Ultrabroadband Networks: An Introduction to Research

Since the dawning of internet telecommunications in the 1970s, higher transmission rates for more advanced applications have been a major objective. Current broadband data speeds are over a thousand times as fast as early dial-up narrowband internet services, and ultrabroadband (1 Gigabit per second or more) will be another thousand-fold increase. Ultrabroadband will also be more bi-directional in media applications, allowing users to also become information providers. The technical complexities are large. On the business level, these developments require substantial investment in the access, backhaul, and wireless segments, create new risks (and rewards) and lead to enormous new competitive overlaps. On the applications and content dimension, entirely new uses and genres become possible. And on the network level, the increased utilization levels will put new demands on communications infrastructure. With fiber penetration moving rapidly ahead, one must think ahead. There are numerous questions for analysis and research. In no particular order: