The Communications Infrastructure

1
The Communications Infrastructure

• Chapter 12

2
Issues

• Cost Digital divide
• Access Wireless networks, Should the internet be
  free to all?
• Ownership Who owns the digital roads?
  Government, or private? What about monopolies?

3
Issues

• Environment Cell towers, wind towers,
  vulnerability to natural disasters
• Terrorism Hacking, identity theft, DOS attacks
• Electricity Global Warming

4
Issues

• Censorship who decides what content is
  unacceptable?
• Privacy Patriot Act, Google rejecting Govt
  snooping
• Taxation Current moratorium on taxes ends 2014.
• Internet Tax Freedom Act, passed in 1998,
  renewed in 2001, 2004 and 2007. It kept state and
  local governments from taxing "a service that
  enables users to access content, information,
  electronic mail or other services offered over
  the Internet."

5
Issues

• Network Neutrality Same speed for all data, or
  premium fast lane for those willing to pay?
• New tech HDTV, internet speed, Internet 2 (10
  gigabits/sec)

6
Ownership and Control

• The top-4 music companies account for 85 of that
  industrys market share the top-8 film companies
  account for 84 the top-10 cable companies
  account for 67 the top-6 ad agencies companies
  account for 65 and the top-10 radio companies
  account for 43.

7
Ownership and Control

• Historically, radio frequencies were awarded
  based on public interest
• Now frequencies are auctioned to the highest
  bidder
• Proceeds go to the treasury
• Free market is in, regulation is out
• The prices paid for frequencies have not
  reflected the true value of the frequencies
• Very desirable frequencies have sold very cheaply
  
• Television stations did not have to pay for
  digital frequencies
• Less regulation has meant less government
  influence

8
Comparative Speed of Internet
Source Communications Workers of America Study,
(2008)
9
Comparative Cost of Internet
Source Communications Workers of America Study,
(2008)
10
Security Issues 9/11

• Vulnerability and resilience of the
  telecommunications infrastructure
• September 11 attack destroyed switching
  equipment, cell phone antennas and fiber optic
  link
• Emergency 911 phone service never went down
• Packet switching effectively rerouted Internet
  traffic
• ATT technicians were able to reassign resource
• Monitoring communication
• Computer phone systems allow law enforcement to
  sweep the telephone system for illegal activity
• Fiber optics make phone tapping more difficult
• Encrypted Internet phone calls could not be
  tapped
• Police want to be able to disable encryption
  programs on private computers

11
Security Issues 9/11

• USA Patriot Act (" Uniting and Strengthening
  America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required
  to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001)
  allowed unprecedented snooping by the FBI and
  Homeland Security into telephone and computer
  records.
• A 2008 report cites numerous violations of the
  Act by the FBI, which often claimed fake
  emergencies to access thousands of telephone,
  credit card and internet records.
• Several companies, including Google, have fought
  orders to turn over their records to the
  Government.

12
Security Issues

• March, 2008 Hannaford Supermarkets admits that
  4.2 million credit and debit card numbers were
  stolen from its records.
• October, 2002 9 of the 13 backbone servers of
  the internet disabled by a massive Denial of
  Service (DoS) attack.
• February, 2007 10,000 online games sites
  attacked.
• January, 2008 Scientology websites attacked as
  part of Project Chanology, a worldwide protest.
  
• January, 2008 Accidental cutting of undersea
  cables causes internet blackout in Middle East,
  and slows traffic worldwide. A second accident
  (?) caused a 76 reduction in traffic between
  Europe and Africa.

13
Wireless Communications

• E911 Service all cell phones required since 1997
  by FCC to broadcast GPS data of location. Most
  phones will also broadcast that information
  anyway, unless it is turned off.
• Some services, such as Mologogo,
• allow users to track their friends
• (if their friends want to be tracked.)
• Teen Arrive Alive can track
• teenagers, and tell if they are in a
• car which is going too fast.

14
Wireless Communications RFID

• Radio Frequency ID
• Chip put in product to make inventory tracking
  easier.
• It might also be possible in the future for
  advertisers to track this information, and target
  you with advertising.
• May have other uses for tracking people.

15
Wireless Communications RFID

• It might also be possible in the future for
  advertisers to track this information, and target
  you with advertising.

16
Do-Not-Call

• National Do-Not-Call Registry established June
  2003 under the Federal Trade Commission and the
  FCC.
• It does not cover
• calls from organizations with which you have
  established a business relationship
• calls for which you have given prior written
  permission
• calls which are not commercial or do not include
  unsolicited advertisements
• calls by or on behalf of tax-exempt non-profit
  organizations.
• It now includes cell-phone numbers
• Some see it as a violation of the 1st Amendment
  rights of advertisers.

17
Encryption

• Encryption of information prevents third parties
  from intercepting and understanding
  transmissions.
• Most cell phones are encrypted, but hacks exist.
• Most wireless phones, internet calls and
  landlines are not.
• Scanners can easily intercept wireless phone
  calls, but not cell phones.

Radio Shack Scanner
18
Internet Encryption

• Several techniques exist for encrypting internet
  communications
• https Hypertext Transfer Protocol over Secure
  Socket Layer
• VPN (Virtual Private Network)
• Public and Private Key encryption Programs such
  as PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) are freely available
  to create unbreakable codes.
• Steganography Hiding communications inside such
  things as jpg files.
• Watermarking is a type of steganography used in
  such things as DRM.

19
Internet Encryption

• Law Enforcement agencies in the US have been
  reluctant to allow some cryptography, such as
  PGP.
• It was illegal to export it, as it is considered
  to be defense-related. Rules were relaxed in
  2000.
• The NSA once proposed a built in encoding chip,
  called the Clipper Chip, for all computers, with
  a back door accessible by law enforcement, but
  they dropped the proposal after strong
  opposition.

20
Broadband

• Coaxial cable
• Interconnects television stations beginning in
  1946
• Microwave
• Established national network
• Satellite
• Replaced cable and microwave
• Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS)
• Multiple System Operators - MSO
• Comcast
• Originally Tele-Communication Inc. (TCI) and ATT
  Broadband
• Largest Cable company
• Warner Cable
• AOL Time Warner
• 2nd largest Cable Company
• Fiber optic
• Began replacing coaxial cable in 1977

21
Cable Distribution
22
Cable Services

• Cable companies provided POT and custom calling
  services
• Bundle services
• Called tiers
• Basic tier
• Local broadcast channels
• Satellite tier
• CNN, CNBC, TNT
• Premium tier
• HBO, Showtime
• Internet service
• Warner Cable
• Roadrunner
• Synergy with Warner Brothers
• One stop shopping for telecommunication services

23
Mobile Communication

• Mobile telephone
• Single central antenna
• 46 simultaneous channels
• Paging
• Piggybacked on FM
• Digital pagers
• Send short messages
• Cellular radio - 1978
• Hand off between cells
• Relatively weak transmitters so frequencies could
  be reused
• First generation cell phones were analog

• Digital Cellular
• Second generation cell phones
• Makes it possible for several user to user the
  same frequency
• Smaller cells
• Wireless Internet
• WiFi sends TCP/IP packets
• Low earth orbit satellite (LEO satellite)
• Uses antenna rather than a dish
• Motorola launched Iridium in 1998 went bankrupt

24
Long Distance

• Long distance
• Pick a long distance provider when you sign up
  for local phone service
• No one should pay more than 10 cents per minute
• Pay phones
• Excessive rates
• Use calling cards to avoid being over charged
• Ten ten service
• Bypass designated carrier
• Toll free
• 800, 888, and 877 numbers

• VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)
• -- Internet telephone
• Services (Skype, etc)

Advertising Long Distance Rates
25
Industry Organization

• Cable Television
• Multiple system operators
• Comcast, Warner Cable (AOL Time Warner)
• Local and state regulation
• Franchise fee paid to local government
• Regressive tax
• Effectively a monopoly in most markets.

26
Satellite Carriers

• Broadcast and cable networks
• Distributed by satellite
• Pan Am Sat and GE Americom
• Lease transponders to CBS, CNN, and PBS
• Direct broadcast satellite (DBS)
• DirecTV (Hughes Satellite)
• The Dish Network (Echostar)
• International television, voice, and data
• INTELSAT fixed ground stations
• INMARSAT mobile services
• Comsat represents both in the U.S.

27
Economy of Telecommunications

• Intention of the Telecommunications Act of 1996
• Untangled ownership rules
• Increase competition and drove down prices
• The effect has been an increase in vertical and
  horizontal concentration
• Regional bell operating companies still control
  local telephone service
• The offer of entry into long distance did not get
  local telephone to open their local monopolies
• Companies have focused on big customers
• Corporate customers
• High end users
• Local telephone rates have risen

28
Subsidies

• Before divestiture ATT used profit from long
  distance to subsidize local phone service
• Replaced by access fee
• Internet service providers do not pay access fee
• Call for modem tax
• Congress has exempted the Internet from state and
  local taxes
• Internet telephony has avoided surcharge on
  international calls
• Subsidies have been used as social policy
• Low income households get low phone rates
• Rural subscribers pay the same as city residents
• Cost to service rural subscribers is higher
• Business subsidizes residential customers