Broadband: A useful but ignored technology

Broadband: A useful but ignored technology

By Mila Day

JAKARTA (JP): "Broadband" is not a new teen music group to
replace Backstreet Boys. Broadband, in today's computer jargon,
is some kind of ultra-connection. Once in a while it is called
"fat pipe" because of the tremendous amount of data it can
deliver. In contrast, baseband transmission (with slimmer pipes)
allows only one signal at a time.

Broadband integrated services digital network (B-ISDN) and
cable TV (many channels in one cable) use broadband transmission.
Broadband facilitates B2B (business-to-business) transactions.

Let's check out what more the online encyclopedia tells us
about "broadband". According to whatis.com, "broadband" refers to
telecommunication that provides multiple channels of data over a
single communications medium, typically using some form of
frequency or wave division multiplexing.

In this digital era, multiplexing can mean the signals are
using time-division multiplexing (TDM), in which the multiple
signals are carried over the same channel in alternating time
slots. In some optical fiber networks, multiple signals are
carried together as separate wavelengths of light in a
multiplexed signal using dense wavelength-division multiplexing
(DWDM).

Too technical? Not really. This broadband thing can be put in
just one line: "A huge number of telecommunication signals
transmitted at the speed of light and just a click away."

New technology

When the telephone arrived in the 1950s, sending a letter with
a stamp (snail-mail, as we call it today) was considered a lame
way to say "Hi" to someone two thousand miles away. When RCTI
aired in 1989, TVRI was considered a "traditional" television
station.

Not exactly at the speed of light, development of
telecommunication and broadcasting has given birth to a new
technology: broadband, where both telecommunication and
broadcasting can be received in our computer. Or the other way
round, we can browse any websites from our television set, if you
are a cable TV subscriber.

Either way, this new technology can make our life easier than
it is already. There are two other words related to this new
technology: "integrated" and "interactive". If you watch your
favorite TV program, say telenovella Esperanza, on our computer,
it is called an "integrated" device. At the same time you can
also send an e-mail to the PR Department of SCTV to complain of
too many commercials on telenovella show. This is called
"interactive."

The number of television sets still far exceeds the number of
computers; probably four or even eight times. However, cable
television can only be received in megacosmo cities like Jakarta.
It is the installation of the fiber-optic cable and its
infrastructure that can be considered as the biggest obstacles.
Broadband reception on your TV set is out of the question for
today.

Nevertheless, computers as a means of broadband connection has
promise. Although not all of the computer in Indonesia are
connected to the Internet, at least the infrastructure is mostly
in place compared to cable TV infrastructure.

Warnet (warung internet or cybercafe) is the youngest brother
of Wartel (warung telepon, or phone stall). Driving from Jakarta
to Surabaya via the northern route, every village we pass has an
eye-catching wartel signboard on the side of the road.

Metamorphoses

Add a computer, and voila this wartel sign metamorphoses to a
warnet-wartel sign.

Unfortunately, the country's recent economic problems has
stymied development of broadband technology, today's hype of
the universe. For two years, Indonesia has been stimulated mostly
to build an infrastructure for the country's democracy, rather
than infrastructure for the distribution of information,
knowledge, and entertainment via computer.

In Malaysia, the political turbulence of Mahathir Mohamad
versus Anwar Ibrahim has not shaken this prosperity of tomorrow.
Since 1997, Malaysia has been building Puterajaya and Cyberjaya
near Kuala Lumpur. These are cybercities with four development
phases, to finish in the year 2020.

In both cybercities, one house connects with another via
computer networking AKA broadband networking. Cyberjaya area will
cover 2,855 hectares (cyberjaya-msc.com). Cyberjaya, an
intelligent city for multimedia companies will be developed next
to Puterajaya, the new seat of government and administrative
capital of Malaysia where the concept of electronic government
will be introduced.

The official organization to handle this multimedia super
corridor (MSC) in Malaysia is Multimedia Development Corp (MDC).
Latest news posted on the Net, MDC has signed an agreement with a
telecommunication consortium to develop a similar city in
Indonesia, probably not in near future.

Speaking of near future, we have one site that is already
hovering on the Net. The site web88888.com is pioneered with
broadband technology.

With five-fold number 8 -- which symbolizes good fortune
according to Chinese feng shui -- this site will shortly deliver
five-folded fortune to this country.

How so? More and more people can see the real and untainted
sights of Indonesia. From web88888.com, visitors can visit
newspaper sites, and tune-in to radio and TV with multimedia
environment.

Realtime show

By clicking an icon that says "Listen and Watch", visitors
from all around the world can enjoy a realtime show. As we point
the arrow to SCTV icon, we can watch Liputan 6 Petang live. With
only seconds delayed, mostly picture lags, the program on the
computer is the same as received on the television set at home.

Both the sound and video are digitally streamed, although
sound flows smoothly, the pictures jolt now and then. Today's
flaws will be short lived as hi-tech corporations deliver new
generations of tools and software.

What about digitally streamed? Streaming is flowing (basic
English), and this means picture or sound is flowing into the
computer as it plays.

Streaming sound is sound that is played as it arrives.
Streaming video is a sequence of "moving images" that are sent in
digitally-compressed form over the Internet, and then digitally-
decompressed and redisplayed by the viewer as they arrive.

To play it on an Internet capable computer, you need a
RealPlayer by RealNetwork (real.com). There are a lot of other
software applications besides RealPlayer and free downloads are
available if you know where to look.

Have you visited one of the sites mentioned above? If yes,
bookmark my words, you are already waxing the broadband
connections to your home.

-- The writer is a cyber observer based in Jakarta.