Faster wired and wireless networks enabling telework to thrive

October 15, 8:58 AMNY Telework ExaminerCarl Weinschenk

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Telework is exploding because both the network and the equipment are changing drastically. Today, we’ll take a look at changes in wired and wireless networking.

Wired networks. The increased ability to get data from the corporate data center to your home office or mobile device is due to a great increase in network capacity. The initial boost came a decade ago with the introduction of digital subscriber line (DSL) by the phone company and cable modems by cable operators.

DSL was a nice interim technique able to increase the carrying capacity of existing lines. They were generally outshone by cable modems, which were faster and tended to be more stable.

That still is the state of the battle in many places, though both DSL and cable modems have matured over the years. The phone company has upped the ante during the past few years with network remakes that use much higher amounts of fiber optic cabling. The precise ways in which these are implemented differ. The highest profile projects are FiOS from Verizon and U-verse from AT&T. There are myriad initiatives being run by smaller telephone companies.

Wireless Networks: These are great tools, but they only are valuable if you are sitting in your office or some other static locale. The key to telework – as opposed to telecommuting – is the ability to work on the go. Mobile gear, which we’ll discuss in the next post, enables somebody to be very close to as productive on the go as he or she is in the office.

The trick, however, is getting the information to that device. Currently, much of the nation is covered by 3G cellular networks, which provide a great capacity improvement over earlier 2G and 2.5G networks. The numbers vary according to carrier and locale.

This not the only airborne delivery mechanism, of course. The other – which has exploded upon the scene during the past few years, is Wi-Fi. The trade off between the two is clear: 3G is far more ubiquitous. Where available, Wi-Fi generally is faster.

Things will continue to change, however. Not surprisingly, the future is complex. A new wave of development, 4G, is starting. It features higher speed networks using technologies called WiMax (for those who care, that stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access), LTE (Long Term Evolution) and others.

Which will dominate is still unclear. The bottom line, however, is that there is a tremendous amount of money at stake and buildouts will be aggressive. LTE is a few years down the road, while Xohm, which is owned by a consortium including Sprint Nextel and Intel,  is rolling out in Baltimore; Washington, DC and Chicago this year and says that a second wave including buildouts in Dallas, Fort Worth, Boston, Providence, Philadelphia are planned.

The other thing to keep in mind is that 4G will be “all IP,” making it easier for an application to move between wired and/or wireless networks. A generation of gear will take advantage of that. For instance, a phone call started on the wired home cellular network will continue uninterrupted as the person leaves home and walks down the street. Likewise, the device and network will be able to choose the cheapest, clearest or otherwise preferred network in cases in which two are available.

The profound move from telecommuting to telework is based, in large measure, on the lightening fast advances being made by network engineers and device makers. These changes will continue. In my next post, I’ll take a look at mobile device development trends.