Why it is important-The Future of Bandwidth - Bandwidth Balloon
by Suzy Frisch
With demand surging for fast Internet connections, businesses will need bigger, better bandwidth.
Consumers and businesses are devouring bandwidth at a torrid pace. They’re using the Web to talk on the phone, access software over the Internet, and download increasingly large files such as high-definition videos.
Marc Agar, CEO of CA Communications, Inc., a Wayzata-based telecommunications consulting firm, tells his business clients that they’re going to need more and more bandwidth using different types of technology. “If you don’t have a fast connection, you might be losing revenue and customers because you can’t provide the right applications,” he says.
The escalating need for bandwidth is readily apparent at Qwest Communications. The provider has seen “explosive growth” as client traffic on its networks doubles every 15 months, says Qwest Minnesota’s President John Stanoch. This prompted Qwest to invest $300 million in its fiber optic system, which will boost speeds for two million business and residential digital subscriber line DSL) customers in 23 of its top markets.
Both consumer and business technologies are driving up the need for bandwidth. How much do you need today, and how might your needs change?
by Dave Zielinski
Companies often use one-size-fits all formulas to calculate their bandwidth requirements, she says, without factoring in unique data transfer needs. “They like to say, ‘Take 64K times each employee and that will give you how much total bandwidth the customer is going to need,’” Garlock says. But a graphics design firm with four employees who regularly transfer large multimedia or PDF files to clients might have far greater bandwidth needs than a 25-person insurance agency functioning as a customer service center and using applications on an office server, not the Web. “In that case, DSL lines might be sufficient for the insurance companies’ needs,” Garlock says.
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