HOW FAR BEHIND IS THE US? IT INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE US VS. DUBAI

Milton Plummer| CIT 49900

WHY DO A COMPARISON BETWEEN US AND DUBAI?

• Why Do a Comparison between US and Dubai?– US has a large population without access to broadband– Dubai has a very aggressive infrastructure deployment– Understand the gaps for the US in the world community

• Understanding the differences in infrastructure between the US and Dubai will help determine the benefits of the US potentially encouraging investment, both government and commercial, in order to be competitive in the world market.

RESEARCH GOALS• Amount of population in rural and urban areas for each country• Infrastructure development in rural and urban areas for each country• What are some of the significant initiatives each country is seeking

– Government sponsored initiatives– Private/Commercial initiatives

• What are the obstacles facing either country in pursuing set initiatives– Geographic limitations– Resource limitation

• What are the pros and cons of deploying these initiatives• What possibilities do each have for success

– Policies in place to aid/hinder initiatives– Educational requirements– Workforce availability– Available funding (focused on Government initiatives)

• How do the two countries compare overall

INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT

• Dubai’s Population Demographics– Approximately 1,646,000 people– Approximately 19,723 people in rural areas– 98.8% Reside in urban areas

• US Population Demographics– Approximately 285,230,516 people (2000 census)– Approximately 59,274,456 people in rural areas– 79.2% Reside in urban areas

INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT – CONT.• Dubai’s rural population too small to consider• 1/5 of US population live in rural areas• A study done by Edward J. Malecki in 2003 discovered

that:– 92% of the US population does have access to the internet

• Includes dial up subscriber potential• Only the larger cities in rural communities have toll free dialing• Extended internet use would be costly

– 7.9% of rural communities don’t have access to any ISP• Not available in adjacent counties

PLANNED INITIATIVES• US initiatives

– FCC announced pursuit of 2-4MB floor speed for all US citizens– American Recovery and Reinvestment Act allocated 7 billion dollars

for telecom infrastructure– 2002 Farm Bill has the following initiatives:

• Infrastructure Program - provides financial assistance to businesses deploying infrastructure in rural areas

• Distance Learning and Telemedicine - provides grants and loans to educational and heath based centers for infrastructure

• Broadband Loan Program - intended to fund 2 billion in broadband development in rural communities.

• Community Connect - grant and investment program intended to bring broadband to rural communities.

– Google Fiber for Community Project• ultra high-speed broadband networks in a small number of trial locations across

the United States

PLANNED INITIATIVES – CONT.

• Dubai initiatives– Emirates Telecommunications Corporation(Etisalat) deployed a

number of initiatives: Free Internet training – Etisalat offers Abu Dhabi and Dubai free internet

training to all UAE nationals. Thuraya Satellite System – is a large scale satellite program which will be

accessible via handheld, vehicular and fixed terminals. It was deployed in 2000. Fiber Optic Cable - Emirates Telecommunications and Marine Services FZE (E-

Marine) launched FLAG, the world's longest operating submarine cable system, linking Europe, Asia and the Far East.

– e-Government Initiative• collect all of Dubai’s government offered services into one portal for all of the

users that interact with the government

OBSTACLES PREVENTING DEVELOPMENT

• Dubai– Possible city congestion due to construction– Lack of labor resources due to low unemployment (1.1%)

• US– Large population and area requires large investment– City congestion minimal for rural areas– Dense forests, mountains, and large bodies of water– Mountainous regions could impeded wireless

deployments– Training labor for mass deployment– Lack of investment to sustain ongoing efforts

OVERALL COMPARISON

Rural

Popu

lation

Urban

Popu

lation

% of H

ouse

holds

with

inter

net

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

100.0%

20.78%

79.22%

62.00%

1.20%

98.80%

55.10%

United States Dubai

Rural vs. Urban populations and percentage of homes with internet access

OVERALL COMPARISON - CONT

United States Dubai0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

54.8

1.39

Average Internet speed (MB/s)

Average Internet speed (MB/s)

OVERALL COMPARISON - CONT

OVERALL COMPARISON - CONT

• The benefits of deployed, current infrastructure for both countries are as follows:– Increased productivity for organizations– Increased competitive ability in the global market– Encouragement for new investors– Educational improvements– Medical care improvements

• Some of the downfalls for these initiatives for both countries are as follows:– Large expenditures for any deployment/upgrades (primarily US)– Constant expenditures for maintenance– Potential educational costs (US only)

PROBABILITY FOR SUCCESS

• US– Lack of funding (7 billion out of 350 billion required)– Lack of education consideration– Unlikely to succeed with current conditions

• Dubai– Most initiatives already achieved (started in 2000)– Sufficient funding based on economy– Only 1 primary provider (Etisalat )

PROBABILITY FOR SUCCESS - CONT

• Comparing Dubai to US primary points:– Initiate adoption date– Population and Area

United States Dubai0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

Rural Population

Rural Population

United States Dubai0

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

3,000,000

3,500,000

4,000,0003537441

1510

Area (square miles)

Area (square miles)

CONCLUSIONS

• Initial assumption was Dubai would be a good country to benchmark gaps for US

• Dubai’s unique population distribution and area make it a difficult benchmark for US and most countries

QUESTIONS?