Information Superhighway

Samuel Ebersole
Professor, Mass Communications &
Center for New Media
University of Southern Colorado

Also known as the National Information Infrastructure (NII), Global Information Infrastructure (GII), the InfoBahn, and even Cyberspace, the Information Superhighway is based on a switched interactive network of communication services. Some argue that the Information Superhighway has already been constructed and that the current wired and wireless transmission systems form its backbone. Others believe that the Superhighway is still under construction, and that current structures have only provided the basic foundation for an evolving framework of enormous dimensions. The convergence of several communications industries and their respective home appliances, e.g., the telephone, the television, and the computer, is the driving force behind the creation of this digital communications network.

United States Government Policy

The Information Superhighway, in the United States, has been and continues to be built, operated, and maintained largely with private funds, but with government encouragement. The term Information Superhighway is often credited to Vice President Al Gore. In 1979, as a junior congressman from Tennessee, Gore submitted a bill calling for support for a "data highway."

The federal government has a long history of investment in national infrastructure. It built canals in the 18th century, railroads in the 19th century, and interstate highways in the 20th century. The infrastructure of the 1990s and the 21st century is designed to carry digital data-packets of information and entertainment. According to the Clinton Administration, the NII will be designed to connect, by the year 2000, all of the classrooms, libraries, hospitals, and clinics in the United States. Government will not provide direct funding to build this infrastructure. Instead it will be privately funded and owned, with the government providing support by way of research funding, spectrum allocation, and relaxing of regulations. Development of the Information Superhighway is based on the following fundamental principles; preserve and advance universal service, provide open access, protect competition, encourage private investment, and encourage flexible regulation.

Universal Service and Open Access

Universal service and open access are important components of the Information Superhighway. To achieve these goals the NII must be accessible at a reasonable cost, provide access to information that is valuable to the user, be easy to use, and be secure. Government's involvement to ensure universal service dates to the early post office. The universal service guarantee in the Communications Act of 1934 has been interpreted to mean access, at affordable rates, to "plain old telephone service" (POTS). The goal has been to avoid creating a society of information "haves" and "have-nots." Proponents of universal service and open access to the Information Superhighway, and its advanced communications and information services, argue that access should be without regard for income, disability, or location. As an example of what this policy is designed to prevent, Mitch Kapor of the Electronic Frontier Foundation refers to the practice of service providers avoiding areas with undesirable demographics as "digital redlining."

The Internet

Some argue that the Information Superhighway already exists as the Internet. The Internet is a worldwide network of computer networks linked by use of a common communications protocol, Transaction Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). With almost no regulation or central management, the Internet has been referred to as an experiment in anarchy. At first, in the 1960s, federal subsidies provided by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) made possible networking of computer resources located throughout the country. These computer networks merged with ARPANET and NSFnet systems to become what we know today as the Internet. In January of 1993 the NSF awarded $12 million in grants to several companies to take over responsibility for the Internet and make access easier for business and individuals. Finally, in May of 1995, the NSFnet was decommissioned. Internet traffic triples every year with commercial interests (America On Line, CompuServe, etc.) providing the largest base of new users.

Technology of the Information Superhighway

The Information Superhighway concept is dependent on existing and developing technology for origination, distribution, and delivery. Distribution technologies are both wired and wireless and offer varying degrees of interactivity. These different technologies have inherent strengths and weaknesses. For example, broadcast and satellite television is information rich requiring high bandwidth, but offers traditionally one-way communication. Cable TV is high bandwidth, is available in two-thirds of US homes, but most systems are not interconnected and cable's trunk and branch network topology is not conducive to return communication. On the other hand, telephone service over copper wire provides the world's largest switched, distributed network for reliable, point-to-point communications. But copper wire offers only low bandwidth. Installation of fiber optic cable has greatly increased bandwidth capability between hubs, but the problem is the "last mile" to the home or workplace. Over 95,000 miles of fiber optic cable were laid in the US between 1985 and 1992, but some estimate that it would cost $200 billion more to continue fiber cable to every one of the 95 million households in the United States. Commercial on-line service providers such as America On Line and CompuServe are facile with Internet resources but are largely reliant on existing telco infrastructure. One thing common to all of these technologies is the trend toward digital. Audio, video, and data, all in digital form, are the packets being transmitted over copper or optical cable, or through the air.

The Box at the End of the Pipe

The future device by which consumers will access the Information Superhighway is generally described as a cross between a computer and a television set. That is, it will be capable of displaying high quality video but will also be capable of performing complex computing functions, thereby providing a capable interface for interactive services. However, delivery of the digital set-top boxes that cable television companies will use to deliver the much-hyped 500 channel service has been delayed and manufacturers have had problems with integration of hardware with software.

Services

Services to be provided by the Information Superhighway are a topic for much debate. Some proposed services include; video-on-demand (VOD), video conferencing, home shopping and home banking, telemedicine, distance education, access to government benefit services, library access, electronic mail, and scientific research. Of course many expect the "killer application" to be entertainment in one form or another. The "killer application" is the one that will create such consumer demand that it will make the service economically viable and underwrite all the others.

Interactivity

Nearly all proposed applications involve some level of interactivity possible now with some combination of the television, telephone, and computer. For example, cable television's home shopping channels use the telephone to facilitate viewer purchases. The difference in the future is that the interactivity will be much more elaborate, more transparent to users, and in most cases, more fully integrated with terminal hardware. Interactivity is essential for educational services, on-line medical assistance, most business applications, and the next generation of multi-user games for both education and entertainment.

Publishing on the Information Superhighway

Switched digital networks will make it possible for users on the Information Superhighway to communicate with one another. Content consumers can also be content producers. Free from the need for advance approval from carriers, a more democratic, less hierarchical structure will evolve, thereby furthering the goal of open access. This concept of digital publishing is important for the promotion of information diversity. As an example of digital publishing, a part of the Internet known as the World Wide Web (WWW) is undergoing explosive growth in large part due to the ease of publishing on the "Web." Universities, business, and even individuals now have web sites. Not only is the WWW easily accessible to publishers, but its graphical user interface (GUI) and multimedia elements makes it much more friendly to technophobes.

From The Focal Encyclopedia of Electronic Media. Reprinted with permission by Focal Press, an imprint of Butterworth-Heinemann, a member of the Reed Elsevier group.

Comments or Questions? samuel.ebersole@colostate-pueblo.edu