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South Korea Plans National 100 Mbps Network
prostoalex writes "Korean Ministry of Information and Communication is planning to wire the entire country with high-speed 50-100 Mbps network. A total of $80.4 billion will be spent on the project that's expected to be completed in 2010."
You mean when "high speed" isn't high anymore?
Don't quote me on this.
If there is a wired rollout, there would probably already be tons of dark fiber between all central exchanges. Why not just wire them onwards to consumers' homes?
This give better speeds to your neighbour (which is always the nearest "mirror"), and have CableTV, Voice and Data services all integrated onto the same little strand of glass | plastic that comes to my house.
US is now divided as the "Red" and "blue" states. Red States = communist countries. Coincidence? I think not
As if those Zerg weren't fast enough already...
"It never got weird enough for me." - HST (RIP)
If you think about it, that's about $2000 per Korean, perhaps $6000 per household for high speed internet access, which won't be complete for 7 years. Are they really getting a good deal?
This is an interesting approach to infrastructure. Now, the next question: how will this approach affect Korea's economic development? What types of businesses will get located in Korea specifically to because of the ubiquitous availability of this type of infrastructure? How will the universal availability of broadband affect Korea's land use of development patterns? Will folks still commute via cars? Will factories start to become remote controlled?
I'm convinced.
Selfish Koreans, they could have liberated an entire other country and freed them from an oppressive dictator and his sadistic cronies, giving future generations a chance to live in a decent world with some sense of empoerment. Instead they'll just be watching pr0n and spewing spam.
I know it sounds like a lot now, with 1.5 to 3 Mbps being the closer to the norm for broadband here, but if you're going to build an infrastructure for an entire country by 2010, why not build with the latest technologies? 1Gbps isn't exactly ground-breaking any more.
;-)
Although, I suppose they've thought of this, and will lay fiber capable of much faster speeds, and just get cheap equipment rated for 50 to 100 Mbps. And I suppose 1+ Gbps EQ will be mcuh cheaper in 10 years..
As I think it out, perhaps they're smarter than I thought
I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous...
Throughout their country, they have true 10mbit connectivity for most of its citizens at roughly 13$ US per month. That is insanely awesome when you figure in the fact that here in the US, we pay around 45$ to get at best 2mbit connectivity that peaks out at right around 140k most of the time. And thats just downstream.
While technology is increasing rapidly enough to make local network connectivity at extremely high speeds economically feasible for the first time, WAN technologies are still another story and lag behind by a few years. You still want dedicated 1.5mbit connectivity, you are STILL looking at around 800$+ dollars a month. (Key word being dedicated).
Good for the S. Korea!
hrrm.
If you look at the numbers their complete budget for 2000 was only $95.7 billion. Assuming it starts now & ends on time, without any cost overruns, we're looking at something like 12% of the government's spending going towards this project.
That's some commitment to closing the 'digital divide'. Well, as long as they make reasonably affordable computers available to their citizens when this thing goes live.
my sig's at the bottom of the page.
Okay, for those of you already piping in that this isn't as fast as it can get, I'd like to see your present hi-speed home access push far over 1 Mbit/sec. Nevertheless, this begs the question:
In 2010 will 100 Mbits be considered fast or slow? Is there a "Moore's Law" for Internet access speeds? Back in about 1982 I was connecting to the local BBS with a 300 baud modem. A megabit download speed (today in 2003) is roughly 3000x that speed, and we're there after 20 years. That equates to almost exactly a 50% increase in speed per year. So if we go another 7 years at that rate, by 2010 we would consider 16 Mbit/sec to be fast.
Okay. I'm envious.
Murray Todd Williams
NTT and other companies have already been offering 100Mbs fiberoptic lines to homes in Japan for quite awhile now.
The best part is it's cheap,
They usually cost a little more than $40 a month.
Of course, it's still twice the price of 12Mbs ADSL lines in Japan like Yahoo BB who offers 12Mbs speed for $21/month. Most people don't know what to do with 100Mbs anyways.
...and not to be out done, North Korean President Kim Jong Il has asserted that his country can compete with the decadent capitalist South by establishing the Socialist Communication Organization (SCO) to provide tin cans and string to 1 out of every 100 loyal members to the party.
-Crolis
I can't believe they couldn't find a better use for all that money. High speed internet shouldn't be something that is critical in a nation that still needs much development in basic infastructure. For that much money in the US we could do so much it is beyond most people's comprehension.
The only justification I see this having is the 370,000 new jobs, but how temporary are those jobs. Will most of them disapear after the system is put up and there is nothing left to build let alone money to build it with. To learn more about what we in the US could do with $80 billion(around what is being spent in Iraq go here
If we need it for such basic things I would think a less developed county would need it even more.
Bush has so far wasted 160 billion on Iraq...
For that price we could have covered the entire country TWICE with 10Mbit Ethernet!
It's all about perspective man!
Down with Bush! Up with 100Mbit ethernet!
In fact, that's something that I've often wondered when I hear about super high-speed connections in other countries (like 100MB DSL in Japan for ~$30 a month). Is it only in America where we've let the industry cripple the future potential of broadband in such and insidious manner? (i.e. offering connections that can't really be used w/o having to pay extra)
Tierce
Who sponsors your feelings?
We have the freedom of choice, we dont have to wait for our government to decide how fast we should access our networks
Instead, we wait for the local phone company.
That's a great misconception. Quantity does not always equal quality. They are competitive, but overall, no better than Europeans or gamers from other Asian countries. WCG has them at #3 in the final medal tally.
As for the topic at hand, good for S.Koreans. It's nice to see a nation thinking forward and wiring it's population with a forward thinking attitude. The government has its finger on technology's pulse. Unlike in US, where we still have anti-competitive carriers/ISPs monopolizing regions and not getting reprimanded for it. We, as Americans, are behind the progress curve, in terms of broadband connectivity. There is a huge chunk of population still using 56k modems. I mean, Christ. Broadband should be a cheap commodity and a requirement in every house.
While Asia, Europe and other continents are focusing on the future and doing something about it, our politicians are dicking around with special interests and not thinking of the implications 10 years down the line.
South Korea: Lets build a grid and give every citizen access to broadband.
United States: Let companies decide instead of the consumers. Profit comes first.
South Korea: Technology is the future. Internet access is a basic human right.
United States: Intellectual Property is being violated, lets greenlight tyrants like **AA to set the agenda. MP3 Downloading has to stop.
South Korea: Open Source in Government? Lets keep our options open.
United States: Let Microsoft get away with everything, as long as they contribute to political campaigns.
As you can see, we'll be still arguing about having pioneered the Internet and other technologies in irrelevancy, while other nations surpass ours and make the rules.
Cute korean cam girls in superior definition and framerate video is what you should be thinking about.
I have to wonder if download/upload limits will be enforced on this system. Think of what we get in the US with many cable ISPs and especially college connections: high speed, as long as you barely use it at all. There are 2-3 GB/month limits, in some places. Or, perhaps, they could charge by usage instead of offering a flat rate.
(There's no mention of this in the article, so perhaps they haven't decided yet.)
When you are that small it is easy to do things like that. I wish there was some way to get this here in the US.
OK, maybe it is spread over five years, but that's still the kind of pork barrel you get when something's being proposed more for political image than actual economics.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
Err... Are you trolling or do you really not realize that there are two Koreas? The article is referring to South Korea--the republic with universal suffrage and a GDP per capita rivaling that of many European countries. It's hardly a despotic hell hole.
An interesting anagram of "BANACH TARSKI" is "BANACH TARSKI BANACH TARSKI"
Your $30/month DS1-or-better speed xDSL line doesn't come close to paying your ISP's cost for that much bandwidth. Instead, you're sharing bandwidth with everyone else, under the assumption that not everyone max out at the same time. If you don't like sharing, I'm sure your ISP will gladly sell you a T1 just as soon as you pony up the cash and sign a 1 to 3 year contract on the loop. Otherwise, make sure the caps are stated up front, shop around for the most lenient provider, and get used to it.
This has nothing to do with letting industry cripple anything. It's simple economics. If it weren't for bandwidth caps, you'd be on a slow line, your ISP (who pays the full price for bandwidth whether it's used or not) would be throwing cash down the toilet, and we'd all be wasting bandwidth.
As long as we American remain blinded to the possibility that government is good for something, we're going to remain forever a society of technological haves and have nots just like they have in the third world nations.
Also, this country pays $400,000,000,000 dollars each and every year for the military. That's over 20% of our annual budget. And after the Iraq war this year, it's probably closer to $600,000,000,000. It's quite astonishing to me that there is absolutely zero national debate about the size of our budget. We could have this entire country wired up in no time if are priorities were straight.
---Technology will liberate us if it doesn't enslave us first.
the gov't is subsidizing this much the way our gov't subsidizes roads, and gives tax breaks to companies to lay fiber optics in rural areas etc.
We can have all of the infrastructure we want, its not helping me. I pay 45/month for a 3mbps connection, and i dont have choice since its the only high speed provider in my area. just like phone companies and cable companies, ISP's are turning into a local gov't approved monopoly, its a friggin joke.
"We have the freedom of choice, we dont have to wait for our government to decide how fast we should access our networks"
Oh yes we do. its just done in a less obvious way. its called regulation. why dont you call your congressman and ask him to get up the FCC's ass and ask them why they are limiting wireless speeds ? (and make no mistake about it wireless is the ONLY way we will get increased speed in the US, the population density doesnt justify wiring the entire country with gigE or fiber)
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe." --Albert Einstein
I'm amazed at the number of poor posts that get moderated up whenever there is a telecom related article.
/. Reader has a ADSL line and got lucky with no neighbors using outflow bandwidth and an ISP that doesn't care (yet), so therefor any nonsensesical pronouncement that would lead to the whole world having a service that now costs $5,000/month being provided to them for $21.95 makes perfect sense.
I just scanned through the two dozen that made a +3 or better so far and I'm astonished at the number of poor assumptions about physics, economics, network operations, and life in general.
The physics was the most egregious of the bunch and I think everyone who is smart enough to navigate far enough to see this *should* understand, but I can't resist brushing some of the others.
Moore's law is just an observation - its *NOT* a law. Why is someone applying this to available circuit speeds for WAN access? WAN access lines are very expensive and thusly that ground has been throughly worked by every telco equipment vendor - copper pairs are good for a about 2 mbits at the typical distance between a home/office and a CO, the next step up is DS3 delivered on coax (low loss, damned expensive compared to copper, and fiber refits in existing areas are crazy expensive. If it was possible high value DS3s filled with 672 voice channels would be the first thing going on some new wonder technology - this isn't happening, ergo it doesn't exist.
And why are they making statements like "100 mbit stuff is cheap on ebay, just build a national network out of it". Ethernet is a *LAN* protocol - 300' limit in most cases for copper, Cisco 2950-LRE are only good for a few thousand(hint, long reach ethernet == DSL), and who would want to manage a pile of crap from ebay? The number one expense in any network operation is almost certainly payroll and a crapola network guarantees 127% of revenue will be spent unfornicating it. If you want reliable service you pay for reliable gear. Once in a while you get lucky on the cheap but no business big enough to do a neighborhood size rollout would fool around like that, let alone a big telecom organization.
It seems to me the underpinnings of many of those posts are pure emotion coupled with a sense of entitlement - J Random
Mod me brilliant, mod me troll - the opinions of the readers are foolish and the moderators deserve a timeout for promoting such crap.
I am very easy to get along with, but I don't have time to waste being nice to people who are being stupid. -Theo
Look at the cases of the phone systems in Britain and Argentina when they were in a system of a welfare state (pre-Thatcher)..
So not only will the tech be outdated by the time they finish half of the rollout, but getting a repair to your line that got cut by someone digging for a new building will take 2 years at least...
Generally it's best to let private industry manage the "commanding heights" in an economy (power, transportation, infrastructure). History has proven this time and again.
THE MAGIC WORDS ARE SQUEAMISH OSSIFRAGE
No, it won't be obsolete quickly by any means. The reason is similar to why Pentium systems above 200Mhz don't go obsolete, they're sufficient for audio and video which makes them entertainment devices rather than strictly computing devices. People often keep televisions and radios for decades.
100Mbps is fast enough to stream not just full bitrate Mp3s, but decent quality video as well. So, it might not be the fastest forever, but it won't be obsolete for a long time.
While this sounds like a good idea, and may well be, these types of projects tend to go way over budget, and tend to be mismanaged. Feelgood social projects are always nice in principal, but often the downsides and pitfalls are not fully explored.
I think its unfair to take pot shots at the USA, and villanize us. We have a different system than South Korea, its more of an economic ecosystem rather than an engineered environment. If their system works for them, then great.
I am doubtfull of how sucessfull it will be, but I admit that I do not know exactly what the economic environment is there, and nor am I an economist. I would guess however that neither do you have these credentials.
Economic practicality, I think, should over-ride socialist philosophy, because once you break the bank, there isnt any money left for social programs.
Finally, there are plenty of socialist countries, this simply isnt one of them. If you disagree with the economic system, then fine, but put forth thought out arguements rather than flamebate overstatement. I certainly am not impressed with your generic US bashing. There is good and bad in every system.
Im not here now... Im out KILLING pepperoni
I'm not going to get into whether or not the country should spend that much money on the network when it has many other problems, but...
People saying 100Mbps won't be fast in 7 years? Screw that. If you think we'll have even 1/10th of that in even 1% of the US in 2010 you're out of your mind. Huge areas of the nation don't even have 56k-capable telephone lines, let alone broadband. This won't change until it's profitable for the businesses to do otherwise. Monopolies own all the lines, and there is no government incentive. There won't be, either. (Which is good and bad)
I've got 1.5Mbps right now, with planned 3Mbps in a year or so. I've only had it for a few months. I don't see it going up much more by then, considering how long it took me to get above dialup...and certainly not to or above 100Mbps. Hell I bet 20Mbps will be a lot in 7 years if you live in the states and we're talking average residential internet speeds. Same goes for globally.
I read your comments about broadband access to those using slow modems and have to chuckle. At present, the FCC is contemplating yet another technology that has the potential of providing access to rural users, however it won't happen because the profit does not justify the cost of hardware. We as a country will never have universal access as long as the private sector foots the bill.
actually, sweeden leads the world in counter-strike, by teams like Schroet Kommando. the US is a close second with teams like 3D. (resource.) korea isnt really big at all in that game, but the most popular game there is Lineage. here in the US its actually close between counter-strike and bf1942, but i cant find a link for that. :(
traffic map of polish educational backbone. 10 gbit/s in most cities.
this 100mbit connection is not for the network backbone. south korea's network backbone is already in the gigabit range: http://stat.nic.or.kr/network/m/2002/06.html (flash) http://isis.nic.or.kr/english/sub03/sub03_index.ht ml
although it's written in korean, the four things you see in the center are the national switches which also connect korea to the world.
this 50-100mbit connection is planned to be the average connection for the home user; average, in a country where the basic connection is around 2mbit. this does not preclude private companies from offering faster home connections.
Just in time to be obsolete!
In the 50's, 60's and 70's we were ahead of the game with transportation and housing. We built one of the best transportation systems in the world. Over the last 30 years we have seen our infrascture start to decay and now we find ourselves scrambling to find something new to carry us. The 90's were bad for the economy but semi-decent for technology itself in the US.
Now in 00's, 10's and 20's the asian infastructure is going to be networks and technology. South Korea doing this project and China going to space. They WILL surpass us in very little time.
I imagine that South Korea's system IF put in place will easily last 90% of the population until 2030 or later. The rest will slowly start adopting newer technologies. starting in 2020 you will start to see a decline.
My new title at the office is "Vice-President of Everything Else"