That is now possible thanks to the convergence of information technologies, integrating telephony, data and video services into what is called a smart phone.

Convergence of media offer solutions to everything we need, and perhaps more than what we expect, as is the case in many parts of the world where high-speed and uninterrupted Internet services are available.

Parents no longer worry about what their children are doing at home while they are on the go thanks to a remote control that allows them to monitor and communicate face to face, albeit virtually, with their beloved ones.

They can even switch off  air conditioners, computer or lamps after having left home.

People may still be afraid of leaving sick parents at home, but Internet-based devices will allow the elderly or disabled to receive immediate assistance thanks to chips embedded into their clothing that automatically send vital information such as increasing blood pressure to an emergency service station.

For those who want to indulge their lust for home entertainment, Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) has become an alternative for cable TV as the former provides not only movies and live broadcast of news and sports matches, but also replays of TV shows that have been broadcast.

Compared with cable TV, IPTV ensures subscribers will not miss anything on air as they can watch TV broadcast anywhere, not to mention Internet access is at a dream speed of 2 Gbps. Picture-quality wise IPTV may not be able to match cable TV today, but it is just a matter of time before advancement of information technology gives IPTV a competitive edge.

Venezuela and China are two of the emerging economies that have commercialized IPTV.

CANTV, Venezuela’s largest telecommunications operator, initiated its IPTV project last year with an investment of US$400 million and planned to attract 1.27 million subscribers by 2014.

State-owned CANTV has selected 30 movie, news, and sports channels from IPTV programs jointly developed with Chinese telecom giant ZTE. CANTV now offers Direct-To-Home (DTH) TV services to people in remote rural and mountainous areas.

In China, Jiangsu Telecom started developing its IPTV business in 2005, setting its sight on exploiting its advantageous resources to retain old users and attract new ones. In March 2010, its IPTV system reached a capacity of 2.52 million users (including 1.27 million online activated users).

With huge stream broadband services like IPTV, HDTV, 3DTV and online game play on the rise, subscribers’ bandwidth requirements are expected to increase every five years and quickly accelerate.

Converging information and communication technologies rely a lot on availability and reliability of broadband Internet service, which eludes most people in developing countries, including in China, one of the world’s advanced information technology providers.  

“The challenge facing China and other developing countries is how to make broadband Internet services affordable and available to end users,” George Zhu, ZTE Corp vice president of Fixed Network Product Line, says.

Penetration of broadband Internet in the Asia-Pacific region has only reached about 10 percent of the population, dwarfed by that in Europe that stands at 80 percent.

Wu insists that “wireliness”, rather than wireless, is the best option for developing countries to get access to high-speed Internet service that will bring them closer to developed nations.

Fixed-line technology will require huge investment in infrastructure, but the next obstacle awaiting is people’s understanding of the benefit of broadband services.

In Indonesia and other developing countries, he says, people are already satisfied with 3G technology, which is relatively new.

“It depends on the government’s active role in pushing for broadband Internet service, particularly among business players. Once broadband service is in place, voice service will be a cheap technology or perhaps complimentary,” Zhu says.

For that reason, ZTE focuses on developing broadband Internet technology. The Chinese company has offered its fixed line high-speed Internet called passive optical network (PON) to many countries, including Indonesia.

In China the technology will provide 12 Mbps broadband access to more than 70 percent of the rural areas and up to 100 Mbps access speed for major cities under China Telecom’s City Optical Network plan worth $146 million, which was signed in June.

The newer generation of 10G PON boasts up to 10 Gbps of access speed, and has drawn interest from major operators worldwide, including France Telecom, Telecom Italia and Japan’s NTT DoCoMo.

Such an extra high-speed Internet connection remains a dream in Indonesia, not only because of
the limited demand for the service, but perhaps also due to a lack of political will to invest in advanced technology.

The wireless telecommunication industry has been booming in the country, at the expense of fixed line service and millions of people living in outlying rural areas.

“The same problem happens in China as the technology requires both capital expenditure and operational expenditure. Therefore in developing countries the government has to invite [private] operators,” Zhu says.

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