Roll on the revolution!

As digital technology fundamentally changes it, telecommunications is poised for a revolutionary advance on a par with Alexander Bell's initial invention, and one that will transform the worlds of business, government, media, education, art and many more.

The two factors that essentially divide the people of this world are the communication of information and the delivery of goods and services. Just imagine if one could communicate with someone who speaks another language on the other side of the world as one could with one's neighbour. Not only linguistic and cultural difficulties get in the way, but also communication over large distances. The increasing homogenisation of global culture and the spread of English as a lingua franca have brought down many barriers; but, despite an extensive global telephone network, communication over great distances has been impeded by the high cost. However, that is currently undergoing change and, as it does so, so will the world.

As telecommunications becomes increasingly wireless, improved spectrum management (airspace management) is helping ensure that signal interference is accommodated much better, which aids the use of Wi-Fi or 802.11b. Furthermore, by relaying signals from one device to another, rather than relying on landmark transmitters, frequencies that are part of the unlicensed spectrum can be used without charge to create networks that use multiple links and various nodes. A wireless internet connection, for example, could be shared by several neighbours and, in fact, anyone in the vicinity.

Moreover, internet telephony, IP (Internet Protocol) telephony and VoIP (Voice Over IP) are not only steadily taking the place of conventional telephone communication; but we are also choosing alternative instantaneous digital methods of communicating such as text messages, social networking sites, email, etc.

VoIP uses the internet instead of the traditional telephone network. A broadband connection for accessing the internet is now generally obtained by monthly subscription, rather than charged per minute or per bit and, with the spread of VoIP, digital telephonic communication is heading in the same direction. Currently people generally pay their subscription to use broadband that is delivered via a landline or a mobile phone network. However, as small Wi-Fi networks join up to cover entire countries, increasingly we will simply subscribe to log on to networks using a particular broadband provider wherever we might be. What this will ultimately mean is that communication will cost nothing, no matter that you are calling someone in Argentina, Mongolia or Tahiti. However, it is not just voice that is transmitted, but video images as well as all sorts of other digital files.

Thus, another barrier to communication – including, therefore, barriers to information, idea sharing, education, transparency, accountability and so on - is being brought down; but this is one that will, over the next few decades, transform the world, rather as the advent of the printing press did some five hundred years ago, in ways we can barely begin to imagine.

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