Streaming Live: https://www.youtube.com/user/citpprinceton
Food and discussion begins at 12:30 pm. Everyone invited.

According to data from ITU (International Telecommunications Union), the number of mobile broadband subscribers worldwide grew on average 40% per year between 2010 and 2013. By 2018, mobile broadband subscriptions are expected to reach about 6.5 billion. This can be seen as result of an ongoing process of convergence between telecommunications and data communications networks.

Based on the premise that the technical operation of a network reveals part of its social and political dimensions, Diego has been following this convergence process during his Ph.D. research. Here he presents the current state of this research, summarizing the evolution of cellular communication networks towards mobile broadband networks, and pointing out the importance of standards development processes as a center stage for techno-political decision making. Finally, he will bring forward thoughts that might help understand the mobile broadband reticulation – or its continuous process of changing and shaping.

Bio:

Diego Vicentin is a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at the University of Campinas, Brazil. He participates in the research group CTeMe (Knowledge, Technology and Market) and his research interests include men-machine connections, specifically the relations between men and mobile devices. Diego has been studying the development history and the operation mode of cell phone networks, linking technical and social issues. His work at CITP will focus on the standardization process of mobile broadband networks, focusing on the WiMAX family.