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Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) is a term used to describe technologies
in manipulating and communicating information. As telecommunication
systems have evolved, they have increasingly used computing technology
in switching nodes and then in non-switching nodes supporting services.
With mobile telecommunications, the amount of information processing
required to manage mobility and services has increased enormously and
this has resulted in a tremendous increase in computer communications
within the telecommunications environment.
The
parallel emergence of computer communications
in science and business, the enormous increase in the capabilities and
numbers of personal computers and the extraordinary changes brought
about by the Internet have driven a merging of computing technology and
telecommunications as the two areas have moved from analog to digital
and then to packet technologies, and as the Internet has emerged to
become the dominant data communications system in use today, whether as
the “public Internet” or “managed Internet.”
What started as a
circuit-switched voice network has evolved to a packet switched data
network. Initially, data was handled by making it look like voice
(modems.) Now voice is handled by making it look like data (Voice over
IP or VoIP.) While voice remains the dominant revenue generator, the
shift to VoIP brings major challenges to telecommunications operators as
they manage the enormous shifts taking place in the nature and volume of
traffic they carry on their networks.
ICT
capabilities vary widely.
In developed countries, they are widespread and sophisticated, while in
developing countries, they may be less available and offer less
capacity. Developing countries are catching up quickly by leapfrogging
older generations of technology as well as creating solutions that suit
the needs of their user communities. In some cases, the lack of a legacy
infrastructure makes rapid modernization easier. |
