broadband: what the majority never knew.docx

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BROADBAND, A CATALYST FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

ABSTRACT

Development is critical and essential to the sustenance and growth of any nation. A

country is classified as developed when it is able to provide qualitative life for her

citizenry. Broadband is simply an internet access which is always on. It has proven

useful especially to developed nations of the world as it has been applied to the likes of

banking, agriculture, trading, medicine, learning, communication and so on. his article

e!plores the history of broadband, its importance, its applications, and its usefulness in

the outside world, especially the developed nations of the world and thus tries to bring

to our knowledge areas which it can be applied such that the economy of the

undeveloped nations of the world "#igeria$, can compete favorably and equal the

developed economies of the outside world.

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INTRODUCTION

he pride of any government is the attainment of higher value level of development in

such a way that its citizens would derive natural attachment to governance. %owever,

for a nation to be in a phase of development there must be some pre&requisites, whichinclude socio&political and economic stability. Development is achieved through diverse

means, but the speed at which a nation attains its development is what typically

differentiates the developed nations from the under&developed nations of the world.

oday is an internet age, an age of modern technology, an age whereby people utilize

the meager resources at their disposal to create a whole new world with so much

possibilities and opportunities. In the '()*s, broadband, a high speed internet that is

always on, was discovered, and thus, various institutions around the world have tested

its efficacy and have thus proven to the world that its usefulness is limitless as seen in

its application in +&trading, +&banking, +&commerce, elecommunication, information

access, distance learning, elemedicine etc.

his article Broadband, a catalyst for national development e!plores the importance,

application and usefulness of broadband in different sectors of a nation-s economy in a

bid to creating a platform for which under&developed economies can equal or surpass

the economies of the developed nations of the world.

OVERVIEW

Broadband is a high&capacity transmission technique using a wide range of frequencies,

which enables a large number of messages to be communicated simultaneously. it is

also simply defined as a fast connection to the internet that is always on. It allows a

user to send emails, surf the web, download images and music, watch videos, oin a

web conference, and much more. "/oogle$

'

Access is gained through one of the following methods0

Digital 1ubscriber 2ine "D12$

3able 4odem

5iber

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6ireless

1atellite

Broadband over 7owerlines "B72$

Broadband speed is measured in 4b8s for fast speed internet or 9b8s for low speed

connections. Its history dates back to the '()*s according to the 5ederal

3ommunications 3ommissions "533$ after the government lifted its restriction on the

use of the internet. As of the period, the highest broadband speed achievable was within

the range of :* & :) kbps "6ikipedia$;. hanks to research, the development of faster

broadband speeds has led to an e!posure to diverse new sectors of the economy.

IMPORTANCE OF BROADBAND

Education, Cultur and Entrtain!nt" Broadband can overcome

geographical and financial barriers to provide access to a wide range of

educational, cultural, and recreational opportunities and resources.

Tl#alt# and Tl!dicin0 Broadband can facilitate provision of medical

care to unserved and underserved populations through remote diagnosis,

treatment, monitoring, and consultations with specialists

Econo!ic D$lo%!nt & E'co!!rc0 Broadband can promote economic

development and revitalization through electronic commerce "e&commerce$ by0

3reating new obs and attracting new industries, 7roviding access to regional,

national and worldwide markets. Elctronic (o$rn!nt & E'(o$rn!nt" +lectronic government can help

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APPLICATIONS OF BROADBAND

1ince broadband involves data transmission via multiple signals and traffic types, it can

be applied in0

elecommunications0 for ease of communication =adio0 to transport speech, music, sound via channels and at different

frequencies

?ideos0 for live streaming etc.

DEVELOPMENT

It implies improvement in material well being of all citizens, not the most powerful and

rich alone, in a sustainable way such that today-s consumption does not imperil the

future, it also demands that poverty and inequality of access to the good things of life be

removed or drastically reduced. "olu et al, ;*''$>.

NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

#ational development can be described as the overall development or a collective

socio&economic, political as well as religious advancement of a country or nation. his is

best achieved through development planning, which can be described as the country, the following maor problems

impeding her national development includes0

lack of involvement of the rural community

4ono&economic base "oil dependent$

3orruption in the government etc.

4imiko "'(($@in his own research brings to lime light the necessary factors needed to

advance the development of a nation as he discussed about most industrialized nations

of Asia such as %ong kong, 1outh 9orean, 1ingapore, aiwan etc. In his research, the

factors listed included0 development of agricultural sector, a system of mass education,

development of indigenous industries, e!port&oriented strategies, the 1partan discipline

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of their leadership, e!istence of efficient bureaucracy, human resource development,

encouragement of dynamic private sectors working in tandem with the government

towards a society&wide vision of development, institutional capacity building and

attention to the problem of governance, consistency and policy stability etc.

he big question is, %ow does broadband aid in achieving these goals as a means to

fostering national development

2ooking at the first maor problem, lack of involvement of the rural community, in this

scenario, the youths are the talk of the town, as they are the future leaders. 5rom the

list of solutions stipulated by 4imiko "'(($@, a system of mass education and human

resource development is typically what is lacking. According to Amannah et al ";*'>$ :,

some of the problems facing the education sector can be seen in0 7oor preparation and

malpractice, e!ploitation and poor education standard, Crientation, fall in standard etc.

And in response to these problems, they laid down the following counter measures

which included0 the need for research development, funding and organizational

influence on educational standard.

In the light of the above, rural to urban migration, even for the purpose of studying has

become a huge problem due to the high population of the country as there isn-t much

available space to occupy every one. herefore, in order to maintain8improve our

academic standard, encourage rural participation in academic activities and bring about

academic e!cellence, distance learning must be encouraged.

Distance learning, sometimes called e&learning, is a formalized teaching and learning

system specifically designed to be carried out remotely by using electronic

communication. Because distance learning is less e!pensive to support and is not

constrained by geographic considerations, it offers opportunities in situations where

traditional education has difficulty operating. "/oogle$). +&learning is achieved via the

use of modern technologies such as the computer and other related electronic devices

which aid in accomplishing the task of videoconferencing, online tutorials etc.

In the long run, the availability of the computers and other related electronic devices

does not guarantee an automatic ticket to harnessing the advantages of the e&learning.

A missing void has to be filled first that is, the availability of a high speed broadband.

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5rom the article the #ational Importance of Broadband, "/oogle$ E, in the light of

information access and +ducation, we are enlightened by the fact that the availability

of broadband puts all types of information within a few keystrokes away. 6hether this is

training for a new skill, a new language or training for an online course, broadband

facilitates the access of information in many different forms. Also, its availability levels

the playing field when it comes to educational resources. 3hildren in inner city

neighborhood, affluent homes, and farm communities can access the same resources,

be it te!tbook, tutorials, lessons etc.

At the above, youths become enthusiastic about learning, as academic competition is

encouraged amongst them and thus academic e!cellence is achieved.

As can be seen in the world today, especially the developed countries, the growth trend

of their economy which has led to the massive national development which they enoy

today has proven that a mono&economic base "oil dependent$ is more of a drawback

rather than a giant step forward.

In #igeria today, due to the losses in markets for her oil resources, many are

emphasizing on the diversion8rehabilitation of other sectors of the economy such as the

agricultural and the mineral sector. But in the global market as of this ;'st century, in

addition to these conventional resources, we find out that many countries of the world

invest in things which seem rather unconventional. According to Businessday ";*'@$ ,

various developed countries of the world invest in rade, infrastructure, manufacturing

etc. and these earn them as much as at least F'@* billion per investment in the different

sectors. 6e find out that it-s more of products from the industries, factories, software

etc. that make up the bulk of the wealth that these other countries are generating.

But taking a closer look into an economy such as #igeria-s, we realize that she fulfills at

least )* & ):G of the above mentioned means but then she is still falling behind in terms

of profit gained.

1o the big question once again is, 6hat is that e!tra little step that others take which

she don-t 6hat brings their products and services to lime light while hers is hidden in

the dark

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oday the world is electronic +&trading, +&commerce, +&banking etc. +very heard of

Alibaba.com, 5ore!, Amazon, +bay, Humia, 9onga etc. Developed countries of the world

use the internet to make available their products and services to the farthest places on

earth which would have taken probably > & @ days to access via conventional

transportation systems. 7eople place their orders and their products get delivered to

them in real time. Asides products, even services are advertised on line and procured.

1ervices such as a legal practitioner, a qualified teacher, an industrial professional etc.

as can be seen on sites like linkedin.com and so on.

But how are all these made possible Broadband. 6ith the availability of a high internet

speed, and with the advent of >/ and @/ networks, different people at different places,

with different cultural and religious backgrounds can be reached and accessed without

having to move any distance on foot.

Also with the availability of the high speed broadband and in the quest to generate more

income, various countries of the world invest large sums into research as a means to

e!ploring and opening up newer sectors of the economy in order to further encourage

diversification. 5or e!ample, based on research, there was a time when due to the large

numbers of employees within a company, a database was needed and then Cracle

came along in '(EE which as of today, boast of a total of ';;, @: staff with a total

equity of F@).E billion. Also, there was a time when due to the risk of constant roadtravels, cost and time wastage in posting letters, yahoo came along. oday, it boast of at

least ;' million users, and over '**, *** employees with a net revenue of at least F>*

billion. oday, there is a need to socialize, meet old friends, e!change contacts etc and

so programmers have taken the burden to create sites like facebook, instagram,

watsapp, 5licker etc.

Irrespective of the fact that the #igerian economy is not ranked amongst the developed

economies of the world, at least she is opportuned to be e!posed to high quality

broadband connectivity even though its yet to visit every part of the country. 6e havecomputers, smartphones, tablets etc. he youths, the learned and even the unlearned

could borrow a leaf from the great minds who have developed the above mentioned

achievements. If they can do it, everyone else can do it.

CONCLUSION

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he world today is a modern age, an age of technology with machines and gadgets

ranging from computers, 1martphones, 7DAs, ablets etc. being available for our

everyday use. But to effectively utilize these to their fullest potentials and as a means to

driving a nation-s economy forward, Broadband is needed. 5rom the above literature,

broadband, being a high speed internet connection that is always on, can be applied in

virtually every sector of a nation-s economy ranging from distance learning, +&trade,

telecommunication, public health, ob creation and so on. 5or a developing economy

like that of #igeria, Broadband is definitely a catalyst for national development as it can

be harnessed to solving debilitating issues imposing chaos on her economy as seen in0

lack of involvement of the rural community, 4ono&economic base "oil dependent$,

3orruption in the government etc.

5urthermore, in respect to diversification as a means to creating for a highly stable

economy and also in emulation to the great minds who have opened to doors to better

and improved sectors of their economy for trade and investment purposes, research

should be encouraged in sectors like security, information access etc as a means to

checking corrupt practices within a nation, so that the dying economy of developing

nations could e!perience a quantum leap from grass to grace.

REFERENCES

'. 6ikipedia, ";*'@$, Broadband. http088en.wikipedi.org8wiki8Broadband.;. 6ikipedia, ";*'@$, About Broadband.

http088www.broadbandforAmerica.com8about&broadband8broadband.

>. olu, 2., and Abe, C., ";*''$. #ational development in #igeria0 Issues,3hallenges, and 7rospects. +kiti, #igeria. Hournal of 7ublic Administration and7olicy =esearch ?ol. >"($, pp. ;>E&;@'.

@. 4imiko C "'(($. he 1tate and the growth8Development Agenda0 Africa and+ast8Asia in 3onte!t in 9olawole D. "ed$ Issues in #igerian /overnment and

7olitics. Ibadan, Dekaal 7ublishers. '0 ')>&')).

:. Amannah, 7.I. and 7rof. Ahiakwo, 4.H., ";*'>$. 1ystematic Approach to theImproving 1tandard of #igeria +ducation 1ystem. An International4ultidisciplinary Hournal, +thiopia, ?ol. E"@$, 1erial #o. >', pp. ;:;&;)@.

). 6ikipedia, ";*'@$, 6hat is +&learning.http088whatis.techtarget.com8definition8distance&learning&e&learning.

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E. 6ikipedia, ";*'@$, #ational Importance of broadband.http088broadband.about.com8od8broadboanapplications8a8heational&Importance&Cf&Broadband.htm

. 6ikipedia, ";*'@$, /D7 5rom Investment In Different 1ectors Cf he +conomy,http088businessdayonline.com8;*'@8oa87otentials&of&five&maor&sectors&of&the&nigerian&economy8.

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broadband: what the majority never knew.docx

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