. 11-Nov-99: ?Information Appliances to Nudge PC?s at Comdex Show? ? Information appliance makers including Motorola, Cidco & Boundless will be introducing numerous information appliances at the Comdex show. Boundless will be presenting a tablet device with the sole purpose is accessing the Internet & e-mail. Motorola will be unveiling a pager with Internet & e-mail access, while Cidco offers a device for handling e-mails only at a very low cost of $99.

39. 11-Nov-99: ?RCN Investment Casts Paul Allen As Industry Turncoat? ? Paul Allen recently invested in ?RCN Corp., a company which specializes in building competing cable and communications networks. RCN enraged Cablevision by teaming up with a local electric utility to avoid the expense of constructing a competing cable network. Allen currently owns stakes in cable, Internet and phone service providers, poising himself as a communications Tycoon.

40. 11-Nov-99: ?Telecom Start-Up Sees Gold in Copper Lines? ? Advanced Switching Communications (ASC) plans to build a low-cost product to harness the existing infrastructure of copper lines in providing a single set of equipment to link to access technologies. ASC has developed a box which will convert data from DSL, T-1 and traditional twisted pair wires and move it onto the Internet. The product is fully scalable as additional bandwidth is needed, adding to its potential as a viable alternative for consumer data access.

41. 16-Nov-99: ?Sony and 3Com to Jointly Develop New Palm Products? ? Sony & 3Com struck a deal where Sony will be able to use Palm?s operating system, while Palm will use Sony?s flash-memory technology. The move represents a move by Sony to take a stake in the rapidly expanding information appliance industry, which connect to the Internet more easily than a PC. Sony has already introduced two products for downloading music & video from the Internet and play on a personal device, within the licensing and copyright laws of the industry.

42. 16-Nov-99: ?AT&T Corp.? ? AT&T is expanding its wireless service to Los Angeles, filling a large gap in its coverage. Along with this move, AT&T launched PocketNet, a wireless-data service which provides web services to cell phones. Also, AT&T launched a separate agreement with OmniSky to offer nationwide Internet & e-mail services to 3Com?s Pilot handheld device.

43. 17-Nov-99: ?Comcast To Buy Cable-TV Firm Lenfest? ? After Comcast was outbid for MediaOne by AT&T, AT&T, aimed at making peace with Comcast, agreed to sell Lenfest. The move will firmly establish Comcast as the 3rd cable TV operator.

44. 18-Nov-99: ?The Search Continues for a Single Wireless Standard? ? There are currently a half-dozen standards in place for wireless service from Global System for Mobile Communications to Time Division Multiple Access. Right now the force seems to be a convergence between GSM & TDMA, creating a dominant standard. None-the-less, giants like Sprint & Bell Atlantic favor Code Division Multiple Access.

45. 19-Nov-99: ?Privacy Concerns Rise As Plans for Tracking Cell Phone Users Unfold? ? The FCC has mandated that all wireless providers be able to pinpoint the location of a wireless 911 call within 100 feet by October 2001. Also, recently the agency mandated that wireless providers be able to provide the beginning and ending location of a phone call to law enforcement officials.

46. 22-Nov-99: ?Deal Would Give Vodafone a Leg Up in A Heated Race? ? Vodafone announced a bid for Mannesmann AG, in an attempt to build the first pan-European wireless network. This would be a major benefit for Vodafone in being able to offer flat rate plan over the entire European coverage area.

47. 22-Nov-99: ?Cabletron to Sell Unit for Stock of $860 Million? ? In an effort to regain focus on high-end networking hardware, Cabletron has agreed to sell an Internet equipment business to Efficient Networks. Cabletron is shedding non-core businesses in an attempt to make itself a viable takeover target. Efficient Networks, which makes DSL modems, bought FlowPoint, which makes DSL routers.

48. 22-Nov-99: ?AT&T Expects Delays In Closing MediaOne Deal? ? AT&T and MediaOne most likely will not finalize their proposed deal until the second quarter of 2000. The delay is largely due to a lengthy regulatory review by the Department of Justice. The deal, which is none-the-less expected to go through, will make AT&T into the nations? largest cable TV service provider.

49. 23-Nov-99: ?Nextel Sets a Deal to Buy Phones from Kyocera? ? In a move marking the first time Nextel has bought phones from a third party other than Motorola, Kyocera has agreed to provide the next generation of phones for Nextel. Kyocera has been a leader in wireless technology, and recently unveiled a phone designed to receive streaming video.

50. 26-Nov-99: ?Court Overturns Ruling on NextWave, Spelling Good News for FCC?s Valuation? ? An appeals court overturned a bankruptcy ruling that valued NextWave Personal Communications at $1.02 billion, less than a quarter the price it had bid. The ruling marked a victory for the FCC which is hoping to reclaim billions of dollars for spectrum licenses. The move also spelled good news for Nextel, which is hoping to buy the troubled NextWave for $6 billion.

The Future of Telecommuters

The Future of Telecommuters

As the our global network known as the Internet increases its size and speed, the future of telecommuting becomes more and more promising. Generally speaking, telecommuting is defined as spending at least one day out of a five day work week working in one?s home. In a growing number of companies, traditional office space is giving way to home offices, living rooms and even kitchens as employees work from home, from their cars or virtually anywhere. Until recently, technology was the main barrier to telecommuting. Now the biggest hurdles are cultural, organizational and managerial. Those organizations that have introduced well designed and supported home-working schemes have benefited from lower costs, higher productivity, greater flexibility and a more motivated workforce.

Both companies and employees are discovering the benefits of virtual workspaces. Businesses that successfully incorporate them will be able to significantly cut their overhead costs. It would cost much less to have a few people answering phones at home at 3 o’clock in the morning than running a skeleton crew in a heated/air-conditioned, lighted, and such office building. The employer can offer telecommuting as an option for prospective employees to improve recruitment. As an added bonus, companies heighten their public image as environmentally conscious by saving some ozone by curtailing traffic and commuters. They?re also finding that by being flexible, they?re more responsive to customers, while retaining key personnel whom otherwise might be lost to a spouse?s transfer or a new child. Left to generally work on their own terms, employees most often are happier, as well as more creative and productive.

How are employees likely to benefit? That depends mostly to which particular employee we are referring. Telecommuting allows someone with a physical handicap that could not actually commute to the workplace to still function as a valuable employee. It would allow someone who has small children and feels a great need to be home for them to still work and have a career. The distance an employee must travel daily to work is a factor that can induce great amounts of frustration and expense in one?s life. Telecommuting can alleviate this stress. And, employees who successfully embrace the concept are better able to manage their work and personal lives. Allowing greater freedom and bestowing greater responsibility can enhance job satisfaction. However, employees should be aware of some of the pitfalls of telecommuting as well as the benefits. It is estimated that telecommuters earn less overall then office workers.

Managers often fear that employees will not get enough work done if they can?t see them. Most veterans of the virtual office, however, maintain that the exact opposite is true. All too often, employees wind up fielding phone calls in the evening or stacking an extra hour or two on top of an eight-hour day. Not surprisingly, that can create an array of problems, including burnout, errors and marital conflict. Another potential problem with which virtual employees must deal is handling all the distractions that can occur at home. As a result, many firms will provide workers with specific guidelines for handling work at home. The majority of workers will adjust and become highly productive in an alternative office environment. The most important thing for a company to do is to give suggestions that will help workers adapt.

This new work environment is designed around the concept that one?s best thinking isn?t necessarily done at a desk or in an office. Sometimes, it?s done in a conference room with several people. Other times it?s done on a ski slope or driving to a client?s office. The idea is to eliminate the boundaries about where people are supposed to think, to create an environment that is stimulating and rich in resources. Employees decide on their own where they will work each day, and are judged on work produced rather than on hours put in at the office. Because workers aren?t in the same place every day, they may be exposed to a wider range of people and situations. And that can open their eyes and minds to new ideas and concepts.

Technology is obviously the driving force behind the shift to telecommuting. Technology can be relatively straightforward – a good PC with licensed office software and a modem or DSL connection to the central systems. These must in turn be designed to enable remote working – for example database applications should use client-server techniques to minimize workstation bandwidth requirements. For many home-workers a combination of email, file-transfer and intranet/internet access is sufficient. Some Internet service providers are offering secure gateway services into corporate systems, an advantage being national and international access for the price of a local call

A broad range of information and communications technologies is beginning to enable better organizational effectiveness, efficiency and customer service:

 High speed computer and phone system networking allows staff to use any standard desktop, independently of location – main office, other office, home or on-the-move

 Intranets (high speed internal internets) are easy to implement and maintain and can offer simple, standard interfaces to most corporate applications including legacy mainframe and client-server systems

 Integrated desktop applications, such as Microsoft Office, can streamline and automate a wide variety of office tasks with minimal programming effort

 With computer-telephony integration (CTI) the IT and phone systems (fixed and portable) can work in harmony to deliver advanced messaging and call-center solutions

 The Internet is already widely used in the technology sector for customer service and support – use will extend to other sectors as networks improve and consumer and business usage grows, especially with the advent of Internet-enabled televisions

 Document image processing (DIP) and optical character recognition (OCR) support the elimination of paper and streamline associated processes, for example by scanning incoming mail and other documents.

Companies maintain links with the mobile work force in a variety of ways. Employees access their E-mail and voicemail daily; important messages and policy updates are broadcast regularly into the mailboxes of thousands of workers. When the need for teleconferencing arises, it can put hundreds of employees on the line simultaneously. Typically, the organization?s mobile workers link from cars, home offices, hotels, even airplanes. Virtual workers are only a phone call away. Certainly, telephony has become, and will continue to be a powerful driver in the virtual-office boom. Satellites and high-tech telephone systems, such as DSL lines, allow companies to zoom data from one location to another at light speed. Organizations will link to their work force and hold virtual meetings using tools such as video-conferencing.

The trend is being bolstered by growing corporate acceptance of the workstyle and a recognition by employers that it is mutually beneficial for them and their employees. The strong economy coupled with high employment rates has created a positive environment for alternative workstyles and has prompted employers to use the telecommuting option to lure highly sought-after, skilled employees.

Joanne Pratt, president of Joanne H. Pratt Associates cited three factors that are driving the growth of telecommuting:

 Internet growth

The Internet has created a demand for PCs and provided an incentive to set up a home office.

 Technology has reached a critical mass

Cell phones, notebook computers and other technologies have resulted in the workforce that is equipped to work anywhere.

 Work/life balance

Employees are paying attention to work/life choices and even conditioning their acceptance of new jobs on pre-approval to telecommuting.

In its first major study of telecommuting in two years, FIND/SVP reports 11 million Americans now telecommute to the office. That’s a 30% jump from two years ago and a 175% leap from 1990. FIND/SVP expects U.S. telecommuting to swell another 3 million by the year 2001. Another research company, The Yankee Group, agrees the telecommuting workforce is growing at a brisk clip (18% per year). The American Management Association forecasts a 171% growth in telecommuting over the next five years. The rapid technology adoption was also noticed by the FIND/SVP survey, which discovered that an estimated 31 percent of telecommuters use the Internet, more than double the average rate for home users, and 75 percent of telecommuters use personal computers.

Looking ahead, it’s just a simple matter of mathematics. Computer and networking equipment is getting better and cheaper. Office space is getting more expensive. Highway traffic is becoming more congested. It’s only a matter of time until home workers become as numerous as office workers. Eventually, this will mean that IT departments have to become as adept at supporting these remote workers as they are at supporting LAN-based users in company offices. Keeping a fleet of temperamental laptop computers up and running is part of the headache. Keeping the connection to the Internet up 24-by-7 will also loom large, as will volume purchases of personal fax machines and printers.

Society is on the frontier of a fundamental change in the way the workplace is viewed and how work is handled. In the future, it will become increasingly difficult for traditional companies to compete against those embracing the virtual office. Clearly, many considerations must factor into a decision by a company to implement a telecommuting program. However, companies that embrace the concept are sending out a loud message. They?re making it clear that they?re interested in their employees? welfare, that they?re seeking a competitive edge, and that they aren?t afraid to rethink their work force for changing conditions. Those are the ingredients for future success.

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Реферат - Telecommunications 2 - Иностранный язык

Telecommunications & Networking Report Essay, Research Paper

1. 23-Sep-99: ?Free Web Services

Challenge AOL?s Dominance? – Internet business analysts generally are not

yet convinced of the viability of the free web service business model for

bring profitable. None-the-less, most agree that the free access

will probably take a significant chunk of AOL?s market share before running

out of investor?s money.

2. 23-Sep-99: ?Visitalk.com Builds

White Pages for Web Phone Calls? – Visitalk.com has unveiled plans to simplify

the routing of phone calls over the Internet. They will provide a

directory service which will provide subscribers with a unique 12 digit

Internet phone number. The directory will capture user?s current

IP address and update their database, serving as a switchboard for Internet

phone calls which are routed over IP. This solves a major problem

with the fact that IP addresses change for users as they move from computer

to computer.

3. 23-Sep-99: ?Cisco to But Software

Maker for $325 Million?? Cisco Systems agreed to acquire WebLine Communications,

a software maker producing e-mail routing and collaborating software.

WebLine is to be assimilated into Cisco?s Applications Technology Group.

This was Cisco?s 12th acquisition this year.

4. 24-Sep-99: ?Firm Agrees to Purchase

Cable-Modem Technology?? Intel agreed to purchase the cable modem technology

of Stanford Telecommunications, Inc. The deal puts Intel face to

face in the marketplace with Broadcom Corp., which currently holds the

majority market share for cable modem chips.

5. 24-Sep-99: ?Qualcomm Pact Targets

Wireless Network Products?? Lucent Technologies signed a development agreement

with Qualcomm to product wireless networking equipment. Qualcomm

will give its CDMA technology, including chips and software to Lucent.

Lucent plans to have trial systems utilizing the technology in place next

year.

6. 24-Sep-99: ?MCI Worldcom, Sprint

Ponder Merger?? The world?s second and third largest long-distance carriers

are in talks are in talks over a possible merger. The deal would

give MCI it?s only nationwide wireless network. An obvious stumbling

block over such a large telcom merger would be close scrutiny by regulators.

It is also expected that regional Bell companies may soon have permission

to compete in the long distance market as well.

7. 24-Sep-99: ?Earthlink and MindSpring

to Merge, Forming No. 2 Internet Access Firm?? This deal makes the new

Internet Provider second only to AOL. The combined company will have

3 million subscribers, still a far cry from AOL?s 18 million, but none-the-less

a viable competitor.

8. 27-Sep-99: ?Teledesic ?Sky Internet?

May Start Sooner?? Teledesic chief Craig McCaw is attempting to raise

funds for his planned ?Sky Internet.? However, McCaw has also been

exploring partnerships with other wireless providers including Motorola,

Spaceway, and Hughes electronics, to implement a smaller scale version

of their planned system to prove viability.

9. 27-Sep-99: ?Microsoft Corp. Agrees

to Invest In Net Start-Up?? Microsoft agreed to invest $15 million in

Akamai Technologies Inc. Akamai provides services which focus on

speeding the downloading of web pages. As part of this agreement,

Akamai will develop a version of it?s software to run on Windows NT, as

opposed to it?s current Unix based versions.

10. 28-Sep-99: ?Maker of Voice Software

for the Web Is Acquired?? Mpath Interactive Inc. acquired Resounding Technology

to strengthen its position as a provider of Internet voice software.

Resounding Technologies? Roger Wilco software had been very successful

in providing Internet voice chat.

11. 4-Oct-99: ?BellSouth Makes Bid

to Acquire Sprint?? BellSouth made a bid to purchase wireless provider

Sprint as Sprint & WorldCom came closer to closing their deal.

Spring is expected to go with the WorldCom offer, even though the BellSouth

offer if more lucrative. Regardless, either acquisition would

face regulatory issues.

12. 4-Oct-99: ?Paul Allen is Investing

$1.65 Billion In Telecommunications Firm RCN Corp.?? RCN is planning to

use the investment to speed development of its high-speed fiber optic network.

RCN is one of several companies known as competitive local exchange carriers

(CLEC?s) trying to take a share of the local telephone business.

13. 5-Oct-99: ?Big Landlords Are

Joining Telecom Fray?? Eight of the largest office space landlords are

joining venture capitalist Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Bryers to form

a new company, Broadband Office. The company is to provide high speed

Internet access to it tenants.

14. 6-Oct-99: ?Novell Plans to Create

Repository for Information on Internet Users?? Novell brought online its

new service called Digitalme, aimed at providing a personal data repository.

This was a move to compete with Microsoft?s recently unveiled Passport

service. This was Novell?s first venture into Internet based services,

as the company is known for network management software.

15. 7-Oct-99: ?AT&T?s Top Cable

Executive Resigns Amid Internet-Access Fracas?? After making public statements

denying that AT&T had been in secret talks with AOL, Leo Hindery resigned

as AT&T?s top cable & Internet executive. This was in response

to the fact that AT&T had, in fact, been talking privately with AOL,

and had not told Hindery.

16. 11-Oct-99: ?That?s a WAP; How

the Cell Phone and Web Contracted an Arranged Marriage?? A new technology

known as Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is spreading fast. The

technology allows web based components to be brought to cell phones.

Motorola estimates that half of the estimated 200 million cell phones manufactured

next year will be shipped with WAP enabled browsers.

17. 11-Oct-99: ?Global Crossing Strikes

Deal With Racal?? Global Crossing added another company to its portfolio

to strengthen its international undersea & land-based networks to handle

growing Internet traffic. This is an indication that Europe will

be the site of the next major telco rivalries, as acquisition gives Global

Crossing an additional 7,300 kilometers of fiber-optic networks in Europe.

18. 12-Oct-99: ?AT&T, BT to Accelerate

Expansion of Global Venture?? AT&T & British Telecom?s joint venture,

Concert, has announced plans to expand its frame relay service by 50-60%

by early next year. This venture is structured differently than previously

failed joint telecom ventures. Concert will own nearly all the switching

and networking hardware, as opposed to relying on alliances for managing

customer service.

19. 12-Oct-99: ?Norfolk Southern

Forms Unit to Aid Telecom Ventures?? Norfolk Southern Corp. announced

it has formed a unit to develop fiber-optic and microwave systems.

The company said it will market it?s 21,600 miles of right-of ways for

use by telecom companies. This would relieve the telecom developers

of the high cost of easements required for network development.

20. 12-Oct-99: ?Five Firms Seek to

Develop Security Standard for PC?s?? Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel

& Microsoft have announced plans to form a group to standardize security

for PC?s. The new group will be called Trusted Computed Platform

Alliance, and will embrace input from other companies. They plan

to have a proposal for a security specification by late 2000 to be licensed

openly.

21. 18-Oct-99: ?Dragging Bill Payers

Onto the Internet Envelope by Envelope?? Paytrust, an Internet startup,

is trying to transform the way consumers pay bills. The Yankee Group,

a technology consumer group estimates that 4.5% of households paid bills

online last year.

22. 18-Oct-99: ?In a Race to the

Web, Phone Upstarts Grab Turf?? Covad Communications Group has announced

plans to provide local telephone service in addition to DSL service.

The regional bells now dwarf new entrants into the local phone service

market by 80%.

23. 19-Oct-99: ?Nortel Networks to

Acquire Clarify in $2.1 Billion Stock Transaction?? Nortel Networks, seeking

to expand its customer management business bought software make Clarify.

Nortel, who primarily provides equipment & software for networks, says

the move was designed to allow businesses to increase personalized transactions

on the Internet.

24. 21-Oct-99: ?Double Trouble: AT&T

Corp. Might Want to Think About Setting Its Fight With ISP?s?? George

W. Bush stated that if he is elected, he would urge AT&T to open its

cable plants openly. Bush?s stated choice for his Secretary of State,

Colin Powell, is on AOL?s board, and a close friend of AOL?s chief Steve

Case.

25. 21-Oct-99: ?Intuit to Integrate

Web Links Into Small Business Software?? Intuit said it will be paid fees

by web sites providing business-to-business services to be included in

its QuickBooks product. This move was to consolidate small business

services as part of it?s offering. Intuit currently dominates the

market for small-business financial software.

26. 21-Oct-99: ?IBeam?s Desnoes is

Betting on Use of Satellites To Transmit Audio and Video Over the Internet?

? IBeam is building a $250 million network that bundles media traffic &

feeds it to a satellite link to ISP?s. This method allows faster

population of ISP servers when a high demand event such as a concert or

breaking news story. It will allow IBeam to cut the prices charged

to media companies by half and improving the quality of audio & video

delivered over the Internet.

27. 25-Oct-99: ?AT&T?s Plans

for Cable Deals Suffer Setbacks?? Since AT&T announced negotiations

with Time-Warner, plans for deals with other major cable players have slowed,

as the other companies wait to see the terms of the Time-Warner deal.

AT&T is betting that it will once again provide local phone service

along with high-speed Internet access. AT&T has also already

began talks with AOL & Mindspring for providing Internet content.

28. 25-Oct-99: ?Europe is Next Frontier

for U.S. Telecom Deals?? As the major players become consolidated in the

U.S., the next telecom deals are likely to be in the European arena in

the form of major acquisitions. Major telecom players want to be

able to provide ?one-stop shopping? for their major corporate customers

and their global telecommunications needs. Major targets in Europe

include Mannesmann AG, and Deutsche Telekom.

29. 27-Oct-99: ?Nortel Tops Forecasts

as Net Rises 61%, Raises Revenue Expectations for 2000?? Fueled by sales

to telephone and Internet service providers, Nortel Networks Corp. topped

analysts estimates, with a 61% increase in earnings over last quarter.

Nortel said it growth of fiber-optic networks was particularly strong.

30. 27-Oct-99: ?Microsoft Says Its

Windows 2000 System Won?t Reach Customers Until Next Year?? Microsoft

formally announced the release date for it?s high end business computing

environment, Windows 2000, has slipped to Feb. 17, 2000. Windows

2000 is intended to compete head-to-head with large Unix based Internet

servers. Microsoft?s competitors, most notably Sun Microsystems,

says Windows 2000 won?t come close to the capabilities of Unix.

31. 1-Nov-99: ?McCaw to Invest As

Much As $1.2 Billion To Get ICO Global Out of Bankruptcy?? Cellular phone

magnate Craig McCaw will invest as much as $1.2 billion in ICO Global Communications

Ltd. to rescue the satellite phone system vendor out of bankruptcy.

This is one of several recent investments in satellite based networks by

McCaw. The company hopes to emerge from bankruptcy and begin providing

phone service by mid 2001.

32. 1-Nov-99: ?Nextel Eager to Buy

NextWave Spectrum?? Nextel has announced that it will pay $6 billion for

radio spectrum that was bought by auction from the government in 1996 for

$4.7 billion by NextWave Personal Communications. The deal is at

a stand-still, though, as NextWave is currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy

proceedings. Furthermore, the sale would require the FCC to rule

on several related regulatory issues.

33. 1-Nov-99: ?AT&T Is Blocked

In Plan to Raise Monthly Fee 50%?? The FCC temporarily halted AT&T?s

plan to raise its monthly fee charged to residential consumers by 50%,

as it investigates the carrier?s pricing policies. Sprint raised

its fees recently by 18%, while MCI stated it plans to keep its rate constant.

34. 1-Nov-99: ?Tellabs Inc. Buys

Software Assets?? Tellabs agreed to pay $35 million for some specific

proprietary digital signal processing software from DSP Software Engineering,

Inc. Tellabs, a maker of telecommunications hardware, plans to integrate

the software into its next generation switching system.

35. 4-Nov-99: ?Simon to Sell Net

Services to Link Mall Tenants?? Simon Property Group, the largest owner

of shopping malls in the U.S. announced plans to provide high speed Internet

access to its mall tenants. This is the second such move by mall

landlords to provide telecom services. The company has created a

subsidiary called TennantConnect.Net.

36. 8-Nov-99: ?Web Access Via Cell

Phones Is Expected To Be Introduced?? Bell Atlantic Corp. announced plans

to introduce web access for cell phones and other wireless devices.

Users will need a special wireless phone which starts at $120. Bell

Atlantic?s move was in the wake of similar recent announcements by Sprint

& Vodafone Airtouch PLC.

37. 9-Nov-99: ?Arch Sets Stock Deal

for Larger PageNet As Firms Seek to Turn Page on Debt Woes?? Arch Communications

Group, the second largest paging service, agreed to purchase PageNet.

The paging industry has faced troubles lately from wireless telephone players,

which can easily provide paging services in addition to telephony services.

38. 11-Nov-99: ?Information Appliances

to Nudge PC?s at Comdex Show?? Information appliance makers including

Motorola, Cidco & Boundless will be introducing numerous information

appliances at the Comdex show. Boundless will be presenting a tablet

device with the sole purpose is accessing the Internet & e-mail.

Motorola will be unveiling a pager with Internet & e-mail access, while

Cidco offers a device for handling e-mails only at a very low cost of $99.

39. 11-Nov-99: ?RCN Investment Casts

Paul Allen As Industry Turncoat?? Paul Allen recently invested in ?RCN

Corp., a company which specializes in building competing cable and communications

networks. RCN enraged Cablevision by teaming up with a local electric

utility to avoid the expense of constructing a competing cable network.

Allen currently owns stakes in cable, Internet and phone service providers,

poising himself as a communications Tycoon.

40. 11-Nov-99: ?Telecom Start-Up

Sees Gold in Copper Lines?? Advanced Switching Communications (ASC) plans

to build a low-cost product to harness the existing infrastructure of copper

lines in providing a single set of equipment to link to access technologies.

ASC has developed a box which will convert data from DSL, T-1 and traditional

twisted pair wires and move it onto the Internet. The product is

fully scalable as additional bandwidth is needed, adding to its potential

as a viable alternative for consumer data access.

41. 16-Nov-99: ?Sony and 3Com to

Jointly Develop New Palm Products?? Sony & 3Com struck a deal where

Sony will be able to use Palm?s operating system, while Palm will use Sony?s

flash-memory technology. The move represents a move by Sony to take

a stake in the rapidly expanding information appliance industry, which

connect to the Internet more easily than a PC. Sony has already introduced

two products for downloading music & video from the Internet and play

on a personal device, within the licensing and copyright laws of the industry.

42. 16-Nov-99: ?AT&T Corp.??

AT&T is expanding its wireless service to Los Angeles, filling a large

gap in its coverage. Along with this move, AT&T launched PocketNet,

a wireless-data service which provides web services to cell phones.

Also, AT&T launched a separate agreement with OmniSky to offer nationwide

Internet & e-mail services to 3Com?s Pilot handheld device.

43. 17-Nov-99: ?Comcast To Buy Cable-TV

Firm Lenfest?? After Comcast was outbid for MediaOne by AT&T, AT&T,

aimed at making peace with Comcast, agreed to sell Lenfest. The move

will firmly establish Comcast as the 3rd cable TV operator.

44. 18-Nov-99: ?The Search Continues

for a Single Wireless Standard?? There are currently a half-dozen standards

in place for wireless service from Global System for Mobile Communications

to Time Division Multiple Access. Right now the force seems to be

a convergence between GSM & TDMA, creating a dominant standard.

None-the-less, giants like Sprint & Bell Atlantic favor Code Division

Multiple Access.

45. 19-Nov-99: ?Privacy Concerns

Rise As Plans for Tracking Cell Phone Users Unfold?? The FCC has mandated

that all wireless providers be able to pinpoint the location of a wireless

911 call within 100 feet by October 2001. Also, recently the agency

mandated that wireless providers be able to provide the beginning and ending

location of a phone call to law enforcement officials.

46. 22-Nov-99: ?Deal Would Give Vodafone

a Leg Up in A Heated Race?? Vodafone announced a bid for Mannesmann AG,

in an attempt to build the first pan-European wireless network. This

would be a major benefit for Vodafone in being able to offer flat rate

plan over the entire European coverage area.

47. 22-Nov-99: ?Cabletron to Sell

Unit for Stock of $860 Million?? In an effort to regain focus on high-end

networking hardware, Cabletron has agreed to sell an Internet equipment

business to Efficient Networks. Cabletron is shedding non-core businesses

in an attempt to make itself a viable takeover target. Efficient

Networks, which makes DSL modems, bought FlowPoint, which makes DSL routers.

48. 22-Nov-99: ?AT&T Expects

Delays In Closing MediaOne Deal?? AT&T and MediaOne most likely will

not finalize their proposed deal until the second quarter of 2000.

The delay is largely due to a lengthy regulatory review by the Department

of Justice. The deal, which is none-the-less expected to go through,

will make AT&T into the nations? largest cable TV service provider.

49. 23-Nov-99: ?Nextel Sets a Deal

to Buy Phones from Kyocera?? In a move marking the first time Nextel has

bought phones from a third party other than Motorola, Kyocera has agreed

to provide the next generation of phones for Nextel. Kyocera has

been a leader in wireless technology, and recently unveiled a phone designed

to receive streaming video.

50. 26-Nov-99: ?Court Overturns Ruling

on NextWave, Spelling Good News for FCC?s Valuation?? An appeals court

overturned a bankruptcy ruling that valued NextWave Personal Communications

at $1.02 billion, less than a quarter the price it had bid. The ruling

marked a victory for the FCC which is hoping to reclaim billions of dollars

for spectrum licenses. The move also spelled good news for Nextel,

which is hoping to buy the troubled NextWave for $6 billion.

The Future of Telecommuters

The Future of Telecommuters

As the our global network known as the

Internet increases its size and speed, the future of telecommuting becomes

more and more promising. Generally speaking, telecommuting is defined

as spending at least one day out of a five day work week working in one?s

home. In a growing number of companies, traditional office space

is giving way to home offices, living rooms and even kitchens as employees

work from home, from their cars or virtually anywhere. Until recently,

technology was the main barrier to telecommuting. Now the biggest hurdles

are cultural, organizational and managerial. Those organizations that have

introduced well designed and supported home-working schemes have benefited

from lower costs, higher productivity, greater flexibility and a more motivated

workforce.

Both companies and employees are discovering

the benefits of virtual workspaces. Businesses that successfully incorporate

them will be able to significantly cut their overhead costs. It would cost

much less to have a few people answering phones at home at 3 o’clock in

the morning than running a skeleton crew in a heated/air-conditioned, lighted,

and such office building. The employer can offer telecommuting as

an option for prospective employees to improve recruitment. As an

added bonus, companies heighten their public image as environmentally conscious

by saving some ozone by curtailing traffic and commuters. They?re also

finding that by being flexible, they?re more responsive to customers, while

retaining key personnel whom otherwise might be lost to a spouse?s transfer

or a new child. Left to generally work on their own terms, employees most

often are happier, as well as more creative and productive.

How are employees likely to benefit? That

depends mostly to which particular employee we are referring. Telecommuting

allows someone with a physical handicap that could not actually commute

to the workplace to still function as a valuable employee. It would allow

someone who has small children and feels a great need to be home for them

to still work and have a career. The distance an employee must travel daily

to work is a factor that can induce great amounts of frustration and expense

in one?s life. Telecommuting can alleviate this stress. And, employees

who successfully embrace the concept are better able to manage their work

and personal lives. Allowing greater freedom and bestowing greater responsibility

can enhance job satisfaction. However, employees should be aware of some

of the pitfalls of telecommuting as well as the benefits. It is estimated

that telecommuters earn less overall then office workers.

Managers often fear that employees will

not get enough work done if they can?t see them. Most veterans of the virtual

office, however, maintain that the exact opposite is true. All too often,

employees wind up fielding phone calls in the evening or stacking an extra

hour or two on top of an eight-hour day. Not surprisingly, that can create

an array of problems, including burnout, errors and marital conflict.

Another potential problem with which virtual employees must deal is handling

all the distractions that can occur at home. As a result, many firms will

provide workers with specific guidelines for handling work at home. The

majority of workers will adjust and become highly productive in an alternative

office environment. The most important thing for a company to do is to

give suggestions that will help workers adapt.

This new work environment is designed around

the concept that one?s best thinking isn?t necessarily done at a desk or

in an office. Sometimes, it?s done in a conference room with several people.

Other times it?s done on a ski slope or driving to a client?s office. The

idea is to eliminate the boundaries about where people are supposed to

think, to create an environment that is stimulating and rich in resources.

Employees decide on their own where they will work each day, and are judged

on work produced rather than on hours put in at the office. Because workers

aren?t in the same place every day, they may be exposed to a wider range

of people and situations. And that can open their eyes and minds to new

ideas and concepts.

Technology is obviously the driving force

behind the shift to telecommuting. Technology can be relatively straightforward

— a good PC with licensed office software and a modem or DSL connection

to the central systems. These must in turn be designed to enable remote

working – for example database applications should use client-server techniques

to minimize workstation bandwidth requirements. For many home-workers a

combination of email, file-transfer and intranet/internet access is sufficient.

Some Internet service providers are offering secure gateway services into

corporate systems, an advantage being national and international access

for the price of a local call

A broad range of information and communications

technologies is beginning to enable better organizational effectiveness,

efficiency and customer service:

 High speed computer and phone

system networking allows staff to use any standard desktop, independently

of location – main office, other office, home or on-the-move

 Intranets (high speed internal

internets) are easy to implement and maintain and can offer simple, standard

interfaces to most corporate applications including legacy mainframe and

client-server systems

 Integrated desktop applications,

such as Microsoft Office, can streamline and automate a wide variety of

office tasks with minimal programming effort

 With computer-telephony integration

(CTI) the IT and phone systems (fixed and portable) can work in harmony

to deliver advanced messaging and call-center solutions

 The Internet is already widely

used in the technology sector for customer service and support – use will

extend to other sectors as networks improve and consumer and business usage

grows, especially with the advent of Internet-enabled televisions

 Document image processing

(DIP) and optical character recognition (OCR) support the elimination of

paper and streamline associated processes, for example by scanning incoming

mail and other documents.

Companies maintain links with the mobile

work force in a variety of ways. Employees access their E-mail and voicemail

daily; important messages and policy updates are broadcast regularly into

the mailboxes of thousands of workers. When the need for teleconferencing

arises, it can put hundreds of employees on the line simultaneously. Typically,

the organization?s mobile workers link from cars, home offices, hotels,

even airplanes. Virtual workers are only a phone call away. Certainly,

telephony has become, and will continue to be a powerful driver in the

virtual-office boom. Satellites and high-tech telephone systems, such as

DSL lines, allow companies to zoom data from one location to another at

light speed. Organizations will link to their work force and hold virtual

meetings using tools such as video-conferencing.

The trend is being bolstered by growing

corporate acceptance of the workstyle and a recognition by employers that

it is mutually beneficial for them and their employees. The strong

economy coupled with high employment rates has created a positive environment

for alternative workstyles and has prompted employers to use the telecommuting

option to lure highly sought-after, skilled employees.

Joanne Pratt, president of Joanne H. Pratt

Associates cited three factors that are driving the growth of telecommuting:

 Internet growth

The Internet has created a demand for

PCs and provided an incentive to set up a home office.

 Technology has reached a

critical mass

Cell phones, notebook computers and other

technologies have resulted in the workforce that is equipped to work anywhere.

 Work/life balance

Employees are paying attention to work/life

choices and even conditioning their acceptance of new jobs on pre-approval

to telecommuting.

In its first major study of telecommuting

in two years, FIND/SVP reports 11 million Americans now telecommute to

the office. That’s a 30% jump from two years ago and a 175% leap from 1990.

FIND/SVP expects U.S. telecommuting to swell another 3 million by the year

2001. Another research company, The Yankee Group, agrees the telecommuting

workforce is growing at a brisk clip (18% per year). The American Management

Association forecasts a 171% growth in telecommuting over the next five

years. The rapid technology adoption was also noticed by the FIND/SVP survey,

which discovered that an estimated 31 percent of telecommuters use the

Internet, more than double the average rate for home users, and 75 percent

of telecommuters use personal computers.

Looking ahead, it’s just a simple matter

of mathematics. Computer and networking equipment is getting better and

cheaper. Office space is getting more expensive. Highway traffic is becoming

more congested. It’s only a matter of time until home workers become as

numerous as office workers. Eventually, this will mean that IT departments

have to become as adept at supporting these remote workers as they are

at supporting LAN-based users in company offices. Keeping a fleet of temperamental

laptop computers up and running is part of the headache. Keeping the connection

to the Internet up 24-by-7 will also loom large, as will volume purchases

of personal fax machines and printers.

Society is on the frontier of a fundamental

change in the way the workplace is viewed and how work is handled. In the

future, it will become increasingly difficult for traditional companies

to compete against those embracing the virtual office. Clearly, many considerations

must factor into a decision by a company to implement a telecommuting program.

However, companies that embrace the concept are sending out a loud message.

They?re making it clear that they?re interested in their employees? welfare,

that they?re seeking a competitive edge, and that they aren?t afraid to

rethink their work force for changing conditions. Those are the ingredients

for future success.

www.ronl.ru

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