Federation to build Internet 2.5
Plan to link Optical Computers, Fiber Optics nationwide
07-JUL-2060
Before the war, South India was a hub of Information Technology with Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, and Thiruvananthapuram among the major IT hubs of India and Bangalore was referred to as the Silicon Valley of India. Both local and multinational corporations set up offices and major operations in the country and even during the war and aftermath information technology was still instrumental in the local and regional economy. However, with time and demand on the local telecommunication grid outstripping capacity there has been a demand for the upgrading and expansion of the network. The central government, along with an alliance of state and local governments, universities, corporations and civic group unveiled the blueprints for what is called Internet 2.5. The plan will incorporate Optical Computing and Optical Networks to cover the entire country and possibly be expanded to neighboring polities.
What is Optical Computing?
Optical or photonic computing uses photons produced by lasers or diodes for computation. For decades, photons have promised to allow a higher bandwidth than the electrons used in conventional computers. Optical computing was finally considered ‘market-ready’ in the late and mid-2020s. Early consumers were primarily research and academic organization. As the technology was further developed, prices dropped, and operating systems and software caught up to the new hardware, optical computing became increasingly widespread in homes and businesses.
The new computers proved vastly more powerful than previous digital computers but were still unable to develop their full potential due to the limits of networks (including the Internet) designed for digital systems. As some companies and organizations developed their own optics-based intranet, the demand for widespread optical computing networks grew exponentially. The adoption of optical computers in the 2020s led to a revolution in computing power but unfortunately also required a vast overhaul of the physical computing infrastructure that made up the Internet. There was some resistance to the change, especially from some of the computing giants who were afraid to lose their dominance and near-monopolies along with a shortage of capital and destruction of physical and electronic infrastructure.
What are Optical Networks?
On the Internet 2.5’s incarnation, large mega-servers (called meta-nodes) will service a particular area such as Chennai and Bangalore and connect with other meta-nodes via fiber-optic networks. From there, connections will be primarily wireless, with personal nodes (such as wearable goggles, phones, and contact lenses) or the increasingly ubiquitous minor home or commercial nodes connecting primarily via a technology comparable conceptually to early 21st-century blue-tooth or direct node to node cellular access. This will have an effect of linking physical space and virtual- internet- space to a much greater degree as most nodes were associated with a very real physical presence. People have already been experiencing the internet via ‘wearables’, with virtual reality superimposed over their vision for some time. The ‘node-to-node’ component of the Internet 2.0 reinforced this. Now when an individual met another, they might also see their social media presence as a scrollable semi-transparent graphics display floating beside them. A restaurant might have a virtual menu hanging outside its doors. And while the internet became more tied to physical space, it will lose none of its geography-defying reaches.
Who will pay and what is the cost?
The basic Internet 2.5 will be free with extra services such as full immersion nodes and downloads available for a fee. Subscription based services and marketing will also be available but restrictions on advertising, product placement along with age-based ratings are to be handled by the Central Board of Certification (CBC) office under the Ministry of Science and Technology.
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