How Slow internet - the death of the economy?

It is said that the economy of the future will depend on the kind of telecommunications supply we have. Indeed, technology is much more common today than ever before in our history. A lot of technology-intensive things in the world are at least the mining of cryptocurrencies, the best-known example of which is Bitcoin. Others believe that the reluctance of ISPs to provide a service to the general public at an affordable price is slowing down the economy as a whole.

But what is the truth?

All types of communication are based on optical fiber. For several decades now, fiber has been used in backbone networks between operators and different countries. Before, it was enough to use, for example, a wireless connection between the operator and the home. The problem here, however, was a kind of bottleneck that degrades the quality of the connection. According to the laws of physics, the data transmission capacity of wireless connections will cease to be sufficient at some point. This is particularly problematic in more remote areas with long distances between base stations. Ultimately, however, the increase in usage and the increase in connection speeds will require fiber to be imported into every household. Base stations always need a trunk connection, even though wireless connections make life much easier. As a result, base stations move little by little directly into homes, where they are connected directly to the fiber-optic network.

Price to be paid for speed

The online services provided by many companies are expensive, for example, the connection fee for a fiber-optic connection can be several hundred euros and after that, you still have to pay a monthly fee in addition to the amount paid to the operator.

Indeed, many believe that the reason for the high internet fees and ever-rising prices is purely the desire of companies to always make more money at the expense of their customers. But just as we need fuel for our vehicle, and we refuel it regardless of price, because we need a vehicle to get to work or otherwise just from place A to place B, we pay the price requested by the ISPs to have a working internet connection. Since many things are needed online today, the connection must be functional and reasonably fast.

The other side of the coin

As an interesting detail, the other side of the argument about the valuable price of broadband states that the Internet has a significant positive impact on the economy, and this is in fact accelerating economic growth. It has been found that increased broadband availability, together with current broadband speeds, has enabled all countries to enter ever wider markets and thereby improve their own economic position.

Studies have shown that in some countries, household incomes have grown by several hundred a year since the introduction of broadband. There are several reasons for this growth. One of them is that faster internet is equal to the opportunity forever better and more efficient working methods. It has also been found that the higher the speed of broadband, the more productive an individual becomes.

In addition, there have been many signs that broadband has enabled more and more people to be better educated, as it will enable them to gain more information and make money and, as a result, to become richer. Similarly, in countries where broadband is not available, competition is weakened at many different levels.

Why is fiber optic a sure choice?

Optical fiber enables the entire economy to be used online on many devices. You can play, watch streaming, take care of things, or work remotely from home, and still have fiber-optic connectivity. Videos are downloaded instantly and remote work goes smoothly. With fiber, the speed is always as promised and is not affected, even if all the neighbors are playing online poker at the same time. Indeed, new high-speed casinos have grown in popularity, and these high-speed casinos play live, without time-consuming and cumbersome authentication.

Many are glowing for 5G, but the truth is that fiber optics already enables all the features that 5G is promised to bring in the future. Many seem to have the perception that 5G is a fiber replacement service. The truth is, however, that the 5G network needs an even more comprehensive fiber-optic network to operate, as base stations are required to be denser and connected to the fiber-optic network, or otherwise the promised top speeds will not be reached. 5G is thus dependent on the optical fiber that supports it. If there is no fiber-optic network near your property, 5G will never get there.

Technology challenges

For those companies that still use the old technology, it may take some time to get up and running. This is because installing and commissioning new technology can be quite expensive. In addition, various regulatory aspects must be taken into account.