Infrastructure, most generally, is a set of interconnected structural elements that provide the framework supporting an entire structure. The term has diverse meanings in different fields, but is perhaps most widely understood to refer to roads, sewers, and the like, the infrastructure of a city or region. These various elements may collectively be termed civil infrastructure, municipal infrastructure, or simply public works, although they may be developed and operated as private-sector or government enterprises. In other applications, infrastructure may refer to information technology, informal and formal channels of communication, software development tools, political and social networks, or shared beliefs held by members of particular groups. Still underlying these more general uses is the concept that infrastructure provides organizing structure and support for the system or organization it serves, whether it is a city, a nation, or a corporation.

The word seems to have originated in 19th Century France, and throughout the first half of the 20th Century was used to refer primarily to military installations. The term came to prominence in the United States in the 1980s following publication of America in Ruins (Choate and Walter, 1981), which initiated a public-policy discussion of the nation’s “infrastructure crisis,” purported to be caused by decades of inadequate investment and poor maintenance of public works.

That public-policy discussion was hampered by lack of a precise definition for infrastructure. A U. S. National Research Council (NRC) committee cited Senator Stafford, who commented at hearings before the Subcommittee on Water Resources, Transportation, and Infrastructure; Committee on Environment and Public Works; that “probably the word infrastructure means different things to different people." The NRC panel then sought to rectify the situation by adopting the term "public works infrastructure," referring to "...both specific functional modes--highways, streets, roads, and bridges; mass transit; airports and airways; water supply and water resources; wastewater management; solid-waste treatment and disposal; electric power generation and transmission; telecommunications; and hazardous waste management--and the combined system these modal elements comprise. A comprehension of infrastructure spans not only these public works facilities, but also the operating procedures, management practices, and development policies that interact together with societal demand and the physical world to facilitate the transport of people and goods, provision of water for drinking and a variety of other uses, safe disposal of society's waste products, provision of energy where it is needed, and transmission of information within and between communities." (Infrastructure for the 21st Century, Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1987)

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The Economist: Telecommunications

Alcatel-Lucent:
Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:10:21 -0000
The architects of a big telecoms-equipment merger decide to hang upWHEN Alcatel, a French maker of telecoms equipment, announced its plan in 2006 to merge with Lucent, an American rival, reactions were mixed. There was general agreement that bigger was better and that the combined firm would benefit from greater geographical reach. But there was also scepticism that its French and American managers would be able to get along. With good reason, it seems: on July 29th Alcatel-Lucent announced its sixth consecutive quarterly loss and the resignations of Serge Tchuruk, its French chairman, and Patricia Russo, its American chief executive. Their firm’s troubles stem in large part from its internal clash of cultures.This clash was an unhelpful distraction, given that the entire telecoms-equipment industry is suffering. The bonanza of 2000-05, when European operators upgraded their mobile-phone networks to new “third-generation” (3G) technology, is winding down. Sales growth is slowing, and even Ericsson, the industry leader, has seen its share price fall by 50% in the past year. Margins have also been squeezed by the rise of Huawei and ZTE, two Chinese firms. Their prices are sometimes 40-50% lower than those of Western vendors. ...
Tech.view:
Fri, 25 Jul 2008 07:24:51 -0000
Telecommuters need more than e-mail and a broadband connectionTHE best thing about being a foreign correspondent is not having to commute to the office every day, attend dreary meetings, dress soberly, and generally get distracted from the nitty-gritty of doing the job. The worse thing is being out of touch with colleagues at head office, with little say over how your stories are treated. But if you can handle the patchy feedback and total lack of control, the freedom pays dividends in productivity and sheer job satisfaction.Being one of the most portable jobs on the planet, journalism provides a daily reminder that work is something you do, not some place you go to. For the past quarter of a century, your correspondent has smirked about the time and energy he’s saved through not having to travel to work. ...
Telecoms in Mexico:
Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:30:55 -0000
More competition should help to drive down exorbitant phone chargesIT HAS become quaint, in the era of Skype and unlimited calling plans, to worry too much about the cost of phone calls. But it is a textbook case of the old saying: “Them as has, gets”. The well-connected executive can use any number of voice-over-internet services to make free calls; but the rural poor, if they have phones at all, must pay high rates. Perhaps nowhere is this more true than in Mexico, where Carlos Slim, by some estimates the world’s richest man, dominates the telecoms industry. He controls Telmex, which has 81% of the fixed-line market, and Telcel, which has 72% of the mobile market. In the first quarter of 2008 Telmex had a profit margin before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of 48.7%; for Telcel the figure was 52.1%.This is well above the global average for telecoms firms of 35%, says Martin Lara, an analyst at Vector Casa de Bolsa, a research firm. Base tariffs have fallen in Mexico in recent years, but they do not include things like international calls or calls to mobile phones. Competition has not helped much, because smaller firms have been reluctant to undercut Mr Slim’s companies by very much—and high prices boost their profits, too. “No one wants to destroy these profits overnight,” says Mr Lara. ...
Telemedicine:
Thu, 05 Jun 2008 14:04:15 -0000
Medicine: Telemedicine permits remote consultations by video link and even remote surgery, but its future may lie closer to home FEW places on earth are as isolated as Tristan da Cunha. This small huddle of volcanic islands, with a population of just 269, sits in the middle of the South Atlantic, 1,750 miles from South Africa and 2,088 miles from South America, making it the most remote settlement in the world. So it is a bad place to fall ill with an unusual disease, or suffer a serious injury. Because the islands do not have an airstrip, there is no way to evacuate a patient for emergency medical treatment, says Carel Van der Merwe, the settlement’s only doctor. “The only physical contact with the outside world is a six to seven day ocean voyage,” he says. “So whatever needs to be done, needs to be done here.”Nevertheless, the islanders have access to some of the most advanced medical facilities in the world, thanks to Project Tristan, an elaborate experiment in telemedicine. This field, which combines telecommunications and medicine, is changing as technology improves. To start with, it sought to help doctors and medical staff exchange information, for example by sending X-rays in electronic form to a specialist. That sort of thing is becoming increasingly common. “What we are starting to see now is a patient-doctor model,” says Richard Bakalar, chief medical officer at IBM, a computer giant that is one of the companies in Project Tristan. ...
Telecoms in China:
Thu, 29 May 2008 13:41:52 -0000
The long-awaited reorganisation of China's vast telecoms industry beginsBY ANY measure—revenues, employees, customers—it is the largest industrial reorganisation ever. And, reflecting how business is done in China, it was announced in the most modest way, with a posting on a government website on May 24th. The country's telecoms industry, with nearly 600m mobile subscribers, 360m fixed-line customers and $244 billion in revenue, will be reconfigured. Six companies will be collapsed into three, each spanning mobile, fixed and broadband services.China Mobile, the world's largest mobile operator by subscribers, will merge with China TieTong, the smallest fixed-line operator. China Telecom, the country's biggest fixed-line operator, will acquire one of the mobile networks run by China Unicom, which will merge its remaining mobile operations with China Netcom, another fixed-line operator. A sixth operator, China Satcom, will be taken over by China Telecom. ...

BBC News | Business | World Edition

Alitalia seeks bankruptcy measure
Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:26:28 -0000
Troubled airline Alitalia seeks bankruptcy protection as it tries to agree a deal to ensure its survival.
UK faces 'profound economic crisis'
Sat, 30 Aug 2008 00:25:05 -0000
Chancellor Alistair Darling says the UK is facing the worst economic crisis in 60 years and warns of a "profound" downturn.
Slowdown in US consumer spending
Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:32:55 -0000
US consumer spending rose by just 0.2% in July as the effects of a government stimulus package wore off.

NYT > World Business

Weak Quarterly Growth for Canada
Sat, 30 Aug 2008 01:06:51 -0000
Canada’s economy grew by a weaker-than-expected 0.3 percent in the second quarter, as global demand waned for exports like autos, forestry products and machinery.
Bankruptcy Filing Nudges Alitalia Toward a Rescue
Sat, 30 Aug 2008 01:06:41 -0000
The struggling state-owned Italian airline Alitalia, which is trying to clear the way for a sale to private investors, said Friday that it had filed for bankruptcy protection.
Oxygen Cylinder Cited in Qantas Explosion
Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:35:12 -0000
Australian investigators confirmed that an exploding oxygen cylinder blew a hole in the side of a Qantas airliner last month, but they are still unsure about why.

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