THE PATTERNS OF CONVERGENCE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES

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1 THE PATTERNS OF CONVERGENCE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES Ruidong Zhang, College of Business, University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, Dale Johnson, College of Business, University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, ABSTRACT Three convergence patterns of information and communication technologies have been identified in this paper. The underlying technologies are analyzed, and some examples of convergence are described. The implications on academic preparations and business organizations are discussed. Keywords: Patterns of convergence, telecommunications convergence, packet-switching technology. INTRODUCTION In the history of telecommunications, different types of technologies and were invented to process and transmit different forms of information. For example, the computer were invented to transmit data, the TV systems to transmit and receive video signals, the telephony and cellular systems are for voice communications. This picture is changing dramatically in the recent years. As a matter of fact, the pace of the convergence of information technologies in general, and telecommunication technologies in particular, is being accelerated both in breadth and depth. For example, the Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) technology, which allows the transmission of voice signals on the data communication that use the IP protocols is gaining acceptance in the business world; And the new generation of cellular technology allows the transmission of text, image and video over the cellular network in addition to the transmission of voice signals. A recent issue of Fortune magazine (February 23, 2004) has a cover story on ten technology trends, two of which are related to the convergence of information technologies. One is about the convergence of the computer industry with media industries, with convergence examples including products such as DVR (Digital Video Recorder) a special purpose computer supposed to replace the traditional VCR, digitalized MP3 music on devices like Apple s ipod which is essentially a special purpose computer with a micro hard drive, multimedia computers like Gateway s family of Media Center computers. Another trend is about the VOIP technology, which is predicted to handle as much as 40% of the nation s voice traffic over the Internet by In this paper, the current areas of convergence of information technologies are observed and discussed. The pattern of the current technology convergence will be discussed. The potential impacts on organizational information systems are analyzed. In the conclusion section the Volume V, No 1, Issues in Information Systems

2 findings will be summarized and recommendations on proper academic preparations will be provided. THE LEGAL ENVIRONMENT The 1996 US Telecom Competition and Deregulation Act has replaced all previous laws including FCC regulations, 1984 consent decree and state laws. The main goal was opening local markets to competition. Under this act, large IXCs were expected to move into local markets, and RBOCs were expected to move into long distance markets. This act has cleared the way for the inter-industry and intra-industry competitions, and has created the necessary regulatory environment for convergence of information and telecommunication technologies. The boundary between industries is getting blurred. THE PATTERNS OF THE CONVERGENCE The current convergence of information technologies follows three general patterns. Pattern 1: The pervasiveness of computers. This means the pervasive use of the computer and computer-related technologies in other industries by designing special purposes computers (or smart devices) to replace traditional devices, as shown in Figure 1. TV Industry: DVR, DVD recorder Auto Industry: Navigation systems, dashboard computers Computer Technology (computer companies) Music Industry: MP3 players, music sites Home Entertainment: Multimedia computers Volume V, No 1, Issues in Information Systems

3 Figure 1: The Pervasiveness of Computers Pattern 2: The Convergence on Data Networks. This pattern of convergence is gaining importance in the business world. The technology, that has made it possible to transmit voice and video on the data communication such as Internet and Ethernet LAN, is becoming mature and practical for business applications. This pattern is shown in Figure 2. Voice (Telephone network) VOIP Data (Internet, Ethernet) Video over IP Music/movie on demand delivery Video (Cable TV ) Figure 2. The Convergence on Data Networks Pattern 3: The convergence on other. Other industrial, which are not designed for data transmission, are being made possible to provide data services. These, including telephone, cable TV network, satellite, cellular, and electrical power line, allow broadband access to the Internet. For example, it is already commercially available that a laptop equipped with an access card can check s and surf web over the cellular network. This pattern is shown in Figure 3. Volume V, No 1, Issues in Information Systems

4 Satellite Telephone Networks Cellular Data Services over Electric Power line Cable TV Figure 3. Convergence on other The combination of these three convergence patterns are shown in Figure 4. Based on this combined picture, we can see it is not clear currently in the next 5 to 10 years, which type of network will win the war of convergence. Volume V, No 1, Issues in Information Systems

5 Cellular Telephone Voice, Video, & Data applications/ Services CATV Satellite Power line Figure 4. The Convergence of Information and Communication Technologies THE TECHNOLOGY UNDERLYING THE PATTERNS OF CONVERGENCE The underlying technologies for the three patterns of convergence are discussed as follow. For Pattern 1, it is largely because of the maturity of digital technology and the low cost of computer hardware components. Examples are cheap analog to digital signal encoder/decoder, and cheaper hard drive and processor technology. Particularly, the accuracy of voice and video has increased dramatically since codecs began to convert more of the analog signal. The speed of the codecs has made the difference. For Pattern 2 and 3, the underlying technology is essentially the packet-switching technology. The packet-switching technology was developed around The early packet-switching, like x.25 and frame relay, were initially developed to transmit text and numerical data by forming data into data units called packets. Mathematical algorithms can be applied to process the data being transmitted to provide all desirable functions, such as error detection and Volume V, No 1, Issues in Information Systems

6 correction, compression, and encryption. Unlike traditional communication systems that are developed for a specific type of data (e.g., telephone for voice, cable TV for video), packet-switching are not optimized for any one type of data traffic. No matter what is the form of data - voice, video, image, text or numerical data, as long as the data can be digitalized and can be formed into packets, the data can be transmitted on the packet-switched. This allows intelligent end-user devices (e.g., a codec) to convert human voice signals into digital voice signals, and analog video to digital video, to be divided into packets for transmission on the same data communication that are also used to transmit text and numeric data between computers. The faster digital switching, fast protocol converters, compression technologies, and the ability of transceivers to detect the difference between two binary signals that are extremely close on the frequency spectrum, together have made modern data and communication to be able to move not only data, but audio and video. The IP telephony and data service over cellular are two important phenomenal examples of the application of the packet-switching technology. IP telephony is any telephony application that can be enabled across a packet-switching data communication network with the use of TCP/IP Protocols. The use of packet-switching for voice communication has been a phenomenon in the most recent years. The new generations of cellular and technologies, including so-called 2.5G and 3G, are essentially mobile packet-switching systems. They allow the transmission of multimedia data, including voice, image, video, and text over the wireless cellular. With a 2.5G cellular phone, users can access the Internet and browse the web while communicating. In addition, cross-network end-user devices have been developed to meet the challenges of the IT convergence. One example is the new generation of PDAs, which are essentially hybrid systems that are capable of computing and communications. The specific trends can be identified as the follows: The integration of a PDA and cellular systems, examples include a Palm-based cellular phone or a PocketPC-based cellular phone. The integration of a PDA with a wireless networking technology, examples include a Palm-based PDA with Bluetooth capability, or a PocketPC-based PDA with b wireless networking capability. The integration of a PDA with a telephony system so that a PDA can be used on a voice network, examples include a PocketPC PDA with the capability transmitting voice signals on a data network. The line between computing and communication is getting blurred. DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS The convergence of information technologies carries potential impacts on academia and business organizations. Volume V, No 1, Issues in Information Systems

7 The Impacts on Academia: The convergence patterns have called for academic preparations. For example, as new generations of PDAs are being used in enterprise network environment, the demand on people with programming skills for the PDA platform will rise. And, the knowledge and skills on the deployment of VOIP should be required for MIS graduates. Academic preparation is largely reflected by academic curriculum in relevant academic disciplines. A curriculum should prepare students for the world of IT convergence. The implication is that the knowledge on the convergence of information technologies should become important to MIS and other IT graduates The Potential Organizational Impacts: The IP Telephony technology is gradually being accepted by many companies. IP Telephony is acclaimed to have strategic impacts on the way a business may be conducted. For example, the projected revenue on unified messaging service derived from the IP Telephony is expected to reach 500 million in year 2004 (Wexler, 2002). An organization will have more choice of telecommunication providers and the cost of telecommunication can be effectively slashed. And the saving from a WAN-based VoIP is also reported as significant (Breidenbach, 2000; Passmore, 2000). Conclusions: Three convergence patterns have been identified in this paper. The underlying technologies are discussed, and important areas of convergence are analyzed. The overall convergence trend carries implications on academic preparations and business organizations. REFERENCES 1. Breidenbach, Susan, Convergence: A Strategic Analysis, Network Word, May 8, 2000, pp S7 S Fortune magazine cover story, Ten Tech Trends to Bet on, Vol. 149, No.4, February 23, Passmore, David, The real Value of IP-Based Phone Systems, Business Communications review, May 2000, pp Wexler, Joanie, Telephony Winds Shift toward IP, Packet, First Quarter 2002, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp Volume V, No 1, Issues in Information Systems