integrated communications in the USA. The NII will be based
on a nationwide network of networks, and will supposedly allow
all Americans to take advantage of the country's information,
communication, and computing resources.
The NII will include current and future public and private
networks. It is the satellite, terrestrial, and wireless
communications systems that deliver content to homes,
businesses, and other public and private institutions. It is
the information and content that flows over the infrastructure
whether in the form of
databases, the written word, a film,
a piece of music, a sound recording, a picture, or computer
software. It is the computers, televisions, telephones,
radios, and other products that people will employ to access
the infrastructure. It is the people who will provide,
manage, and generate new information, and those that will help
others do the same. And it is the individual Americans who
will use and benefit from the NII. The NII is a term that
encompasses all these components and captures the vision of a
nationwide, invisible, seamless, dynamic web of transmission
mechanisms, information appliances, content, and people.
(1995-04-08)