A little bit on Bandwidth

Communication takes place through the transmission across some form of electrical conducting medium. Telephone wires, coax cables, and fiber optic cables are used as communications media. Some transmissions take place using the air as a conductor, like that of cell phones. However, such transmission consumes bandwidth in the area where the information will be broadcast. Bandwidth is the amount of capacity used in a transmission medium that is measured in bits per second (bps); or the amount of 0 and 1 signals that can be transmitted in a second. Not all types of communications are efficient and with this being said, the amount of bandwidth used for voice or data is not always the same across all technologies.

The best way to send large amounts of data to many people is by using wireless connections. An example of such transmission is satellites, where transmission takes place over air and space. However, there is limited bandwidth available in certain areas and somehow this bandwidth needs to be managed in such a way that it will prevent it from overcrowding the frequency spectrum. The allocation of this spectrum is, for the most part, performed by the government or regulatory agency. It also generally involves issuing licenses that will allow companies to use segments of the frequency spectrum for certain applications. In that being said, this is the reason why only a few cellular phone licenses can be provided; because of the limited amount of bandwidth. Because of this, companies try to make use of the bandwidth in an efficient manner. Otherwise they won’t be able to provide customers with good service as more people utilize the same bandwidth.

References:

Clark, Theodore H.K., Westland, J. Christopher. Telecommunications Infrastructure in Transition. Global Electronic Commerce Theory and Case Studies. Cambridge, Massachusetts, London, England: The MIT Press, 2000

FindMyHosting.com. Bandwidth explained. Retrieved July 1, 2008 from http://www.findmyhosting.com/bandwidth.htm

JupiterOnlineMedia (2008). Bandwidth. Retrieved July 1, 2008 from http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/B/bandwidth.html

Mediaeng.com. Bandwidth. Retrieved July 1, 2008 from http://www.mediaeng.com/bandwidth.html

Showworks Inc. About Bandwidth. Retrieved July 1, 2008 from http://www.showorks.com/aboutbandwidth.htm