100 Mbps is the rule: For every 1,000 students and staff members, schools in the United States will need at least 100 Mbps broadband speed. And it's got to happen within two years, according to a report by SETDA (State Educational Technology Directors Association). Citing examples from schools around the country which are beginning to shift to a perspective of the Internet as a primary resource, SETDA directors and school administrators outlined the case at a press conference in Washington, D.C., Network World reports. Article
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Source:SETDA's The Broadband Imperative: Recommendations to Address K-12 Education Infrastructure Needs |
South Africa Internet use accelerates: The base of Internet users in South Africa grew from 6.8 million in 2010 to 8.5 million by the end of 2011--a growth rate of 25 percent, Telecompaper reports. The study conducted by World Wide Worx. A good number of users--about 8 million, access the Internet via their mobile phones, with 2.48 million accessing only via mobile phone and 6.02 million accessing via computers, laptops and tablets as well. Article
IP Edge declines, market due for shakeup: Service provider routers and switches declined globally by 14 percent, to $3.3 billion, between Q4 2011 and Q1 2012, Infonetics Research reports, but the market stayed flat year-over-year with a decline of less than 1 percent. "The best way to look at the carrier router and switch market is to analyze the ‘IP Edge,' the sum of edge routers and carrier Ethernet switches, since routers can switch and switches can route, and many are deployed both ways," notes Michael Howard, Infonetics' co-founder and principal analyst for carrier networks. "Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO), Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU), and Juniper (NYSE: JNPR) all gained IP Edge market share in the first quarter, Cisco the most by far, increasing its share from about 31 percent to about 39 percent quarter-over-quarter." Cisco, with the biggest installed base of routers at operators and enterprises, is showing signs of a regained focus, Howard added--something that could give it an advantage in what may be a growth year, if indicators like the United States' 27 percent quarterly market growth hold true. Release
WiFi dominates CE: By 2014, more than 1 billion consumer devices with network connectivity will have shipped worldwide, ABI Research reports. That home networking equipment includes home gateways/routers, adapters, bridges, NICs, embedded LAN, NAS, and networked-enabled media devices--consumer electronics (CE) devices with network connectivity, excluding computers and mobile devices. "On the CE side, TVs, Blu-ray players, and set-top boxes are expected to lead in shipments," said Michael Inouye, senior analyst. "As pay-TV operators continue to push new services and features, such as multiscreen initiatives and whole home DVRs, connectivity will increasingly come to the forefront of the digital living room." Release