Telecommunications in Alaska.

• Author: BRADY, TOM

Most of us think of telecommunications in terms of the end product and the most common product we think of is the telephone. Normally we don't even consider television or the Internet in the same sentence. Even so, telecommunications is not just about telephones, television or the Internet. It's about bandwidth (bits of data) and how to get more of it. Whether you log onto your computer or watch TV, the core business of telecommunications is delivering bandwidth to consumers.

In Alaska, any discussion of telecommunications must look at urban and rural parts of the state as being distinctly separate markets and technological areas. More importantly, when you get to rural Alaska you encounter a regulatory structure for distribution and sale of telecommunications services.

Types of Bandwidth

Broadcast Bandwidth: Most people associate this with television but as television has moved into the digital world, lead by satellite television providers, this also has come to mean broadcast data. This type of bandwidth provides one-way service only, so it is not suitable for telephone. Coaxial cable or some type of wireless system is normally the source of broadcast bandwidth.

Two-way symmetrical: The best example of this is the plain old telephone. Most telecommunications are developed in the two-way symmetrical model, that is the bandwidth in both directions is equal.

Two-way asymmetrical: The Internet is driving this form of bandwidth because at the consumer end a 10-kilobit request for a Web page can result in a megabit of multimedia content. It's called asymmetrical because the bandwidth from the consumer to the network (Internet) is typically much less than the bandwidth from the network to the consumer. For example, some forms of digital subscriber line services offer 768 kilobits-per-second to the network (upstream) and up to 6 megabits from the network (downstream). Cable modem service is asymmetrical also.

Providing Bandwidth to the Consumer

Telephone Cable: This is where it all started and it hasn't fundamentally changed since Alexander Graham Bell. Most consumers are getting their two-way bandwidth this way. In capacity terms, the telephone line in your home today can download at 56 kilobits per second. Digital Subscriber Line service is the newest technology using copper telephone cable. A DSL line can download up to 6 megabits per second-or in other words, can pack a little over 100 pounds of sugar in today's one pound bag.

Coaxial Cable: This is how cable television is typically delivered to the home. Normally associated with broadcast bandwidth, cable systems can be upgraded to support two-way bandwidth. Today's cable modem service is the most common example of two-way bandwidth over...