Introduction
Imagine
a world where information could be accessed in less than the blink of an eye,
faster than a mouse’s heartbeat. In the United States, the average middle class
household accesses the World Wide Web at 5.1 megabits per second (mbps). If
someone in the U.S. searches a keyword on Google, that search takes around 0.24
seconds. Is it even possible to get even faster? South Korea thinks so. In the
past few weeks, research has been collected to compare the difference in
efficiency of the South Korean internet to the America’s penetration power.
These facts and figures have provided a basis for comparison and analysis of
the different components of each country’s wireless network. The central idea
of the paper is that South Korea’s “wired culture” is made possible by the
government’s priority to put its civilians first to improve the quality of life
using efficient internet services. The United States could adopt this model and
prevent faulty connections with better bandwidth. This paper will explore the
technology behind the world’s most wired nation and the legal aspects, ethical
implications, and security concerns of faster internet. To understand South
Korea’s wired culture, one must understand the technical details of the World
Wide Web and what constitutes “fast internet.”
Background
The mechanics of
internet access. To start with, one must understand that the internet is
not a single device or being. According to Merriam-Webster, the internet is defined as “an electronic
communications network that connects computer networks and organizational
computer facilities around the world.” In short, it is a network of networks.
Explaining the entire concept of the internet and how it works would be a
tedious task for the purpose of this paper, so this paper will only explain how
one accesses the internet and how
different factors affect that penetration speed between the United States and
South Korea.
When a person accesses a webpage, their computer (known
as a client) sends a request in a
virtual envelope, called a packet,
of information asking for a copy of the webpage. This request is sent through
large copper wires underground (if one is using landlines like DSL, digital subscriber lines) across LANs (Local Area Networks). The
information continues through these connected cables and networks until it
reaches a hub (a connection point
for devices in a network) where the hub will
redirect the packet to another router
at the speed of light through fiber
optic cables. The packet will arrive at an even larger hub that covers a WAN (Wide Area Network) and that hub
will send the packet through a series of regional LANs until the packet reaches
its target server. The server is a
piece of hardware that serves information to other clients. The server will
open the packet, read the request, and send the webpage back to the original
client by breaking down the webpage into thousands of smaller packets of data
which will travel through different routes but ultimately reconstruct itself at
the same time on the requesting user’s computer.
All
of these actions happen within a second or so depending on one’s bandwidth. Bandwidth, used in computer
science, is the volume of information per unit of time that a transmission
medium can handle. One can think of bandwidth like a water pipe; if the pipe is
small, then large amounts of water (information) will take a longer time to get
through. However, if the pipe is large, the same amount of water will flow much
faster to its destination.
Why the internet in South Korea is
faster. There are several factors that explain why the
U.S. has both slower and more expensive internet than South Korea: the use of
bandwidth by the U.S. military, Korean competition, politics, and population
density.
The use of bandwidth by the U.S.
military. The military takes priority in the United States,
so its bandwidth, used for GPS and information transmission, is the highest and
most efficient in the country. “[The Department of Defense thinks] like land
barons in a feudalistic society. Rather than give up control over
their bandwidth, so that a central authority can divvy it out to
everyone, the services horde their resources.” (McKenna, 2005, p. 27).
The military does not effectively use its resources and wastes bandwidth that
could be allocated to the general public.
Korean competition.
The average Korean citizen has several outlets to choose from, so internet
providers compete to have the fastest and cheapest services to attract
consumers to subscribe to their plans. In the U.S., however, people usually
choose between a cable company and a telephone company. Broadband providers are
few and far between and are not required to share cable lines. In Korea, the
government requires broadband providers to share cable lines to create open
networks, therefore increasing competition between these companies since they
use the same cables to send signals. This means companies can enter the
broadband market without having to pay for infrastructure. In the U.S.,
companies lay down their own sets of cables. Competition would reduce costs for
broadband consumers.
Politics and culture.
Korea’s government promotes IT education and merging it with everyday life.
With its cultural emphasis on its education system, access to massive amounts
of information is essential. “The government [even] subsidizes the price of
connections for low-income and traditionally unconnected people to encourage
its citizens to get connected to the internet” (Stutter, 2010, pg. 2). According
to the State of the Internet report from Akamai for Q4 2011, 98.5% of Korean
households have internet access (compared to 65% of Americans).
Population density.
South Korea is more densely populated than the U.S. This means that cable
networks are shorter and less copper wire is used to connect a larger
population, making it cheaper for companies to lay down broadband connections.
Broadband signals carried by fiber optics and copper wires travel faster if the
distance is shorter. “In South Korea, that's usually just from the base of an
apartment building to a particular unit. In the U.S., copper wire may have to
link a home with a fiber optic cable that's a mile away” (Stutter, 2010, pg.
3). This causes data to slow down and make it more expensive for companies to
maintain, raising prices for consumers.
Potential
Benefits of High-speed Internet Access
High-speed Internet is reliable and constant. In fact, in
many cases, it can be more secure because there is a smaller time frame in
which packets of data are available on a network. A reliable connection
prevents important processes, such as business transactions, from losing
signals. For business owners, it would be beneficial to easily connect to
clients both at home and overseas with fluent video and audio streams. For
students, fast internet access allows for a larger allocation of information,
and therefore a higher literacy rate (which can be seen in Korea’s extraordinarily
high testing results).Korean students know how to set up websites with large
databases and can even block IP address from certain countries. Recreational
use of the internet would improve as well: web pages would load faster and
there would be a lesser chance of them freezing, downloading of audio and
visual files, programs, and software updates would take a less amount of time,
and larger video and audio files (as well as higher quality) can be uploaded
quickly.
Legal
and Ethical Issues
There are hundreds of ethical and legal concerns
regarding high-speed internet, and internet in general, but for the purpose of
this paper only one will be discussed.
One
of the biggest concerns with expanding bandwidth use in the U.S. would be the
massive role that government would play in it. Much of South Korea’s internet
is regulated by the government because of its policies and supplemental role in
providing the population with cheaper and faster broadband. U.S. citizens would
oppose regulation policies and cry out against actions against the private
sector, criticizing the government for trying to control businesses.
Security
Concerns
High-speed internet is considered more secure and reliable;
however, it also allows even more of one’s personal information to be
distributed across the web and can be accessed at any time by hackers. For
example, in South Korea, the music industry is booming and has some of the
largest fan bases on Earth. However, this industry has also fostered a type of
fans called sasaengs (or “privates”).
These fans have been known to tap into CCTV networks and surveillance
celebrities in their homes as well as produce identical copies of cellphones
that they can intercept and answer incoming calls from. These sasaengs, mostly young female students,
can find the most intimate details of someone’s life including the addresses of
their family or even their financial information. They can even use GPS to
track down a celebrity’s movements through taxi cab workers across social
networking sites in real time. This frightening abuse of internet access in
Korea highlights the dangers of high-speed internet access for civilians and
even criminals.
Socio-economic
Problems
The
divide among rich and poor – those who can access and work internet and those
who cannot—is called the Digital Divide. “Distribution of Internet access… is
heavily skewed toward the younger generation, white-collar workers and
students, college graduates, and households with high income” (Kim & Jeong,
2010, p. 50). This raises concern over the continued polarization of the upper
and lower classes. It is feared that lower classes will be left behind (by the
economy and also the education system) in the information age.
However,
in South Korea, “the digital divide is narrowing: the access to the
Internet had been highly uneven at first, but is becoming much more egalitarian”
(Kim & Jeong, 2010, p. 51). This is because of government regulations that
provide low-income families and rural areas to cheaper internet services and
ITC4D projects aiming to give access to nearly all of Korea’s population.
Further
Required Research
South Korea is already five years ahead of the U.S. in
terms of information technology, but its government intends to continue its
lead as “the world’s bandwidth capital” by investing in hundreds of projects
meant to increases wireless efficiency and distribution of bandwidth. One of their
biggest projects is switching the population from cable DSL to WiBro. WiBro is
a WiMax technology developed by South Korea that uses broadband signals and
boosts bandwidth from about 5Mbps (already the fastest in the world) to 10
Mbps. WiBro would provide consumers with wireless broadband that is as
efficient, secure, and reliable as copper wires and fiber optics. The
government intends to provide internet using WiBro in public areas such as
subways. Many businesses have already switched to WiBro and provide free
internet access for customers during business hours.
Conclusion
The
central idea of the paper is that South Korea’s “wired culture” is made
possible by the government’s priority to put its civilians first to improve the
quality of life using efficient internet services. The United States could
adopt this model and prevent faulty connections with better bandwidth.
High-speed internet access has provided Korean citizens with more efficient
lifestyles, increased literacy, and expanded businesses. This achievement was
possible with the help of the government to increase competition among
broadband providers, provide low-income families with internet access, and
integrate internet literacy into the everyday lives of its citizens. Korea’s
“wired culture” has fostered one of the world’s fastest growing economies and
is slowly making the country into a world power. The U.S. needs to consider
adopting this digital model so it can retain its status as a superpower and
prevent itself from falling behind other nations.
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