Communications Crossroads - Summer 2008 - (Page 11)

telebites TELECOMMUTING FOR THE ENVIRONMENT More than 33 million Americans—almost 40% of the work force—could be working from home rather than commuting to work, according to new analysis by several telework researchers. Using data from sources, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Transportation, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, researchers determined that allowing those workers to take advantage of their residential broadband connections to work from home could avoid 154 billion miles of driving and save $25 billion in gas costs each year. STATE GOVERNMENTS USE TELECOMMUTING TO BOOST PRODUCTIVITY State governments are also growing increasingly interested in telecommuting as a way to boost productivity, cut emissions, and prevent trafﬁc. Virginia, for example, is trying to bring telework to state agencies and is considering legislation to create budget incentives for agencies to allow state employees to work from home. Meanwhile in Georgia, legislation providing tax credits to companies that encourage telecommuting is now on the books. State Legislatures magazine reports that telecommuting can help businesses through “increased productivity, less absenteeism, reduced real estate costs, better employee retention and recruitment, and increased work opportunities for rural, elderly and disabled citizens.” NOT A LAND BRIDGE: A FIBER BRIDGE! According to researchers at TeleGeography (www.telegeography.com), there are 5,547 gigabits per second of capacity available across the Atlantic, but only 2,726 gigabits per second linking the U.S. to Asia. To alleviate trans-Paciﬁc congestion, two groups of companies are laying ﬁber beneath the Paciﬁc Ocean. Six companies—Bharti Airtel, Global Transit, Google, KDDI, Pacnet, and Singapore Telecommunications—will be working to connect the U.S. and Japan, creating a $300 million ﬁber-optic cable called the Unity system, stretching roughly 6,214 miles. Another group— comprised of China Telecom, China Netcom, China Unicom, Chunghwa Telecom, Korea Telecom, and Verizon Business—is hard at work on a U.S./China link, dubbed the TransPaciﬁc Express, which will be able to support the equivalent of 62 million simultaneous phone calls between the U.S. and China—that’s more than 60 times the current capacity. The Unity system is expected to be operational in early 2010, and the TPE is slated to be in service by August 2008, just before the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. TELECOMS LED THE WAY IN 2007 Of the 8.5 million new broadband subscriptions in the U.S. in 2007, top telecom providers accounted for 4.4 million of them in 2007, just under 52%. Telecom companies now have nearly 29 million subscribers of broadband service, says new research from the Leichtman Research Group (www.leichtmanresearch.com). Here are some other highlights from Leichtman: • The top broadband providers in the U.S. now boast more than 61.9 million subscribers. • Cable companies count 33.5 million broadband subscribers; telecoms are hot on cable’s heels, with 28.4 million. • Cable added 4.1 million new subscribers in 2007. • Growth in subscriptions is less brisk than in previous years, but Leichtman expects the base to continue growing for many years to come. Summer 2008 COMMUNICATIONS CROSSROADS 11 http://www.telegeography.com http://www.leichtmanresearch.com

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Communications Crossroads - Summer 2008 Up Front Contents TeleBites Delivering the Broadband Future Deriving Revenue from Today's Broadband World The Right Way to Operate Data Centers Buyers' Guide Industry Calendar Advertisers DotCom Index to Advertisers Straight Talk

Communications Crossroads - Summer 2008

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