Emerging Areas of Research in Business Data Communications

Copyright © 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. Much like the financial crisis that precipitated a new world order, a quiet revolution of some sorts is happening in the telecom industry worldwide. The bankruptcy of stalwarts such as Nortel and the impregnation of Google and Apple into the mobile phone space at an amazing alacrity are changing the world order once dominated by the likes of biggies such as AT&T. What are these changes and what can we expect in the future? We explore in this article, the emerging technologies, market evolution, business models and regulatory interventions and indicate possible research directions in the area of data communications and networking in the coming days. We begin with the Web as it has now become part and parcel of all businesses. Everything else depends on how good your web utilization is.