The First 100 Feet: Options for Internet and Broadband Access (Information Infrastructure Project at Harvard University) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0262581604 ISBN 13: 9780262581608

Publisher: MIT Press, 1999

Synopsis

The growth of the Internet has been propelled in significant part by user investment in infrastructure: computers, internal wiring, and the connection to the Internet provider. This "bottom-up" investment minimizes the investment burden facing providers. New technologies such as wireless and data transmission over power lines, as well as deregulation of telecommunications and electric utilities, will provide new opportunities for user investment in intelligent infrastructure as leverage points for Internet and broadband access. Recasting the "problem of the last 100 feet" as "the opportunity of the first 100 feet," this book challenges individuals, businesses, and policymakers to rethink fundamental issues in telecommunications policy. The contributors look at options for Internet and broadband access from the perspective of homeowners, apartment complexes, and small businesses. They evaluate the opportunities and obstacles for bottom-up infrastructure development and the implications for traditional and alternative providers at the neighborhood, regional, and national levels. Already, some argue that Internet service will become the common denominator platform on which all other services can be carried. A Publication of the Harvard Information Infrastructure Project.

About this title

Synopsis

Recasting the "problem of the last 100 feet" as "the length of the first 100 feet", this book challenges individuals, businesses, and policymakers to rethink fundamental issues in telecommunications policy. The contributors look at options for Internet and broadband access from the perspective of homeowners, apartment complexes and small businesses. They evaluate the opportunities and obstacles for bottom-up infrastructure development and the implications for traditional and alternative providers at the neighbourhood, regional and national levels. Already, some argue that Internet service providers will become the common denominator platform on which all other services can be carried.

About the Author

Brian Kahin is Senior Fellow at the Computer & Communications Industry Association in Washington, DC. He is also Research Investigator and Adjunct Professor at the University of Michigan School of Information and a special advisor to the Provost's Office. He is a coeditor of Transforming Enterprise (MIT Press, 2004) and many other books.

Edition details

• Publisher: MIT Press
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0262581604
• ISBN 13: 9780262581608
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 220
• Editor: Hurley Deborah, Keller James H.