Global telecommunications networks

The present international telecommunications system is a mosaic of different and separate telecommunications systems, each providing services of a limited nature to a specialized community of users. All too frequently these international systems are too poorly interconnected to provide telecommunications services on a world-wide basis. The growth pattern of the present international telecommunications systems has been on an incremental basis, characterized by point-to-point telegraph and telephone circuits. This study traces the growth and evolution of international telecommunications and analyzes the impact of recent technological advances in electronics on the cost and capacity of present international telecommunications systems. The study concludes that a Global Telecommunications Network (GTN), with the capacity to interconnect each of the existing international systems is economically and technically feasible. A proposal to establish such a network is put forth. The proposed network will not supplant the present systems but merely augment them in such a manner as to increase the availability of international circuits while at the same time effecting a reduction in cost for their usage. By applying the current telecommunications networking technology of automatic circuit and message switching demand assigned transmission channels as well as circuit preemption options, to the design of a GTN, the study has determined that the necessary channelization can be made available to establish specialized subsystems. One subsystem proposed for establishment in this manner is the Global War Avoidance Telecommunications Subsystem (GLOWATS). As a result of an analysis of the impact of the current model of a war avoidance telecommunications system (the Washington-Moscow direct communications link) on relations of the United States and the Soviet Union, the study concluded that such systems may aid in stabilizing crises in international relations. The technical parameters and network design requirements proposed by the study are based on the use of a communications satellite as the primary transmission medium. Costs of the proposed GTN are analyzed and derived in terms of the cumulative costs of the earth terminal stations, leased satellite channels, leased submarine cable channels and the computerized switches. The proposed system is achievable within the next five years.