Chapter 3

Telecommunications and Networking

Objectives and Overview

Chapter 3 is the second of three chapters devoted to the building blocks of information technology. The
primary objective of this chapter, unsurprisingly, is to provide the manager with the information about
telecommunications and networking that he or she needs to know. Chapter 3 emphasizes the terminology
and concepts relating to telecommunications and networking, as well as the roles and general capabilities
of various types of transmission media and networks. Furthermore, Chapters 2 and 3 have the combined
objective of providing the manager with an understanding of the interrelationships between hardware,
software, and telecommunications and networking so that he or she can use the full gamut of information
technology to increase personal and organizational productivity. Then Chapter 4, The Data Resource,
describes the final building block of information technologythe data that will be manipulated by the
hardware and software and transmitted across the networks to provide valuable information to managers
and organizations.

In the Seventh Edition, the telecommunications and networking chapter has been substantively rewritten
and updated. In the Fifth Edition, the discussion of wireless communicationincluding Wi-Fi, Bluetooth,
and RFIDwas greatly expanded to reflect its growing importance. The Sixth Edition added even more
on wireless communication, including WiMAX networks. Other new topics in the Sixth Edition included
Internet telephony (VoIP), the new Internet2 network, and Web 2.0 services such as blogs, wikis, and
social networking applications. Finally, in the Seventh Edition, the growing importance of WiMAX and
other 4G wireless networks is described, as well as the rapid growth of Internet telephony and social
networking applications, especially Facebook. The newest telecommunications-related buzzword,
namely cloud computing, is also described in this chapter. The specific data on telecommunications
technologies and the discussion of the telecommunications industry have been updated through late 2010.
New boxes and other illustrations have been added throughout the chapter.

We believe that it is useful to view this chapter as consisting of three major sections. The first major
section includes the introduction, a short section describing the primary reasons for networking, and an
equally short overview of telecommunications and networking. The second major section systematically
presents the key elements of telecommunications and networking, including certain basic ideas,
transmission media, network topology, types of networks, and network protocols. This major section is
long and somewhat technical, but we believe (and students tend to agree) carefully organized and written.
The third major section is much shorter and less technical, including sections on the exploding role of
telecommunications and networking and the telecommunications industry.

Chapter 3 is both easier and harder to teach than the preceding chapter. It is easier in that much of the
chapter is new material to virtually all the students; only in rare cases will you encounter a graduate
student or advanced undergraduate student with significant background in telecommunications. Thus you
dont have to give much concern to the varying backgrounds of your students. Chapter 3 is harder to
teach in that it is very technical materialand most of your students in an undergraduate or graduate
business course are unlikely to have a very strong technical background. Your classroom sessions on this
chapter will undoubtedly be the most technical ones in the entire course.

Students like and have no difficulty with the first and third major sections of Chapter 3. These sections
give the motivation for the growing importance of telecommunications and networking and also
provide a quick look at the telecommunications industry. The second major section is difficult for
students, particularly those with no technical background of any sort. The types of networks and network
protocols subsections provide the most difficulty. Covering these subsections requires some handholding
on your partsome classroom time and alternative explanations to make sure that students understand
these important topics.

The specific objectives of this chapter are:

1. To describe the primary reasons for networking among computers and computer-related devices
2. To consider the meaning of the terms telecommunications and networking and to consider the
primary functions performed by a telecommunications network
3. To introduce several basic ideas about telecommunications, including analog and digital signals,
speed of transmission and bandwidth, private versus switched lines, and simplex, half-duplex, and
full-duplex transmission
4. To describe the various types of transmission media
5. To describe the various configurations or topologies of networks
6. To consider the basic types of networks, including computer telecommunications networks, local area
networks, backbone networks, wide area networks, the Internet, and Internet2
7. To describe how the various elements of the networks communicate with one another through the use
of a network protocol, and to consider the central role of the TCP/IP protocol in the early twenty-first
century
8. To introduce a number of very important networking concepts, including Wi-Fi, WiMAX, Bluetooth,
RFID, VoIP, packet switching, cable modem, DSL, OSI, and TCP/IP
9. To illustrate the exploding role of telecommunications and networking in organizations today,
particularly in the area of electronic commerce
10. To consider the three major segments of the telecommunications industrythe carriers, the equipment
vendors, and the service providers