The government's role in overseeing the Internet has become a popular topic recently with the "Net neutrality" debate in Congress.
Cable and telecom providers want to be able to charge Google Inc., Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN and other Internet companies for using their high-speed connections to the home. The other side argues that the Internet should remain a neutral playing field where no one pays a toll. Charging for the use of a broadband network would hamper innovation and make it more difficult for smaller companies to offer Web services, the Internet companies say.
Some consumer advocates fear that if broadband providers got their way, it would lead to higher monthly bills for consumers for high-speed Internet access, but Taplin and other academics dispute that.
"This notion of some grand battle between content owners and network owners, I think it's specious," Taplin says. "Network owners can partition bandwidth in such a way that everyone can have access to the Internet in a way we have today and provide some value-added services. There should be plenty of room for everyone to do what they want."
As proof that consumers shouldn't worry about their bills, Taplin cites the recent offers by Verizon, SBC Communications (before it merged with AT&T) and others to provide faster-than-dial-up access of up to 768 kilobits per second for $14.95 per month.
Verizon is demoing crowd analytics technology that uses 5G along with AI and mobile edge computing to give stadium operators insights into the flow of fans throughout a venue.
As we move closer to fully realizing the potential of Wi-Fi 7, it becomes evident that the RF, signaling, and throughput tests are not merely procedural checkpoints but the pillars of excellence in wireless communication.
With low earth orbit (LEO) satellites fast becoming the norm and 3GPP unifying telecom standards around the globe, the satellite IoT and machine-to-machine (M2M) sector ought to be looking at a bright horizon. But is this the case?
