In this chapter, the following content will be discussed: Introduction, the evolving telecommunications scene, a new telecommunications infrastructure is being built, the telecom industry is being transformed, the internet is the network of choice, digital convergence has become a reality, the OSI reference model underlies today’s networks, the rate of change is accelerating.
Managing Telecommunications Lecture 14 Telecommunications n Telecommunications is the flow of information among individuals, work groups, departments, customer sites, regional offices, between enterprises, and with the outside world n The Internet has also opened up a “cyberspace” where people can be in a virtual world, where organizations can conduct business, and in fact, a place where organizational processes exist This is providing the foundation for the e-business economy, as just about everything about telecom is shifting Today’s Lecture n Introduction n The Evolving Telecommunications Scene ă A New Telecommunications Infrastructure is Being Built The Telecom Industry is Being Transformed ă The Internet is the Network Of Choice ă Digital Convergence Has Become a Reality ă The OSI Reference Model Underlies Todays Networks ă The Rate of Change is Accelerating n Todays Lecture ă The Optical Era Will Provide Bandwidth Abundance ¨ The Wireless Century Begins ¨ Messaging is a Killer App ă Coming: An n Internet of Things The Role of the IS Department Introduction n Telecommunications = electronically sending data in any form from one place to another between ¨ People ¨ Machines, or ¨ Objects Introduction n Generally, IS departments have been responsible for designing, building, and maintaining the information highway in the same way that governments are responsible for building and maintaining streets, roads, and freeways n Once built, the network, with its nodes and links, provides infrastructure for the flow of information and messages Introduction… n n n In early 2000s Telecom became the basis for the way people and companies started working ă It provides the infrastructure for moving information and messages South Korea’s largest telecommunications firm It is able to transmit data at a rate of megabits per second, about four times faster than the typical cable modem deliver-ing high-speed Internet service to U.S households Introduction n The company uses radio sensors to track the movement of parts as they move from fabrication shop to the side of a drydock and then onto a ship under construction n Workers on the ship use notebook computers or handheld mobile phones to access plans and engage in two-way video conversations with ship designers in the office, more than a mile away In Past n n n In the past, workers who were inside a vessel below ground or below sea level had to climb topside to use a phone or walkie-talkie when they had to talk to someone about a problem The new wireless network is connected to the electric lines in the ship, which convey digital data HYUNDAI HEAVY INDUSTRIES CREATES A WIRELESS SHIPYARD to Wi-Fi wireless transmitters: placed around the hull during construction Workers’ Internet phones, webcams, and PCs are linked to the WiFi system, so workers can use Skype VoIP to call their colleagues on the surface Contin… n n n n Designers in an office building a mile from the construction site use the webcams to investigate problems On the shipyard roads, 30 transporter trucks fitted to receivers connected to the wireless network update their location every 20 seconds to a control room This helps dispatchers to identify the location of transporters with orders for parts, shortening the trips each truck makes All of the day’s movements are finished by P.M instead of P.M By making operations more efficient and reducing labor costs, the wire-less technology is expected to save Hyundai Heavy $40 million annually E-COMMERCE n n n The use of the Internet and the Web to transact business Formally, digitally enabled commercial transactions between and among organizations and individuals Digitally enabled transactions include all transactions mediated by digital technology XYZ COMPANY Case example: Network Options • The Internet will be the heart of XYZ’s corporate operation So the CTO will create: − An intranet for use by employees − An extranet for use by suppliers and some large customers, and of course, − The Internet as the all-important central public network XYZ COMPANY Case example: Network Options cont • Serving remote users: XYZ has choices of communications wiring: – twisted pair (standard phone line) – coaxial cable (like cable TV) – fibre optic (glass fibre that carries signals via light pulses) and – wireless XYZ COMPANY Case example: Network Options cont • Modems can be: – standard telephone modems (56kbps) – no longer really a viable option due to size of files (PowerPoints etc,) – digital subscriber line (DSL) modems at 1.2 mbps 20 times faster, or – cable modems at 10mbps or 200 times faster XYZ COMPANY Case example: Network Options cont • Serving local users: In the office, all the computers and telephones will be connected directly to an always-on LAN The various LANs in XYZ’s offices will use hubs, switches and routers to route traffic • The CTO will likely choose Fast Ethernet Protocol for his IP-based LAN It has speeds of 100 mpbs (10^8) • Communicating Between Offices: XYZ employees need to communicate between sites, so they need some sort of wide area network As expected, the CTO has choices here as well XYZ COMPANY Case example: Network Options cont • – Asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) is high speed - up to 622 mbps – A fairly new option for XYZ to link several offices in a city, or link floors within a building, is a Gigabit Ethernet which operates at speeds of one gbps (10^9 bits per second) The CTO is definitely going to base all his decisions on being Internet protocol centric Extranets n Not long after creating intranets, businesses realized they could extend the intranet concept into an extranet ă A special part of the intranet for use by trading partners, customers, and suppliers for electronic commerce n The notion caught on and extranets have become an important component of B2B e-commerce NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR example: Extranet Semiconductor designs and manufactures • NationalCase semiconductor products – To gain market share and move into new markets, it created an intranet that the sales force could access and keep up-to-date on products and order products – It also created the “National Advisor” to electronically send news, sales reports, and customer information to the sales force and its management NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR Case example: Extranet National also created an extranet for distributors and channel partners, and a Web site for design engineers • The Web site is replicated around the globe, with maintenance outsourced to a company with data centres around the globe, which provides hosting and other Internet infrastructure services NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR Case example: Extranet cont • National’s Web site now supports million design engineers around the globe, who download more than 10,000 data books a day, in about two seconds each • The company only needs to replicate its site once; the hosting company takes care of global coverage Summary n The Telecom world is big and getting bigger by the day It is complex, and getting more complex every day ă Dont worry – there’s plenty of help available! n The first generation of the Internet economy has been wired The second is unwired n Today telecom is all about connecting and the number of possible connections is about to explode worldwide ... conduct business, and in fact, a place where organizational processes exist This is providing the foundation for the e -business economy, as just about everything about telecom is shifting Today’s Lecture. .. Evolving Telecommunications Scene cont n A New Telecommunications Infrastructure is Being Built cont.: ă The basic traffic-handling mechanism had to change for data ă Today, the new telecommunications. .. with the outside world n The norm is now end-to-end Internet protocol (IP) networks E-COMMERCE n n n The use of the Internet and the Web to transact business Formally, digitally enabled commercial