cameron county/matamoros - blue - The University of Texas at ...

The existing IT infrastructure could be utilized to promote a powerful online
presence for the county; the community’s volunteer networks, local attorneys,
CPAs, retired CEOs and current business leaders could create an online knowhow-network
that would be the start of a business incubator/accelerator to serve
both sides of the border.
Cameron County has the essentials to support entrepreneurial success, and hitech
business start-ups:
⇒ Brownsville, Harlingen and San Benito draw regional talent from a hundred
mile radius, to be educated in technology professions by the local institutions,
and thus provide employers with the competency they require.
⇒ Current available bandwidth and business services enable local IT
companies to market their products successfully online and deliver both physical
hardware components and intangible software products to customers
internationally.
⇒ Major technology-based firms like Lockheed Martin and large infrastructure
provider such as SBC and Time Warner communications provide unique
opportunities for smaller companies to benefit from the point-of-presence
providers currently serving the Cameron County market.
⇒ Technology companies who locate in the region could expect loyal employee
base with low turnover, inexpensive cost of living, and the stability of an
established infrastructure.
Technology Forecast
⇒ Continued trend toward applications that are dependent on the network
o application servers
o web servers
o thin clients
o mobile computing
⇒ High speed Internet connections for everyone
⇒ Convergence of voice and data networks to one network based on
Internet protocols
⇒ Bandwidth on the network backbone will double each year
⇒ Continued dramatic increase in customer demand for bandwidth each
year
⇒ MPLS, Gigabit Ethernet, and IP protocols will allow significant
streamlining in backbone and metropolitan area networks.
⇒ Streamlining the network will be driven by new competition
⇒ Significant improvements in the IP network infrastructure's performance
⇒ Latency can be as much as, or even more of a concern than bandwidth
⇒ Virtual private networks (VPNs) and QoS will speed the transition from
private to the public network
⇒ Fixed wireless IP networks will complement, but not replace, wired IP
networks
⇒ Mobile cellular voice and data networks will provide the same services as
the wired network at a heavy price in bandwidth
⇒ New fixed wireless technologies such as 802.16 and Free Space Optical
(FSO) provide a network architecture with capacity to be the last mile
invisible fiber extension and is scalable to Gigabit Ethernet
xxii.